Sunday afternoon I stopped at George Washington's Birthplace in Westmoreland
county on the way to have dinner with my parents in Warsaw. On the trip down
Rt. 3 I saw 3 Red-tailed Hawks in treetops and one on the ground in front of
the sand and gravel ponds in King George county. The one on the ground was
picking at something that wasn't alive, or even recently alive, or maybe EVER
alive. It looked like dark brown paper or plastic. I would expect this of an
Eagle but this was clearly a Red-tailed in the scope. Two tundra swans were the
only additions to the waterfowl I saw here earlier in the week. Further down
Rt. 3 an immature Bald Eagle was feeding on a deer carcass in a field while an
adult Bald Eagle regally commandeered the top of a tree on the opposite side of
the road.
A pair of adult Bald Eagles were perched in a tree in a farm field close to the
entrance to George Washington's Birthplace. Cedar Waxwings were eating, calling
and flying excitedly in the cedars along the road just past the first ponds. In
the cove at the picnic area were 75+ Tundra Swans. Many of them had their heads
tucked for a nap. Three Great Blue Herons were scattered in the edges of the
marsh. Many Canada Geese were feeding in a field on the road to the beach.
Scaup and Surf Scoters, Bufflehead and Ruddy Ducks were mixed with Common
Goldeneye on the Potomac River. A pair of Long-tailed Ducks seemed to keep a
distance from the others. Two Belted Kingfishers flew across the road behind me
engaged in a loud dispute. In the long, narrow pond near the river were 6 or
more pairs of Mallards, 3 pairs of Gadwall and 2 American Widgeon drakes. A
Great Blue Heron was installed on a bank in the late afternoon sunshine for the
several hours that I was visiting.
On the way back out of the GWBNM there was an adult Bald Eagle on either side
of the road overlooking the river. Yellow Rumps, Chickadees, White-breasted
Nuthatches, Downy Woodpeckers, Tufted Titmice, Juncos, and White-throated
Sparrows fed unconcernedly under the eye of a Red-tailed Hawk in the patch of
woods on the west side of the road. The pair of Eagles had moved from the
field to a tree on the edge of the cove near the Visitor's Center.
I saw at least 16 deer but what I didn't see were the Wild Turkeys I almost
always see there, the Wood Ducks and the Mute Swans.
Take care.
Lee
Lee Loudenslager Adams
ladams42@xxxxxxx
