I had a great time on the trip to George Washington Birthplace National Monument with RAS on February 8. I'd like to thank Tyler Turpin for leading the trip and for his meticulous attention to detail in planning and coordinating a "road trip".
While the group headed to Colonial Beach I peeled off and did another circuit of the Birthplace. As I approached the cemetery area near the beach the male Northern Harrier was coursing low over the field to the right. The sun finally came out strong and I walked the beach in comfort. A trip to the picnic area didn't turn up anything remarkable but it is a spot for a closer view of the sand strips at the entrance to the river from the cove. Bald Eagles continued to ply the air.
At the small pond on the left leaving the beach road my eye was caught by a Great Blue Heron flying off. His movement called my attention to a pair of Hooded Mergansers in the pond at close range. I checked the Eagle nest in the tall pine in the front yard of the farmhouse on the left just after passing the fields with cattle in them. This nest has been here a long time. Looking with binoculars from the road I couldn't see if anyone was home in the nest.
At Westmoreland State Park I found a flock of small birds in the trees just as the road flattens at the river. Both Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets, a White-breasted Nuthatch, chickadees and titmice, and three Purple Finches were feeding. I don't think I've ever seen Purple Finches there but House Finches are common. I held my breath as a flock of small birds foraged along the beach, but they were American Goldfinches. The sunlight was strong, the wind died and the river was flat for a time. I found myself almost hypnotized at a picnic table looking out over the Potomac. (Oh, okay, so it was very similar to napping!)
I moved on south to the Wilna Unit of the Rappahannock River Valley NWR. There another male Northern Harrier was hunting.
On Sunday morning I took my father out for a drive. The wind was gathering speed. We saw a few American Kestrels on roadside wires. At Jones Creek Landing the Rappahannock was whipped to a froth. We saw a huge flock of Canada Geese after they had risen from fields across the river. Bufflehead and Double-crested Cormorants bobbed among the whitecaps. Mergansers bouncing on the waves at the end of my range of vision defied identification.
Back at Wilna the Northern Harrier made another appearance. My father called to me to stop the truck as we were coming to the end of Sandy Road. A Red-shouldered Hawk took several more bites finishing whatever was lunch before it relocated to the top of a small bush in the nearby stream running through a field. At Cat Point Creek the Rappahannock was washing onto the road in the wind.
Lee Loudenslager Adams Fredericksburg, VAladams42@xxxxxxx
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