Spurred on by a 65 species day at Dyke Marsh last Sunday (including some of
Paula Sullivan's birds from Hunting Creek) - Paul Kane and I decided to try
for the March Big Day record in VA (as recorded in the ABA Big Day Report).
For those unfamiliar w/ this ABA (American Birding Association) or this
publication, it arrives yearly, as part of your membership, and lists a
monthly "Big Day" for each state in the U.S. The highest total for March (in
VA) that has been submitted to date is 80. That left only 15 species to
garner elsewhere and with new arrivals being reported every day...let's go.
Paul and I started at 6 a.m. at Hunting Creek, in Alexandria, where the tide
was still coming in...However, as soon as we got out of our cars, it started
raining. The exposed mud flats to the west of the stone bridge yielded 0
Snipe, one of our target birds...we did however, manage to snag a Tundra Swan
- a bonus bird. We continued on to Dyke Marsh and made a quick sortie down
the Haul Road. We had quite a few of the usuals but we did miss a few,
including Catbird, our Ring-necked Duck (has anyone seen Firestone lately?)
and Common and Red-breasted Merganser...We managed 46 species by 8 a.m. ,
said hi to the Dykesters who were just starting out and we were off to
Huntley Meadows...
At Huntley, we were going for Red-headed WP - all the way out on Barnyard
Run...quite a walk, but since there was a chance for Blue-winged Teal and
Snipe on the pond on our way out, we motored....no BWT, no Snipe, we did
score the RH WP and a few others we needed - Brown Creeper, Hairy WP, E.
Bluebird...the raindrops were falling lightly on and off, it was fairly
warm...our count was in the upper 50's when we left Huntley...we were good to
go...
Heading down RT 1 to Mason Neck, by way of Jackson Abbott Wetlands (adjacent
to Ft. Belvoir, we tallied Rock Dove (yay! - don't forget Rock Dove). Jackson
Abbott pushed us to 60 w/ a Field Sparrow and (my first of the year) Chimney
Swifts...
On the way to Mason Neck, Paul picked out a Kestrel perched in the field
directly across from the entrance to Lower Potomac Pollution Control Plant on
Old Colchester Road. The field also yielded up a Red Fox...we ticked off an
Eastern Meadowlark on a wire along Gunston Road..it was still raining when we
got to Mason Neck.
Checking the feeders at the Visitor Center, we notched a Brown Cowbird. The
Bay yielded up 1 Common Loon and maybe two dozen Greater Scaup. One
Bufflehead in the bay made up for the Bufflehead at Dyke that were too far
out in the Potomac to count (ABA rules state that the bird needs to be
"within" the area...i.e.VA). It started raining harder...no birds
soaring...no vultures...no hawks...
We had Chinese buffet for Easter lunch...after lunch, the rain had stopped,
it was cooler, we thought we might luck out. The sky looked brighter.
Neabsco Creek gave up Purple Martins near the entrance to Leesylvania. In
Leesylvania we managed YB Sapsucker, Yellow-throated Warbler, Killdeer (our
only 1 of the day!) Barred Owl and a last place to look Hermit Thrush - 74
and counting. The marina at the end of Neabsco Rd. had Barn
Swallows...75...and on the way back to RT 1 the High Voltage power lines
delivered our only Red-tailed Hawk of the day...76...at 4:30 p.m. Up I-95 to
Winkler Preserve to see if the Red-shouldered Hawks were on their
nest...no...76...over to Ft. Hunt park for possible GC Kinglets and
Red-breasted Nuthatches...getting dark, too dark to see...some movement...no
ID's...76...back to Hunting Creek, where it all began 12 hours ago, raining
again...still no Snipe. The Kingfisher flew in and perched where we saw it
when we were still in single digits...I'm having a Deja View...scoping East
of the stone bridge, we added Bonaparte's Gull...77. The sky grew dark, we
were getting wet, we were smiling. March is just about done, so were we...the
record listed for April is 88.
We had quite a day. Saw a ton of birds...listened to Neil Young and Eric
Clapton. Had some disappointing misses...(no GC Kinglet!) - no vultures!
...but then again, if I had stepped behind another tree to "you-know-what", I
wouldn't have seen the Barred Owl fly in. A day with less rain, I think 80
would be history. For those of you still reading...the list follows...Rich
Rieger
Common Loon
PB Grebe
Horned Grebe
DC Cormorant
GB Heron
Great Egret
Tundra Swan
C. Goose
Wood Duck
GW Teal
Am. Black Duck
Mallard
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Osprey
Bald Eagle
RT Hawk
Am. Kestrel
Am. Coot
Killdeer
Lesser Yellowlegs
Laughing Gull
Bonaparte's Gull
RB Gull
Herring Gull
GBB Gull
Rock Dove
MoDo
Barred Owl
Chimney Swift
Belted Kingfisher
Red-headed WP
Red-bellied WP
YB Sapsucker
Downy WP
Hairy WP
No. Flicker
Pileated WP
E. Phoebe
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
Blue Jay
Am. Crow
Fish Crow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
WB Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Carolina Wren
Winter Wren
RC Kinglet
E. Bluebird
Hermit Thrush
Am. Robin
No. Mockingbird
E. Starling
YR Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Pine Warbler
No. Cardinal
E. Towhee
Field Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
WT Sparrow
DE Junco
RW Blackbird
E. Meadowlark
Common Grackle
BH Cowbird
House Finch
Am. Goldfinch
House Sparrow
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