This is a late report from a Saturday morning outing to the Huntley
Hike/Bike trail.
The highlight was the warblers. They were spread all throughout the park but
the diversity was quite good. There were also a great many Robins,
especially down where the Red-headed Woodpeckers usually make an appearance.
Unfortunately I could not find any Red-headeds but there were plenty of
Red-bellieds and Bluebirds to go along with the Robins. One other highlight
was watching a Yellow-billed Cuckoo make the long flight (for a Cuckoo)
across the Woodcock Meadow.
Some highlights of the list:
* Yellow-billed Cuckoo - 1
* Cedar Waxwing - ~10
* Brown Thrasher - 3
* Swainson's Thrush - 1
* Chestnut-sided Warbler - 2
* Magnolia Warbler - 3
* Yellow-rumped Warbler - 1 (the 1st I have seen this Fall)
* Black-throated Green Warbler - 2
* Blackburnian Warbler - 1
* Palm Warbler - 1
* Black and White Warbler - 3
* American Redstart - 1
* Ovenbird - 1
* Common Yellowthroat - 8
* Eastern Towhee - 1
* Indigo Bunting - 4
After Huntley we headed over the Hunting Creek where we saw the ususal
suspects:
* DC Cormorant - 15
* Great Blue heron - 3
* Great Egret - 6
* Canada Goose - 11
* Mallard - 8
* Osprey - 1
* Killdeer - 12
* Greater Yellowlegs - 5
* Ring-billed Gull - lots
* Great Black-backed Gull - 2
* Laughing Gull - even more than the Ring-billed
* Caspian Tern - 9
* Red-winged Blackbird - 1 and only 1
Finally, a late report of the Swift roost at Luther Jackson Middle School in
Merrifield, Fairfax County. I went last Thursday 9/22 with a friend who had
never seen a Swift roost before and the birds did not disappoint. We got
there at 7:15pm to see about 100 birds, the numbers really picked up until
about 7:40pm when the peak was hit, ~2000 birds total. By 8pm, with the last
of the light, we watched the last stragglers dive in. What a sight, it never
fails to exhilarate and amaze me.
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Jeff Clark
Fairfax City, VA
http://www.nothoo.com
