VA birders:
A group of ten people spent a pleasant half-day at Occoquan Bay NWR
in Prince William County today. We were a group (containing several
renegade Virginians!) that I led for the Montgomery Bird Club, a
chapter of the Maryland Ornithological Society. We missed a number of
species -- primarily ducks -- that the Northern Virginia Bird Club
group saw in the same refuge just yesterday, and we had fewer
sparrows. We nevertheless had what we consider to have been a very
productive day.
The full list follows:
Location: Occoquan Bay NWR
Observation date: 11/25/07
Notes: Group trip from Montgomery Bird Club, Maryland
Number of species: 58
Canada Goose 100
Tundra Swan 3 Flew over about 8:10 a.m. Heading due South.
American Black Duck 6
Mallard 4
Lesser Scaup 10 Very low number for this location. May be just
early in winter season
Bufflehead 50
Common Goldeneye 3 Two of three were females. One may have been
young male - lacked spot on face.
Red-breasted Merganser 6 all females
Ruddy Duck 40 There may have been more, but too distant to tell
Pied-billed Grebe 20 Probably more than this. Way north across Belmont Bay
Double-crested Cormorant 20
Great Blue Heron 3
Turkey Vulture 1
Bald Eagle 6 3 adults and 3 immatures
Northern Harrier 3
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 nice study of perched bird
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 2
King Rail 1 Heard calling from marsh. This species is regularly
reported from this refuge.
American Coot 100 Possibly even more. Distant, very large raft.
Ring-billed Gull 30
Herring Gull 50
Great Black-backed Gull 2
Rock Pigeon 30 Just outside refuge entrance road.
Mourning Dove 2
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 4
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 6
Pileated Woodpecker 3
Blue Jay 2
American Crow 10
Fish Crow 10
Carolina Chickadee 2
Tufted Titmouse 1
Carolina Wren 8
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
Eastern Bluebird 8
Hermit Thrush 1
American Robin 30
Northern Mockingbird 2
European Starling 100
Cedar Waxwing 300 Several very large groups. Feeding voraciously
on poison ivy berries and Bartlett Pear fruits.
Yellow-rumped Warbler 6
Chipping Sparrow 1
Field Sparrow 2
Savannah Sparrow 1
Fox Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 30
Swamp Sparrow 4
White-throated Sparrow 4
Northern Cardinal 4
Red-winged Blackbird 50
Rusty Blackbird 4 In with a group of Red-winged Blackbirds. Both
sexes seen.
Brown-headed Cowbird 2
House Finch 6
American Goldfinch 4
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)
Mike Bowen
Montgomery Bird Club
Bethesda, MD
D.H. Michael Bowen
8609 Ewing Drive
Bethesda, MD 20817
Telephone: (301) 530-5764
e-mail: dhmbowenATyahooDOTcom
