The highlight of my walk on the Hike/Bike Trail this morning was a hooded
warbler in the first 5 minutes. It was associating with the white-throats
in some brambles a few hundred yards in on the left. I got great looks, and
it showed a full hood (thus probably a male), so there is no doubt about the
identification. Note that this is past the "extreme" date in the Gold Book,
but earlier than the single November date mentioned there. It's only the
fifth fall hooded I've seen.
Other notable migrants were a late-ish BLACK-THROATED-GREEN, a PALM, 2
YELLOWTHROATS, and a BLUE-HEADED VIREO.
There were a good mix of winter birds: both KINGLETS, WINTER WREN,
SAPSUCKER, CREEPER, and lots of SWAMP SPARROWS and YELLOW-RUMPS.
Also, in White Oaks Park yesterday I had an early-ish HERMIT THRUSH.
The flash mob at the movie theater was almost non-existent: Jim Mathews, my
wife, and me. The movie was entertaining, but I couldn't recommend it for
people without at least a little interest in birding. My prediction is that
it loses a lot of money: I think there were seven other people at the
theater, and this is opening weekend.
Ben Jesup
Alexandria
