This morning I walked from the north end of the Belle Haven picnic area to
both sides of the Hunting Creek bridge and back, accompanied for much of the
time by Ralph Wall and/or Kurt Gaskill. Highlights included the continuing
large number and diversity of waterfowl. In addition to large numbers of
Canada Geese, Mallards, Northern Shovelers and Ruddy Ducks, waterfowl
included Canvasback (1 adult male), Bufflehead (1 female), Lesser Scaup (1
female), Wood Duck (1 male), Gadwall (2 males), American Black Duck (3),
Northern Pintail (3 females), Green-winged Teal (4 females), Ring-necked
Duck (15), and a Blue-winged Teal that flew by Kurt and I as we were leaving
the Hunting Creek bridge. There also were hundreds of Amerjcan Coot and at
least 15 Pied-billed Grebes. Shorebirds consisted of several Greater
Yellowlegs, Dunlin (2), Least Sandpiper (1), Killdeer (1) and a Lesser
Yellowlegs seen by Kurt before we met. The four expected gull species
continued to include a large number (75) of Laughing Gulls. The most
noteworthy songbird was an American Pipit heard by Kurt as it flew over the
Hunting Creek bridge before we met. We did not encounter any warblers along
this popular area for these birds last year, and somewhat surprisingly we
did not see a Bald Eagle while we were there.
Gerry Hawkins
Arlington, VA
