Birders from the Northern Virginia Bird Club visited Huntley Meadows Park in
Fairfax County this morning. This time, we were on the Hike-Bike side of the
park on Telegraph Road. The walk was led by Stacia Novy and me. Conditions were
cloudy and muggy, but the rain had moved out by the time we started. We did
pretty well with 56 species observed overall. The highlight was the nine
shorebird species we saw in the main marsh. We viewed them from the platform
which is next to the berm and can be reached by traveling down the trail to the
right before you reach the end of the paved trail. After scanning for a while,
we found Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Solitary, Spotted, Pectoral, Least and
Semipalmated Sandpipers, plus Killdeer and a Semipalmated Plover. We were a bit
disappointed with the lack of warblers with only a Common Yellowthroat and
American Redstart tallied. However, we did see Wild Turkeys, Scarlet Tanagers,
Wood Ducks, a Bald Eagle and a Blue Grosbeak.
Larry Meade
Merrifield, VA
