I arrived at Occoquan about 7:40 AM while it was still cloud-covered. As I
headed down Charlie Road, I sensed that there was good bird activity although
many were darting about and hard to id. I noticed several lincoln's sparrows
and estimate that there could have been many more that I did not see clearly.
I took a left on Bravo road "the driving road" toward the golf course and then
took a right on the perimeter road "Taylor Point Road" where you meet the first
automatic gate for vehicles. I went down the trail which parallels the golf
course. On the right after a short distance are 2-3 tall scraggly trees.
About 30 yards farther is a well rounded tree not as tall. I'm not sure of the
species although it has long, oval leaves and is mostly vegetated. I noticed
some activity in that tree so decided to park there for a few minutes.
The Connecticut - first year female?- flew into the tree and perched on a
branch about 20-30 feet up. It moved around a bit where I could get a glimpse
for about 5 minutes and then I lost it. I moved to another side of the tree
and refound the connecticut about 10 minutes later. I watched for about 5-10
more minutes and then continued down Taylor Point Road thinking to myself that
I could not believe I saw a connecticut warbler!
I hit a pocket of warblers where Delta Road intersects Charlie Road. Between
there and Belmont Bay there was some good activity: bt green, blackburnian,
palm, magnolia. In other places were a chat, redstart, bay-breasted, and
yellow-rumped. I then walked Deephole Point Road along the water and saw very
little. I came back Easy road and likewise saw little activity other than
yellow palms. Most likely the activity along the water dropped off as I was
there after 10 AM.
Here are some photos of the Connecticut:
http://bill3sarah.smugmug.com/Misc/Connecticut-Warbler
Bill Higgins
Springfield
