Ditto on Mike Webster's spot of the King Rail at Occoquan today. Julie and I
got to the small bridge on Charlie road at 10am and the KING RAIL appeared as
if on command. He was only 15-20 feet from us and was in unobstructed view for
10 minutes or so on the south side of the bridge. We saw him catch and quickly
swallow a large crawfish before disappearing into the reeds.
There was quite a bit of activity at Occoquan today. We also saw BALD EAGLES
(2), a PEREGRINE FALCON, many PALM and YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, one WORM-EATING
WARBLER. Many sparrows are back, and we saw SONG SPARROWS everywhere, some
WHITE-THROATS, FIELD, and SWAMP SPARROWS. Also seen were: BLUEBIRDS; AM.
ROBINS; BLUE JAYS; several flocks of STARLINGs and RED-SHOULDERED BLACKBIRDS,
plus GRACKLES, RUBY-CORWNED KINGLETs, EASTERN PHOEBEs, DOWNY WOODPECKERs,
RED-BELLIED WOODPECKERs, a NO. FLICKER, and a PILEATED. We also spotted two
PIED-BILLED GREBEs, a dozen or so DC CORMORANTS, 2 KILLDEER, CANADA GEESE,
ducks that were too far out to identify, and what appeared to be a juvenile
CANVASBACK resting on a log close to shore.
Bill Knight
