I was at the gate of Occoquan Bay NWR at 6:40am, hoping to see the short-eared
owl Kurt reported yesterday. No luck there, but I did enjoy a wonderful
woodcock show against the lightening sky (at least until the knucklehead who
pulled in behind me sat in his idling, out-of-tune truck for ten minutes
drowning out all sounds). In the refuge I could not find the sedge wren, but
heard the house wren singing near the pond. Other highlights were a FOS purple
martin, several tree swallows, a meadowlark (peenting like a woodcock; never
heard that call before), a dozen horned grebes at the mouth of Marumsco Creek,
and 3 loudly calling king rails in the marsh adjacent to Easy Rd. At Belmont
Marina I saw another dozen horned grebes, plus 4 red-necked grebes. At both
spots osprey were plentiful. What a difference a week makes!
Marc Ribaudo
Woodbridge
