[va-richmond-general] Re: I thought people on this list would enjoy this article about birdingby Metro subway!
- From: Walter Simonson <simonson@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: va-richmond-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 08 May 2003 18:37:41 -0400
saw it. note west nile virus kills crows and people but sparrows appear
to get sick but recover. I think we'll stick to our ole fashion
approach. =
k-kreutzer@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> =
> Kathy Kreutzer, Chesterfield, VA
> =
> washingtonpost.com
> To See a Blue Warbler, Try Taking the Red Line
> Birders Ride Metro for 'Big Day' Count
> =
> By D'Vera Cohn
> Washington Post Staff Writer
> Thursday, May 8, 2003; Page B01
> =
> Who would have thought that two of Washington's better birders -- the k=
ind of people who can identify a black-throated blue warbler or an orchar=
d oriole merely by hearing their songs -- would have trouble finding a cr=
ow?
> =
> But that's the problem John Bjerke and Neal Fitzpatrick found themselve=
s with at midafternoon yesterday, nine hours into an expedition to count =
as many species as they could see or hear in one day.
> =
> It is called the "big day" in the world of birding. This year, Bjerke a=
nd Fitzpatrick decided on an unusual approach suited to an urban environm=
ent: birding by Metrorail, moving by train from place to place during the=
peak of spring migration.
> =
> "Things are definitely starting to move through," Bjerke said the day b=
efore, after reading the increasingly feverish postings on a local birdin=
g e-mail list.
> =
> Bjerke and Fitzpatrick had both done the 4 a.m.-to-midnight big day ple=
nty of times, blasting around by car with lots of quick stops. The hunt c=
an get so intense, Bjerke noted, that one New Jersey birding organization=
ruled that no team could win its big-day competition if any of its membe=
rs got a traffic ticket.
> =
> Birding by rail seemed like a mellower approach. It would demonstrate t=
he rich variety of species that can be found even in such a noisy, built-=
up area as the District. The trade-off would be that they had to do it on=
a weekday because Metro starts running too late on the weekends to catch=
the busy dawn bird chorus.
> =
> The two first tried rail-birding last year as participants in a competi=
tive fundraiser for the Audubon Naturalist Society, a local environmental=
group. They recorded 74 species in 12 hours, some spotted from a moving =
train. When competition time rolled around this year, they planned a rail=
route that would take them to Rock Creek Park, Kenilworth Aquatic Garden=
s and Theodore Roosevelt Island.
> =
> Bjerke, 53, a government statistician, and Fitzpatrick, 54, Audubon Nat=
uralist Society director, began at 5:15 a.m. at the Shady Grove Metro sto=
p, turning up cardinals, mockingbirds and other local residents at and ne=
ar the station.
> =
> Later, riding the escalator up from the Woodley Park/Zoo station, they =
looked up and nabbed a flock of black-crowned night herons, which roost a=
t the zoo. A pigeon was noted.
> =
> The two men expected to identify most species by their songs, because b=
irds can conceal themselves amid the tree leaves. Down the path into Rock=
Creek Park, winding past the back of the National Zoo, they heard phoebe=
s, gnatcatchers and sparrows. At 6:40 a.m. -- "Finally," Bjerke said -- t=
hey saw the D.C. state bird, a wood thrush.
> =
> A hairy woodpecker sat on the trail ahead, and a group of brightly atti=
red male wood ducks were in the stream. And with traffic roaring by 10 fe=
et away, the two birders happily heard the three-part song of the Tenness=
ee warbler.
> =
> Walking slowly and silently, one or the other stopped abruptly when he =
caught a few notes of bird song. The sun was fighting off the morning fog=
as they headed up Klingle Road, a potholed, closed-off street beloved by=
birders but which the city wants to reopen. A cinnamon scent rose from t=
he ground.
> =
> When the sunlight reached the top of the trees, it warmed up the insect=
s, bringing them to life and attracting flocks of birds to feast on them.=
Amid all the flitting, buzzing and gliding, the pair bagged 46 species b=
y the time they left the park for a Starbucks break at 9 a.m. "Not so bad=
for the middle of the city," Bjerke said. Still, he was puzzled by one t=
hing: "No crow. Amazing."
> =
> They rode the subway downtown with the suit-and-tie commuters, then hea=
ded out on the Orange Line toward the Deanwood stop. Riding above ground =
between Stadium/Armory and Minnesota Avenue, when the train crosses the A=
nacostia River, they pointed to several window birds, including an egret =
and a ring-billed gull. "We're out in open country!" Bjerke joked as the =
train passed the massive Benning Road power plant.
> =
> Outside the station, heading to the pedestrian bridge over the Anacosti=
a Freeway, they heard a Baltimore oriole. It was a 10-minute walk to Keni=
lworth Aquatic Gardens, which was packed with goldfinches, catbirds, flic=
kers and indigo buntings. Swallows swooped over the marsh, catching insec=
ts. They saw a warbling vireo in the same tree in which they had seen one=
last year. Hawk and osprey flew by.
> =
> The sun burned overhead and the air was steamy when they left the park =
shortly before 1 p.m. They were up to 71 species -- three short of last y=
ear's total -- and though they had a fish crow, they still had no America=
n crow.
> =
> >From the Rosslyn stop, it was another 10-minute walk to Roosevelt Isla=
nd, down a path bordered by the fragrant dripping white blooms of the bla=
ck locust. They stopped at the Potomac River.
> =
> "It would be nice to see a kingfisher," Bjerke said. Obligingly, one sp=
ed by, a blue-crested bird with a white stripe around its neck.
> =
> "Kingfisher on demand," said Fitzpatrick.
> =
> But the island itself, though known as an excellent birding spot, would=
yield little else new. Birds are less active at midday, and the ones the=
birders saw were species they had already seen. As airplanes thundered o=
verhead, a cedar waxwing finally brought them to 74, tying last year's to=
tal. But 12 hours after starting out, back at Shady Grove, they had spott=
ed neither an American crow nor a house wren, two of the most common bird=
s around.
> =
> "That's the way it is," said Bjerke, who pronounced himself "pretty hap=
py" with the count.
> =
> =A9 2003 The Washington Post Company
> =
> You are subscribed to VA-Richmond-General. To unsubscribe, send email t=
o
> va-richmond-general-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Sub=
ject field. To adjust other settings (vacation, digest, etc.) please visi=
t, //www.freelists.org/list/va-richmond-general.
You are subscribed to VA-Richmond-General. To unsubscribe, send email to
va-richmond-general-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject
field. To adjust other settings (vacation, digest, etc.) please visit,
//www.freelists.org/list/va-richmond-general.
Other related posts:
