Birds on the mall
Jim Felley (IRMSS668@SIVM.SI.EDU)
Thu, 23 Apr 98 11:56:51 EDT
Some notes on what you can see as a tourist down in DC this week.
Just this week, a big fly-in of Worm-eating Warblers, Brown Thrashers,
White-eyed Vireos and Yellow-rumped Warblers. The thrashers, vireos
and Worm-eating Warblers are most in evidence at the DC Veteran's
Monument near the Lincoln Memorial. This week has been declared
Yellow-rumped Warbler week on the Mall, because they seem to be
everywhere. Today at lunch (early!), a large flock of Chimney
Swifts was flying over the Reflecting Pool, and there was a male
Blue-winged Teal at the Lincoln Monument end of the Pool.
Also seen, Caspian Terns over the Tidal Basin and Rough-winged
Swallows nesting along the seawall at the Tidal basin.
What is not being seen so much--most of the Ring-billed Gulls
have left, despite the efforts of tourists with Cheetos to keep them
here. Some young ones remain. Double-crested Cormorants are far
fewer than last week. I haven't seen any accipiters or Red-tailed
Hawks in weeks (perhaps the nesting crows have driven them off).
Finally, the alewives finished spawning, and the gizzard shad
seemed to have completed their die-off.
Jim
Jim Felley (irmss668@sivm.si.edu)
Smithsonian Institution
Washington DC