Sixteen people joined me for a partially cloudy, but rather pleasant day for
the weekly Sunday morning walk at Dyke Marsh. The walk begins at 8:00 AM
and is conducted every Sunday except during the Christmas Bird Count season.
It is free and all are welcome.
The highlight was new waterfowl arrivals, including 17 Northern Shovelers
and a hen Blue-winged Teal seen from the picnic area. A previously reported
Lesser Scaup was joined by a lone Ruddy Duck representing the diving duck
contingent. We had good numbers of shorebirds on the hydrilla mats, with
Lesser Yellowlegs outnumbering Greater by about three to one. Gull numbers
were low because of the high tide, but I was able to pick out one
Bonaparte's flying downriver. A single Black Tern "fluttered" over the
hydrilla mats. A juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron at the marina provided
decent close up views. No warblers presented themselves to the group, but we
had good looks at 2 Great Crested Flycatchers. An Eastern Kingbird family
group is still hanging around the boardwalk. A Barn Swallow appeared to
chase a Spotted Sandpiper across the channel from the boardwalk to the
adjacent island. One of the oddest things I have ever seen!
Other birders reported an American Kestrel, both oriole species, and an
American Kestrel not seen by our group.
The list of 52 species is presented below.
Dyke Marsh - CMN02, Fairfax, Virginia, US Aug 30, 2015 7:59 AM - 11:29 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.5 mile(s)
Comments: <br />Submitted from BirdLog NA for iOS, version 1.8
52 species
Canada Goose 200
Mallard 120
Blue-winged Teal 1
Northern Shoveler 17
Lesser Scaup 1
Ruddy Duck 1
Pied-billed Grebe 6
Double-crested Cormorant 14
Great Blue Heron 8
Great Egret 20
Green Heron 2
Black-crowned Night-Heron 1
Osprey 10
Bald Eagle 3
Spotted Sandpiper 2
Greater Yellowlegs 7
Lesser Yellowlegs 24
Least Sandpiper 2
Bonaparte's Gull 1 In flight, small black bill, large white wing
patches.
Laughing Gull 130
Ring-billed Gull 110
Herring Gull (American) 2
Great Black-backed Gull 1
Caspian Tern 6
Black Tern 1
Forster's Tern 25
Mourning Dove 3
Red-bellied Woodpecker 4
Downy Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee 1
Acadian Flycatcher 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 2
Eastern Kingbird 4
Blue Jay 4
Fish Crow 4
Purple Martin 3
Barn Swallow 3
Carolina Chickadee 16
Tufted Titmouse 3
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Carolina Wren 3
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 8
American Robin 10
Gray Catbird 4
European Starling 90
Song Sparrow 1
Northern Cardinal 14
Red-winged Blackbird 7
Common Grackle (Purple) 20
American Goldfinch 4
House Sparrow 2
View this checklist online at
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S24818451
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
Larry Cartwright
prowarbler@xxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:prowarbler@xxxxxxxxxxx>