Being a school teacher on my final weekday of summer break, but yet fresh back
from vacationing and my lawn in dire need of mowing, I was torn between morning
birding or mowing in the cool. I, of course, made the wise decision and mowed
the lawn in the afternoon and nearly roasted. However, birding at Dyke Marsh
on the Potomac in Alexandria this morning did yield a lone Pie-billed Grebe
just a hundred yards or so north of the marina and not far off-shore. It was
still in full breeding plumage with the black throat patch and the bill ring.
It was very cooperative and I scoped it for about 5 minutes. It was not seen
on the return walk. While no stranger to our area, this is the first one I've
seen since last winter.
Notably absent were swallows of any kind, and I only spotted 3 distant
(unidentifiable) shore birds, but I did get there around high tide. Caspian
Terns were plentiful and quite active. Osprey are still everywhere and my
count of 19 is probably conservative. The humorous sighting of the day was a
Double-crested Cormorant catching an eel, only to have it slip away.
37 species were identified in all. A complete list is below.
Canada Goose 5
American Black Duck 3
Mallard 23
Pied-billed Grebe 1
Double-crested Cormorant 15
Great Blue Heron 6
Great Egret 8
Osprey 19
Ring-billed Gull 145
Great Black-backed Gull 2
Caspian Tern 7
Mourning Dove 5
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 6
Belted Kingfisher 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 1
Acadian Flycatcher 1
Eastern Kingbird 11
Warbling Vireo 1
Blue Jay 3
Fish Crow 7
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Carolina Wren 3
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 6
American Robin 2
Gray Catbird 9
Northern Mockingbird 1
Brown Thrasher 1
European Starling 25
Common Yellowthroat 1
Song Sparrow 3
Northern Cardinal 8
Red-winged Blackbird 15
Common Grackle 12
Orchard Oriole 1
American Goldfinch 8
House Sparrow 7
Dave Boltz
Alexandria, VA
