Good evening--
I visited Sunrise Valley Park in light rain between 5:30 and 6:15 this
evening. At the very end my visit, I noticed a female mallard stuck in the
snags about 20 feet from shore, desperately trying to free herself. A Canada
Goose "stood guard" a few feet away. As I had no way to help her, and had to
rush off to meet someone, I left very sadly, wondering if we'd be able to
free her later in a canoe. We returned at around 7:15 and she had apparently
freed herself (or was picked off by a raptor) but I don't think she could
have drowned because of the way she was trapped. The goose was still in the
exact same spot! Let's hope she was OK because there are a lot of ducklings
in the pond and she may be someone's mama.
I didn't see any warblers this time, but saw a very large mixed group of barn
and rough-winged swallows feasting on bugs, probably between 50 to 75 birds.
What a delightful show!
Canada Goose
Mallards (with ducklings)
Great Blue Heron
Green Heron
Killdeer
Solitary Sandpiper
Accipiter (Sharp-Shinned or Coopers, couldn't tell)
Barn Swallow
Rough-Winged Swallow
Brown Thrasher (perched in a tree!)
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
American Robin
Song Sparrow
Enjoy the birds--
Liz Koozmin
Reston, VA
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