Mini-Big Day
Howard Youth (hmyouth@erols.com)
Wed, 05 May 1999 22:28:04 -0400
Put work on a shelf and headed down to Huntley Meadows early, followed by
Dyke Marsh, then Great Falls, VA. In the evening, spent an hour at Seneca.
Eight hours of birding yielded a total of 103 species. (Many common species
were missed, including red-tailed hawk and white-breasted nuthatch.)
Highlights include 19 warbler species, of which the "best" were:
blackburnian warbler two singing at high noon, Great Falls
hooded warbler (one to two males) at Dyke Marsh (Thanks for the tip, Kurt!)
Kentucky warbler one Great Falls, VA
chestnut-sided warbler one Huntley Meadows
magnolia warbler beautiful singing male, DM
yellow-breasted chat one DM
blue-winged warbler one S
blackpoll warbler DM
Marsh birds at Huntley Meadows included an American bittern, a fly-over
yellow-crowned night-heron, five king rails, one sora (chased sev. times by
king rail). (Virtually all of this action took place before 8 a.m.)
At Seneca, had three fly-over common nighthawks and several Bonaparte's
gulls still on the river.
Sparrows--six species--including two white-crowned sparrows and one or two
savannah sparrows at Dyke Marsh.
Other migrants of interest: Many solitary sandpipers at HM, spotted
sandpiper at HM and Bellehaven Picnic Area, greater yellowlegs at HM,
yellow-billed cuckoo heard both HM and DM, eastern pewee (one DM, sev.
heard GF), Acadian flycatcher (one heard HM), veery (one each DM, GF), two
hermit thrush (DM), rose-breasted grosbeak (one male DM), indigo bunting
(sev. overhead HM, one singing DM).
Howard Youth
Rockville, MD
hmyouth@erols.com