Occoquan NWR was kind of quiet this morning, with 61 species tallied.
Bobolinks were in the big field along the entrance road and in the field along
Charlie Rd. (I saw 8 and heard others). I saw only 4 species of warbler (palm,
magnolia, northern waterthrush, and common yellowthroat). Palms were numerous,
with about 2 dozen seen in small flocks throughout the refuge. A ruby-crowned
kinglet was along Easy Rd. A Wilson's snipe was sitting out in the open on the
shore of Painted Turtle Pond. Along the river I encountered 8 shovelers, 9
blue-winged teal, 5 coots and numerous pied-billed grebes. A sharp-shinned
hawk and 2 Cooper's hawks got everone excited. I also encountered many
migrating flickers. There were 8 feeding together in the bottom of the dry
pond next to the parking lot.
Marc Ribaudo
Woodbridge
