My visit to Occoquan Bay NWR in Woodbridge got off to an interesting start this
morning when I was greeted by 2 coyotes in the parking lot. They ambled off in
no great hurry as I pulled in and tried to snap a few photos. Birding was
pretty good, with 62 species tallied. Sparrow numbers have really jumped and
juncos have arrived. I also saw song (30), swamp (14), savannah (5), Lincoln's
(2), white-crowned (7), white-throated (40), field (8), and eastern towhee (4).
Other notables were a female common goldeneye near Deephole Point (a bit
early), rusty blackbirds overhead at the parking lot and at the end of Charlie
Road, 3 blackpoll warblers (2 along the trail that runs along the golf course
and another near the blind), about 30 pied-billed grebes in Occoquan Bay,
winter wren, brown creeper, pine siskin, and purple finch.
Marc Ribaudo
