VA BIRDers,
I went out this morning and found a adult male Ruddy Duck in Occoquan Bay
off the island east of the Occoquan Marina. The skies of the marina were
overrun with Purple Martins - I estimated 200 including some perched in
nearby trees. A visit to Prince William Forest Park on Breckinridge Road
(off Joplin Rd, Rt 619) produced 3 widely separated Hooded Warblers chipping
in the forest. Lastly, Russ Taylor and I (and also joined by another)
rendezvoused on the Hunting Creek Stone Bridge to go through shorebirds.
Highlight were 2 Western Sandpipers plus scads of Semipalmated peeps, some
Least, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs plus 55 Forster's Terns and some
Caspian Terns.
Kurt Gaskill
