About 20 people joined me for the Dyke Marsh walk this morning. The river
was almost empty except for 3 rather late Red-breasted Merganser hens, local
Mallards, 33 Caspian Terns on a sandbar on the Hunting Creek mudflats, and
several Osprey nests. We found two Green Heron perched along the riverbank
in the picnic area. A pair of Northern Rough-winged Swallows investigated a
man-made burrow in the marina. That burrow would be the exhaust of a boat
named the America. This exhaust pipe has hosted nesting Northern
Rough-winged Swallows for multiple years, making the America perhaps one of
the most expensive nest boxes in northern Virginia. We observed other
breeding activity, with a female Orchard Oriole building a nest in a
Sycamore on the north side of the Haul Road peninsula just east of the
little path that overlooks the tributaries of the Little Gut. A Blue-gray
Gnatcatcher pair was placing lichen on an almost completed nest along the
boardwalk. A Hairy Woodpecker pair investigated several cavities near Dead
Beaver Beach. Several Yellow Warblers and a Warbling Vireo sang near the
entrance to the boardwalk. Eastern Kingbirds are back in force, with likely
pairs chasing crows around like it was a game. Orioles came in with
respectable numbers, with 8 orchard Orioles tallied, including the nest
building female, and 6 Baltimore Orioles. The Orchard Orioles were
concentrated on the Haul Road peninsula while Baltimore Orioles were divided
between the peninsula and the Belle Haven picnic area. It seems like much
of the winter crowd has departed; we had one White-throated Sparrow the
entire walk. Rich Rieger reported the presence of additional birds that we
apparently missed, consisting of a few Cedar Waxwings, 2 Summer Tanagers, a
Black-and-white warbler, and an a "yellowstart," a female or a male American
Redstart on his first northbound migration.
Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve, Fairfax, Virginia, US Apr 30, 2017 8:03 AM -
11:30 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.3 mile(s)
48 species
Canada Goose 10
Mallard 30 Several pair
Red-breasted Merganser 3 3 hens. Getting to be on the late side for
this species.
Double-crested Cormorant 35
Great Blue Heron (Blue form) 3
Green Heron 2
Osprey 9 We observed five active nests
Bald Eagle 2
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Ring-billed Gull 4
Caspian Tern 33
Mourning Dove 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 5
Downy Woodpecker 3
Hairy Woodpecker 2
Eastern Kingbird 11
Warbling Vireo 1
Red-eyed Vireo 1
Blue Jay 85
American Crow 5
Fish Crow 4
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 3
Tree Swallow 15
Carolina Chickadee 10
Tufted Titmouse 10
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Carolina Wren 12
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 7 A breeding pair nest building near the
boardwalk.
American Robin 13
Gray Catbird 1
Northern Mockingbird 2
European Starling 20
Common Yellowthroat 4
American Redstart 1
Northern Parula 8
Yellow Warbler 3
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 14
White-throated Sparrow 1
Northern Cardinal 14
Red-winged Blackbird 30
Common Grackle (Purple) 6
Brown-headed Cowbird 2
Orchard Oriole 8 Heard singing. Male black with brick red breast.
Female yellow with white wing-bars. Female Nest building in a sycamore on
the north side of the Haul Road peninsula. Nest is some 40 feet in the air
Baltimore Oriole 6 Singing. All males. Black and orange.
House Finch 2
American Goldfinch 10
House Sparrow 4
View this checklist online at
<http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S36420535>
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S36420535
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (
<http://ebird.org/content/atlasva> http://ebird.org/content/atlasva)
Larry Cartwright
<mailto:prowarbler@xxxxxxxxxxx> prowarbler@xxxxxxxxxxx
