VA BIRDers,
I visited several local wetland areas today to compare some of the bird life
that were present. A reasonably good day for migration with Blue Grosbeak
being a pleasant highlight for day.
I started off at dawn at the Great Marsh at Mason Neck. The forested walk to
the marsh yielded No. Parulas, Ovenbirds and Wood Thrush as well as 2 Wild
Turkeys doing the classic gobble-gobble. Near the marsh edge Swamp Sparrows,
Common Yellowthroats and a single Prothonotary sang out. Wood Duck were
present, at least 13, and Greater Yellowlegs and Solitary Sandpiper were
noted. A couple of Osprey were noted as well as adult and immature Bald
Eagles. As the sky lightened, an Orchard Oriole sang over my head. On the
walk out, the Red-eyed Vireos had become active and were singing.
I moved onto the Neabsco Creek area, which also includes Julie Metz Wetlands
and the marina. More Wood Ducks noted but no Hooded Mergansers were spotted.
Good hawk activity was observed with Bald Eagle on nest and Cooper's,
Red-shouldered (I think I heard a young bird call from the tall trees at
Metz), a single Broadwinged and Red-tailed were spotted. Greater Yellowlegs
and Spotted Sandpiper were the shorebirds at this location. Great Crested
Flycatcher was along the northern portion of the wetlands. White-eyed Vireo
in good numbers and a single singing Yellow-throated Vireo along the northern
portion. Several large flocks of Blue Jays moving north were observed. Bank
Swallow joined the local breeders of Tree, No. Rough-winged and Barn
Swallows. House Wrens were distributed widely as well as Blue-gray
Gnatcatchers. A single Wood Thrush sang in the nearby forest and several
silent Catbirds were spotted. Warblers were well represented with 9 species
noted with Blue-winged, Yellow and Am. Redstart being new to the area. Swamp
Sparrows were conspicuous and the Blue Grosbeak appeared as I was pishing up
some Swamps at Julie Metz. One Orchard and 2 Baltimore Orioles were present.
I moved onto Leeslyvania SP. Although the area I visited lacked significant
wetlands, there is a portion that is close to river that exhibits tidal
wetlands (there is another portion with more wetlands along Powell's Cr which
I did not visit) and I spent 30 minutes at this location. These tidal
wetlands were used by 4 different Prothonotaries today and Yellow-throated
was in the nearby Pine Trees. The beaver pond area netted another
interesting species, a western form of the Palm Warbler. This bird spent
most of its time in the Pine Trees at an elevation of 20-30 feet but appeared
to respond to pishing. Other interesting birds at the SP were E. Phoebe,
Great Crested Flycatcher, E. Kingbird, RC Kinglet, Wood Thrush, Brown
Thrasher, the usual Yellow-throateds, Pine, Worm-eating, LA Waterthrush,
Scarlet Tanager, Orchard and Baltimore Orioles.
Near the end of the day, I briefly visited the Hunting Creek/Bay area of Dyke
Marsh as well as the marina. Here the species mix is quite different with DC
Cormorants being dominate - 226 were counted. A Wood Duck pair fed in the
shallows. Mallard breeding was successful with 5 ducklings being escorted by
one female and 2 close together males - and, yes, the two males were
escorting the birds! At one point, one of the young moved to close to shore
and one of the adult males quacked loudly as the other raced over and
diverted the young bird from its destination. The waters of the bay held a
few Lesser Scaup and a bunch of Am Coots. West of the stone bridge, a single
female RB Merganser fed near the mudflats. Only Killdeer and Greater
Yellowlegs were noted on the mudflats. From the marina, I could hear at least
one Yellow Warbler in the marsh area.
Below are totals of some selected statistics of the birds encountered today.
Kurt Gaskill
DC Cormorant 273
Wood Duck 20
Lesser Scaup 4
RB Merganser 1
Wild Turkey 2
Caspian Tern 55 (54 at Hunting Cr Bay)
E. Phoebe 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 5
E. Kingbird 1
White-eyed V 8
Yellow-throated V 1
Red-eyed V 11
Blue Jay 105
Tree Sw 9
No. Rough-winged Sw 2
Bank Sw 1
Barn Sw 26
House Wren 9
RC Kinglet 5
BG Gnatcatcher 22
Wood Thrush 8
Gray Catbird 3
Brown Thrasher 2
Blue-winged 1
No. Parula 17
Yellow 3
Yellow-rumped 16
Yellow-throated 5
Pine 1
Palm 1 (western)
Am Redstart 1
Prothonotary 5
Worm-eating 1
Ovenbird 7
LA Waterthrush 2
Com. Yellowthroat 33
Scarlet Tanager 2
E. Towhee 11
Chipping Sp 7
Field Sp 2
Song Sp 15
Swamp Sp 13
White-thr Sp 33
Blue Grosbeak 1
Orchard O 6
Baltimore O 4
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