12 enthusiastic birders joined the weekly bird walk this morning sponsored
by Friends of Dyke Marsh. We convene at 8:00 every Sunday except during
Christmas Bird Count season at the Belle Haven picnic area. All are
welcome, including neophytes. We scan the Potomac and the Marina, then
Haul Road. Weather raw (40F and overcast) but dry.
I started at dawn at the beginning of Haul Road in hopes of a sighting of
Screech Owls. I dipped on these but enjoyed a delightful dawn chorus
including singing Winter Wren.
Highlight was a raft of 15 Horned Grebes in various stages of molt. We
also had great looks at always-charismatic Red-breasted Mergansers.
Numerous Tree Swallows and a single Eastern Phoebe were welcome harbingers
of spring.
The list:
Dyke Marsh - CMN02, Fairfax, US-VA
Mar 17, 2013 7:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
3.0 mile(s)
47 species (+1 other taxa)
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 10
Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) 2
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 6
Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis) 40
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) 4
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) 4
Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator) 16
Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis) 2
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) 1
Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus) 22 Several off Belle Haven picnic
area, all in basic plumage. Raft of 15 in various stages of molt south of
Haul Road near its terminus.
Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) 10
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) 1
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) 8
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) 4
Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) 1
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) 40
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) 10
Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus) 8
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) 8
Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) 5
Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) 2
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) 4
Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) 1
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) 8
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) 4
Fish Crow (Corvus ossifragus) 4
crow sp. (Corvus sp. (crow sp.)) 6
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) 40
Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis) 8
Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) 4
White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) 1
Winter Wren (Troglodytes hiemalis) 2
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) 8
Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa) 3
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula) 1
American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 10
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) 1
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) 10
Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) 1
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 50
Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana) 3
White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) 8
Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) 1
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) 12
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 30
House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) 2
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) 6
View this checklist online at
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S13432271
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
Peter Ross
Arlington
