Date: Sat, 14 Feb 2004 14:43:30 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: "John D. Beetham" Subject: Red-headed Woodpecker at Kenilworth MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hello birders. I found an adult-plumage red-headed woodpecker on the river trail at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in NE DC this morning. It was between the trail and the river, most of the way down the trail, on a snag near a group of holly trees. This is more or less the same place an immature-plumage red-head was found in December. It is possible that this was the same bird, because it appeared that there were still some brown feathers on its head, especially around the eye. I could hear it calling, making a low, soft rattle. It appeared to be having a turf war with a starling perched on the same snag, but this may have been in appearance only. Of course, both woodpeckers and starlings are cavity-nesters, so there was something for them to fight about. The river trail also featured some calling eastern towhees, a hermit thrush, and a winter wren. With the warmer weather, much of the ice on the marsh has melted so waterfowl, mostly mallards and black ducks, have returned. There were four gadwall in one of the impoundments near the entrance. John Beetham Washington, DC john.beetham AT verizon.net ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================