VA BIRDers,
Marc Ribaudo, Gerry Hawkins, Larry Meade, Rich Rieger and I birded the Mason
Neck SP area, especially the phase 2 fields this morning, facilitated by the
kind permission of park management. We arrived early and had an outstanding
morning, finding a large number of migrants (in no doubt due to the
favorable weather conditions last night). The highlights were many and
included an excellent sweep of the flycatchers and 18 species of warbler.
Tops in numbers were Red-winged Blackbird, Bobolink, Chimney Swift,
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Red-eyed Vireo, E. Wood Pewee, Cedar Waxwing, Wood
Thrush, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Indigo Bunting and Magnolia Warbler.
The list of Mason Neck SP notables are below (89 species at the park when we
broke for lunch).
Kurt Gaskill
Wood Duck 2
Lesser Scaup 4, present for some time on Belmont Bay
Wild Turkey 1, pops out in a field and runs away from us
Osprey 7
Bald Eagle 3
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Merlin 1, chasing swallows
American Coot 9, present for some time on Belmont Bay
Greater Yellowlegs 1
Caspian Tern 2
Forster's Tern 2
Black Tern 1, on Belmont Bay near the islands
YB Cuckoo 6
Barred Owl 1
Chimney Swift 30
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 9
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-headed WP 2, adult and juvie
Olive-sided Flycatcher 2, one was over the Visitor's Center in the tall snag
E. Wood Pewee 18
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 1
Acadian Flycatcher 3
Trail's Flycatcher 2
Least Flycatcher 7
E. Phoebe 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 15, literally everywhere we looked
E. Kingbird 2
White-eyed V 1
Yellow-throated V 1
Warbling V 1, small compared to the REVI's which were close by
Philadelphia V 1
Red-eyed V 24
Blue Jay 4
Purple Martin 2
Tree Sw 1
No. Rough-winged Sw 15
Barn Sw 5
House Wren 4
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 30, everywhere
E. Bluebird 4
Wood Thrush 17, on the roads as we drove in
American Robin 2
Gray Catbird 10
E. Starling 1, yep, that's right, only one was noted today at the park
Cedar Waxwing 18
Blue-winged 2
Tennessee 1
No. Parula 8
Yellow 3
Chestnut-sided 5
Magnolia 13
Cape May 1
Black-thr Blue 3
Blackburnian 1
Yellow-throated 1
Blackpoll 1
Black & White 10
American Redstart 11
Prothonotary 1
Ovenbird 1
No. Waterthrush 1
Mourning 1
Common Yellowthroat 4
Scarlet Tanager 4
Indigo Bunting 15
Bobolink 30, all flying over the field we were birding
Red-winged BB 60
Baltimore Oriole 6
American Goldfinch 6
After lunch, Rich Rieger and I visited a few spots as we drove home. The
first was the Accotink Refuge at Ft Belvoir which added Great Blue Heron and
Great Egret to our day's list plus Solitary Sandpiper. And another 3 Barn
Swallows. Then we drove to Riverside Park (off the GW Parkway) and found 3
Caspian Terns, 48 Forster's Terns, 8 Black Terns, 2 Pied-billed Grebes and a
Barn Swallow. Then on to Dyke Marsh where we scoped Hunting Creek Bay from
the picnic area. Here we added 7 Blue-winged Teal, 12 Northern Shoveler,
and a newly arrived Northern Pintail (the latter was pretty much on time,
too). Plus more Pied-billed Grebes and Great Egrets. This is when we
called it a day and went home to our barbeques.
