The peeps are back. I went behind Hunting Point Apartments (formerly
called Hunting Towers) and had great views from the dock. There was a
good-sized group of Least Sandpipers, and a completely separate group
of 3 Semipalmated Sandpipers. A few Killdeer were around as were both
Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs.
But the highlight were two White-rumped Sandpipers (see below) and a
single Black-crowned Night Heron that flew in, being harassed by a
Song Sparrow. Never seen that before.
Hunting Creek Bridge Alexandria Side, Alexandria, US-VA
Jul 21, 2011 7:30 AM - 9:00 AM
Protocol: Stationary
27 species
Canada Goose 24
American Black Duck 6
Mallard 4
Great Blue Heron 5
Great Egret 6
Green Heron 1
Black-crowned Night-Heron 1
Osprey 4
Killdeer 3
Greater Yellowlegs 5
Lesser Yellowlegs 2
Semipalmated Sandpiper 3
Least Sandpiper 9
White-rumped Sandpiper 2 Very surprised to see them. Originally
out on the Potomac Mudflats seen from the dock of Hunting Point
Apartments (used to be called Hunting Towers), quite far out, but
definitely larger than peeps and had the look/feel for White-rumps.
After about 30 minutes of watching them and becoming drenched with
sweat (me, not the birds), they both flew as the tide started coming
in again, showing the unmistakeable white rump. They came closer to
me, then flew over Fairfax waters by Hunting Creek Bridge, then turned
and went back over Alexandria waters and up the Potomac in the
direction of Wilson Bridge and most likely over DC/PG County waters).
Laughing Gull 15
Ring-billed Gull 30
Caspian Tern 5
Forster's Tern 2
Mourning Dove 2
Barn Swallow 7
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
Northern Mockingbird 1
Northern Cardinal 3
Red-winged Blackbird 2
Song Sparrow 1
House Finch 1
House Sparrow 6
Cheers,
Steve Hersey
Alexandria, VA
P.S. As a complete side note, my wife, baby & I just returned from a
week of birding and hiking in the Colorado Rockies. Absolutely
stunning seeing Pipits, White-crowned Sparrows, and White-tailed
Ptarmigans at 12,000 to 14,000 feet on the mountain tundra. The
problem was I couldn't figure out where to put Elk into eBird. If you
haven't birded Colorado yet, I HIGHLY recommend it. We stayed in
Golden and went to Mount Evans, Roxborough State Park, Estes Park and
Trail Ridge Road up to Medicine Bow Curve, and also birded around DIA
(the airport) and had fun seeing Burrowing Owls.
