I did a little bit of birding this weekend, mostly trying to familiarize myself
with several parks in the area which I've never gotten to before - a fun
exercise!. By far the most interesting bird I saw was a DOWNY WOODPECKER with
a beak nearly 3-4x's as long as you'd expect. It was seen at the suet feeder
of the Long Branch Nature Center in Arlington, VA.
Now, I know many of you are thinking "oh, it was just a Hairy". Nope, this was
a downy - in v1 you can see the size comparison to another downy at the feeder,
and in v2, you can (through the blur) see the spotted outer tail feathers. I
was able to get two fuzzy photos of the bird. Its beak resembled a
honeycreeper's beak - long and curved. You never know what you'll find out
there!
http://talking-dog.com/grebe/photos/birds/dwp_v1.jpg
http://talking-dog.com/grebe/photos/birds/dwp_v2.jpg
Other noteworthy birds were an INDIGO BUNTING at Huntley Meadows (Alexandria,
VA) on Saturday, a single OVENBIRD at Hidden Oaks (Arlington, VA), and a
BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER in our backyard (Alexandria, VA).
-Renee Grebe
Alexandria, VA
