Gerry Hawkins and I led a group from the Montgomery Bird Club of
Maryland to Occoquan Bay NWR, Prince William County, this Sunday
morning, 11/25. Despite a lot of cloud cover and temps. not much
above freezing, it wasn't particularly cold except for portions of
the refuge exposed to a brisk SW wind. Waterfowl and sparrows were
as usual the top targets at this refuge and both were present in
decent numbers, although some were hunkered down a lot (Sparrows) or
sometimes too far away for full satisfying viewing (waterfowl).
We scored 7 sparrow species, with lots of Songs and White-throated
and a few Swamp and Field, and with 3 delightful Fox Sparrows and 2
Savannahs the standouts. A single White-crowned juvenile gave us a
quick view not far from the newly paved central parking area. Both
Kinglet species and a Brown Creeper were seen and Eastern Bluebirds
were everywhere. In the water bird department we had Pied-billed
(15) and Horned (1) Grebes, a flock of a dozen Hooded Mergansers,
Ruddy Duck, Gadwall, Black Duck, Bufflehead and large rafts of Lesser
Scaup and American Coot. Raptors included Bald Eagles, a Northern
Harrier, Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks and a couple of Cooper's Hawks.
Michael Bowen
Montgomery Bird Club
Bethesda, MD
D.H. Michael Bowen
8609 Ewing Drive
Bethesda, MD 20817
Telephone: (301) 530-5764
e-mail: dhmbowenATyahooDOTcom
