Sixteen birders came out for the Northern Virginia Bird Club walk at
Occoquan Bay NWR this morning. The leaders were Steve Williams and I.
We had a wonderful day with many FOS birds for most of us and some life
birds for others. One of the highlights was the KING RAILS at the
bridge which crossed the road in front of us three times. On of those
times, two rails crossed together. In the same location, we got long
looks at a YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT singing in a tree. A Traill's
Flycatcher was also there. It's listed below as a Willow, because that
seems more likely than an Alder. It never vocalized, so we could not be
sure.
In other places on the refuge, there were ORCHARD ORIOLES, WARBLING
VIREOS. many YELLOW WARBLERS, a couple of COMMON LOONS, a small flock
of RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS, CASPIAN TERNS, a large number of BLUE JAYS
migrating overhead, PROTHONOTARY WARBLERS, two calling BOBWHITES, and a
heard PRAIRIE WARBLER.
Non-avian sightings of note included various butterflies and
dragonflies, an angry beaver and an Eight-spotted Forester's Moth
(which I photographed)
To see a few recent photos including some from today go to
http://uberlarry.smugmug.com/gallery/1398269_iJSYP#520614465_92MFL
The rail was backlit, but it's still an OK shot.
Non-bird photos, including the moth, are at
http://uberlarry.smugmug.com/gallery/2968729_ogXjH#520622052_xdX62
A schedule of our free and open to all walks can be seen at
http://www.nvabc.org/trips.htm
Larry Meade
Vienna, VA
Location: Occoquan Bay NWR
Observation date: 4/25/09
Notes: NVBC Walk led by Steve WIlliams and Larry Meade. Willow
Flycatcher
might have been an Alder since it was not heard.
Number of species: 70
Canada Goose 20
Wood Duck 2
Mallard 6
Red-breasted Merganser 20
Wild Turkey 4
Northern Bobwhite 2
Common Loon 2
Double-crested Cormorant 40
Great Blue Heron 15
Great Egret 3
Green Heron 1
Turkey Vulture 2
Osprey 14
Bald Eagle 2
Red-tailed Hawk 1
King Rail 4
Solitary Sandpiper 1
Greater Yellowlegs 3
Laughing Gull 15
Ring-billed Gull 10
Herring Gull 14
Caspian Tern 10
Forster's Tern 1
Rock Pigeon 2
Mourning Dove 8
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 5
Downy Woodpecker 3
Northern Flicker 3
Pileated Woodpecker 2
Willow Flycatcher 1
Eastern Phoebe 2
Eastern Kingbird 3
White-eyed Vireo 6
Warbling Vireo 2
Blue Jay 400
American Crow 6
Fish Crow 10
Purple Martin 12
Tree Swallow 50
Barn Swallow 1
Carolina Chickadee 9
Tufted Titmouse 8
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Carolina Wren 18
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 30
Eastern Bluebird 10
American Robin 1
Gray Catbird 7
Northern Mockingbird 2
Brown Thrasher 6
European Starling 24
Yellow Warbler 35
Yellow-rumped Warbler 6
Prairie Warbler 1
Palm Warbler 1
Prothonotary Warbler 5
Common Yellowthroat 22
Yellow-breasted Chat 2
Eastern Towhee 12
Field Sparrow 18
Song Sparrow 10
White-throated Sparrow 40
Dark-eyed Junco 2
Northern Cardinal 15
Red-winged Blackbird 60
Common Grackle 8
Brown-headed Cowbird 4
Orchard Oriole 2
American Goldfinch 40
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org/VA)
