VA BIRDers,
The 2015 field trips to Dyke Marsh, sponsored by the Friends of Dyke Marsh
and open to all, started on a great note on a cold (18F) morning with hardly
a breeze. A slight breeze picked up near 930, but it was warming then and
quite bearable. Highlights were the fine waterfowl show at the edge of the
ice just off the picnic area. Also, a pair of Gray Catbirds appeared for a
few seconds in the section of woods/brush just north and a bit west of the
ramp road toilets. A male Common Goldeneye was nearby in the water and was
viewed for many minutes. At the end of the day I met up with David Ledwith
at the Stone Bridge and we were astonished to find about 950 Mallards and
100 American Black Duck - far more than were observed this morning! And,
many of the divers noted in the morning were not seen. We also notched a
Merlin in a tree near the parkway, and Greater Yellowlegs and Dunlin in
Hunting Creek (west side).
The walk down Haul Rd was interspersed with a few mixed sparrow flocks. The
frozen marsh has moved many Swamp Sparrows to weedy areas near the trail.
Good views on the trail could be easily obtained, esp. since the there were
few other walkers on the trail. We viewed the river at the boardwalk and
noted more waterfowl in the open water. Below is the list of 52 species
tallied today.
Kurt Gaskill
C. Goose 100 - total only for those on the river
Gadwall 2
Am. Black Duck 100
Mallard 950
No. Shoveler 17
Canvasback 2
Redhead 40
Ring-necked Duck 12
Lesser Scaup 30
Bufflehead 13
Common Goldeneye 2
Hooded Merganser 10
Common Merganser 115, we noted 4 south bound flocks totaling nearly 100
birds
Ruddy Duck 50
DC Cormorant 1
Great Blue Heron 6
Bald Eagle 8, the nest on the power pole is getting some maintenance
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Merlin 1
Am Coot 3
Killdeer 5
Greater Yellowlegs 1
Dunlin 2
RB Gull 600
Herring Gull 35
Great Black-backed Gull 17
Mourning Dove 22
Red-bellied WP 3
Downy WP 5
Hairy WP 1
No. Flicker 2
Blue Jay 2
Am. Crow 1
Fish Crow 6
C. Chickadee 5
T. Titmouse 1
White-br Nuthatch 2
Brown Creeper 1
C. Wren 5
Am.Robin 6
Gray Catbird 2
No. Mocker 2
E. Starling 4
Yellow-rumped Warbler 2
Song Sp 35
Swamp Sp 16
White-thr Sp 30
DE Junco 3
No. Cardinal 8
Red-winged BB 5
Am. Goldfinch 3
House Sp 1
