I went walking with a friend this afternoon at Riverbend Park, primarily from
the observation platform down river as far as the picnic area. We found 250 to
400 Ring-necked ducks, scattered all over the river; a 150 or more Buffelhead,
including a large group of 75 or more gathered right in front of the
observation platform floating downriver as I was leaving; at least 15 Common
Mergansers, males and females; one male Hooded Merganser; 9 or 10 Redhead
amongst the Ring-necked ducks down by Conn Island; three male and one female
American Widgeon, four or so Gadwall; and a lot of Coots.
Looking ahead, the weather forecast is for 11 or 12° Thursday morning and a
high of 24 Thursday afternoon. When it was this cold and the river froze last
year, we had astounding ducks at Riverbend. I'm certainly going to bundle up
and go have a look Thursday afternoon; one never knows what might be there.
Donald Sweig
Falls Church, Virginia
Sent from my iPad
