Having given up sleep for Lent, I went out again this morning looking for
nocturnal birds. My excuse is scouting for a big day in two weeks. I
decided to take it easy this morning, so I didn't get up until 4:15. I got
to the back side of Huntley meadows at about 5. I heard a two-note hoot
shortly thereafter, not the classical great horned, but definitely not barred
(which I am much more familiar with), so probably a great horned
vocalization. I needed have agonized over it as at about 6, two great
horneds hooted for several minutes, and twenty minutes later, three barred
owls started tuning up. In the meantime, while trying to nap on the bench of
the platform looking over the central wetland, a Virginia rail vocalized four
times in rapid succession at about 5:50. It later gave me plenty of
opportunity to listen, as it vocalized almost non-stop from 6-6:30. This was
the "kid-it" vocalization, allegedly given only by the male (how was this
originally determined? Think about it.) Other noteworthy stuff:
wood duck 2
green-winged teal 6
blue-winged teal 1 (male)
hooded merg 12 (mommy and 11 (I think, they were hard to count) really small
puffballs)
great egret 3
American bittern 1 (flew across the marsh, and disappeared into the
vegetation on the west side at about 6:10)
osprey 1
red-shouldered hawk 1 or 2 (near the northern wetland)
yellow-billed cuckoo 1 or 2 (single vocalizations 4 or 5 times)
phoebe 1 (under the platform some of the time)
red-eyed vireo 9
brown thrasher 1
house wren 1 (thicket on Pond Trail; not common at Huntley)
yellow-rumped warbler 8
palm warbler 2
pine warbler 1
ovenbird 2
common yellowthroat 4
swamp sparrow 3 or more singing before dawn
towhee 4+
No sign of the yellow-crowned night-herons.
BTW, where is everyone? Looking for the Eurasian kestrel? This has got to
be one of the four best weekends of the year for birding, and we saw one
other birder at Leesylvania yesterday, and I saw only three birders on the
boardwalk by 7, and one other on the Hike/Bike trail on my way out. Just
curious.
Ben Jesup
Alexandria, VA
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