In a swampy area of Ft. Belvoir, saw a large warbler.... Looked straight
up at it for about 5 seconds, so I could not see all the markings. It was at
tree-top level in bright sun. Head, neck, and underparts were solid bright
yellow, with no marking though the eye. It's very early for a Prothonotary,
and even earlier for a Blue-Wing. The yellow seemed too bright for a
Yellow-Throated Verio. Because of its size, and the brightness of the
yellow, I don't know what else it could be, other than a Prothonotary.
In the same area, saw a Sharpie and a Coopers at the same time.
Update on the Ospreys: While the Eagles like to congregate away from
people on the far side of Accotink Bay in the trees and on the mudflats (I got
one extremely fuzzy photo of five "teenagers" on one branch on Wednesday), the
Ospreys seem to prefer the "protection" they get on the people side of the bay
(the Ft. Belvoir side). The Ospreys arrived around March 1st and 2nd, and
started working on nests immediately. In the Warren Rd area, about 7 nests
have been started, but only two of them have been worked on by pairs--the other
five have been feeble attempts (so far, anyway) by singles...perhaps they'll
find mates in the coming weeks.
Since Scott Priebe had seen N. Rough Wings at OBNWR yesterday, I was
looking forward to their return today to Ft. Belvoir (just 5 miles up the
Potomac)--but it didn't happen.
The Tundra Swan, after spending much of the winter in Accotink Bay, left
about 4 days ago--and the ducks are thinning out.
Bill
