Hello,
I birded Deal Island WMA at the end of the day on
Thursday. It is a beautiful place. The road is short
enough that it can be a quick place to bird but it's a
great place to linger if you are so inclined.
I saw/heard some of the species that Walter, Nancy and
Ian had two days earlier. I stopped along the dirt
road a handful of times. Nothing rare seen but a
pleasant early evening in the marsh.
I counted about 10 each of Seaside Sparrows and Marsh
Wrens but there were probably many more. I had good
looks at some of each. The Marsh Wrens that I saw
well were quite drab in coloration - no reddish tones.
Red-winged Blackbird was abundant. A couple of
Mallards were well into eclipse plumage. A female
Blue-winged Teal flushed. American Black Duck was the
other duck sp. that I saw. Wading birds were limited
to just a few flyovers. I heard 2 rails, one unId'd,
one Clapper.
The only shorebirds were 2 Willet. One was off the
end of the road in the channel on the right side. I
watched it swallow a fish, not sure if it caught the
fish or if it was already dead. A large dead fish
floated nearby and the Willet did it's best to
scavenge it. It seems to me that the Willet's bill
isn't designed to pick flesh off of a dead fish, it
didn't get a lot in the time that I was watching.
I heard a Catbird at the end of the road and a Downy
Woodpecker near the beginning. Not much shrubbery in
the former place. Not many trees in the latter.
The flies were annoying but I didn't get bit more than
a few times.
Scott Baron
Fairfax, Va.
brnpelicanATyahoo.com
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