I started at daybreak this morning in wind a rain to try and access the Potomac
in Prince William County to see if Irene left any good birds behind.
Unfortunately the best spots, Occoquan Bay NWR and Leesylvania SP were both
closed, so I made do. At the Occoquan marina I found 3-5 black terns and 2
common terns. At Neabsco Creek I found a sanderling, 4 semipalmated
sandpipers, and an immature Bonaparte's gull on the flats, and a black tern
over the marsh. At the turf farm on Bristow Rd (Rt. 619) near the Manassas
airport I found 2 American golden plovers, a black-bellied plover, least
sandpiper, and a peregrine falcon sitting in a field.
Marc Ribaudo
Woodbridge
