I had a very nice 2 hour visit to Occoquan Bay NWR this morning. Lots of
waterfowl still. In the waters off Deephole Pt. were several large rafts
containing mostly coots and gadwall, but also lesser scaup, greater scaup,
ring-necked duck, redhead, canvasback, bufflehead, ruddy duck, and American
wigeon. Along the shore were good numbers of horned grebe, several pied-billed
grebes, and red-breasted mergansers. Many swallows were flying over the water;
mostly tree with a few rough-winged mixed in. The marsh contained a calling
king rail, wood duck, Wilson's snipe, greater yellowleg and great egret. Also
in the refuge were 6 savannah sparrows along the entrance road, brown thrashers
along the entrance road and Easy Rd., 3 hermit thrushes on Easy Rd., 2 kestrels
(male and female), a northern harrier at the parking lot, rusty blackbirds
along Deephole Pt. Rd., green-winged teal and lesser yellowlegs off the viewing
platform. Off the Belmont Bay marina was a flock of 110 red-breasted
mergansers.
Marc Ribaudo
Woodbridge, VA
