All,
I hope Glenn does not mind my piggybacking on his message. I'd
planned to pass a few observations along from Huntley Meadows yesterday
(May 4) and this seems a convenient way to do so. I saw the Mississippi
Kite (an adult), too. The kite first appeared for me at 12:03 while I
was standing on the boardwalk near the observation tower. It soared and
made spectacular dives over the woods south of Barnyard Run and east to
southeast of the Main Pond/main marsh before departing to what I think
was the southeast at about the time Glenn mentions. It was pretty low
at times...my best look yet of one at Huntley. As I was headed into the
park and toward the wetlands on the trail thru the woods from the
visitor center I met Bev Leeuwenberg (probably misspelled the last name;
sorry, Bev), who was headed out. She told me that an American Bittern
had been out in the open for some time. I could not find it when I got
out onto the marsh, or for a long time thereafter, but at maybe 12:45
p.m. someone on the main boardwalk discovered it out in the open again
(near the edge of the Juncus-dominated marsh on the north side of the
Main Pond opening and maybe about 100 yards from the raised section of
the boardwalk loop). We had nice looks for awhile from the boardwalk
loop before the bittern foraged back into the Juncus. About 11:40 a.m.
a Peregrine Falcon made a brief pass over the woods south of Barnyard
Run. At maybe about 10:00 a.m. a female Hooded Merganser with 5 small
downy young was foraging in the channels and marsh a short distance down
Barnyard Run from the boardwalk SW of the observation tower. An Osprey
actually foraged, hovering, over the Main Pond several times in the late
morning and at least 3 times stooped into it (I've never seen this
before although Ospreys are often in the area during the warm season).
Once it actually came out with an animal (could not tell if it was a
fish, has anyone heard if they'll ever eat frogs or toads?) that was so
small that it has hard to see in the bird's talons! It carried this
thing to one of the dead trees in the beaver pond down Barnyard Run and
ate it. A Prothonotary Warbler was singing in the woods along the south
edge of the Barnyard Run beaver openings near the dam for the first
large beaver pond down the Run. A few Laughing Gulls loudly overflew
the park. There were lots of Yellow-billed Cuckoos in the park, as it
turned out, but they did not become noisy until afternoon. At least 3
Indigo Buntings were singing in trees boardering the beaver pond
openings, a couple of Wood Thrushes sang a little from scattered
locations in the woods, and at least 3 Great Crested Flyctchers were
pretty noisy in the area at times. A nonbird observation is that I
followed, for the first time, a woods road that runs toward the south
edge of the park from the eastern part of the second informal trail
south of Barnyard Run. Near a wet (standing water when I was there)
swale that the road runs thru I saw an animal run under a large tree
that is lying on the forest floor. After a short wait it appeared on
the top of a large, downed tree a little farther away, and this time I
was able to get my binos on it. It turned out to be a young Red Fox
(the first I've seen in the park, though others have told me of seeing
Red Foxes there). There is probably a Red Fox den in that area
somewhere, but I did not try to find it.
A badly needed and highly therapeutic day at Huntley Meadows for
me!
John Bazuin
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Glenn"
<gjkoppel@cox.n
et> To
Sent by: "Va Birds" <va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
va-bird-bounces cc
@listserve.com Wildlife Watchers
<discussions@lists.wildlifewatcher
s.org>
05/04/2008 Subject
07:45 PM [Va-bird] Mississippi Kite
Today (Sunday May 4) we had a Mississippi Kite at Huntley Meadows. It
flew
once over the wetland at 1210 PM today and flew away beyond the trees
behind
Barnyard Run.
Glenn Koppel and Mary Alice Koeneke
gjkoppel@xxxxxxx
Centreville, VA 20120-2901
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