It was fun to be outside this morning. Light snow
fell intermittantly on spring wildflowers and greening
trees under cloudy skies. The sun came out to warm
things up in mid-morning only to disappear again for
much of the latter part of my visit. The windy
conditions that were forecast never materialized. The
dusting of snow that graced the ground when I arrived
had melted by the time I left.
I started at the parking area for the meadow where
lots of KINGLETS (BOTH SPECIES) and sparrows joined
the resident birds. A HERMIT THRUSH sang softly
before hopping on the ground to look for food. There
were about as many SWAMP as there were SONG and
WHITE-THROATED sparrows in the meadow. At least 2
RUSTY BLACKBIRDS (saw one F, heard one singing) were
in one corner of the meadow with a flock of female
RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS. ROBINS were present, too.
Down at the river it was quieter but mostly the same
mix of songbirds were present. In addition, a migrant
BROWN THRASHER was there. I was hoping for grebes and
Bonaparte's Gull but I struck out on both. The only
gull that I saw was a sole RING-BILLED. CANADA GEESE
(13) were scattered along the water, there was a pair
of MALLARD plus 3 flyovers, one female SCAUP SP. hung
out with one of the two flocks of RING-NECKED DUCK
(8), a group 6 WOOD DUCK swam about, a group of
BUFFLEHEAD (3M, 3F) rested, 2F RED-BR. MERGANSERS swam
upriver and best of all a male WHITE-WINGED SCOTER
dived then preened than rested on the calm water. The
scoter and most of the other waterfowl were near Conn
Island. The scoter was close to the Maryland shore
off the left end as you face the island from Va. A
flock of swallows were present there, too, feeding low
over the water. I counted 39 birds - all TREE except
for 2 ROUGH-WINGED and a BARN. It was neat to see
snow falling while the swallows were zipping around.
One CASPIAN TERN flew downriver as I got ready to walk
back to my car.
Other birds in the park this morning - CHIPPING
SPARROW and JUNCO round out the sparrows. Warblers
were few - 2 each of LA. WATERTHRUSH, YELLOW-RUMPED
and PINE; 1 YELLOW PALM. One of the Pines dropped
down to perch on low vegetation by the boat lauch. I
watched him from less than 15' away as he rested for a
few minutes, studying his expression and plumage. He
had little yellow eye arcs and yellow lores and a
greenish-yellow rump. The rump seems more yellow than
I remember this species showing. GREAT BLUE HERONS
flew back and forth both along and away from the
Potomac.
No Gnatcatcher or Yellow-throated Warblers today.
I really enjoy visiting Riverbend Park, esp. in the
spring. I don't get there often enough.
Scott Baron
Fairfax, Va.
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