Rough Green Snake, Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. My guidebook describes this as a "slender tree-dwelling snake, uniform pea-green with a long tapering tail. That certainly fits this snake, which was in the same tree for the three hours we were in the park.

Swamp sparrow, Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. Got several pictures of this elusive little guy, none of them great, but all good enough to ID him. I'm working on my sparrows.

Monday Morning Bird Walkers, Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA. Talk about odd birds! No, seriously, a great group of people who are very generous with their knowledge (and binoculars and scopes!)

Killdeer, Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. I've seen killdeer several times, but this little guy or gal was very near the boardwalk at Huntley Meadows, and it was a great photo opportunity, even if he or she wouldn't show off those great breast bands!

Palm warbler, Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. Three of these were flitting about in the woods.

Muskrat, Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. It could be a nutrea; we didn't get a definitive look at the tail. It was having a great time eating the new greens that are beginning to pop out of the ground.

Red-headed woodpecker, Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. This red-headed flew into a tree almost over our heads. What a great look at this beautiful woodpecker!

Great Egret, Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. The egret was feeding for quite awhile in the back pond at Huntley Meadows, but upon our arrival on the observation platform, flew by in search of a new fishing place.

Bald Eagle, Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. This adult gave us a good view, spending about five minutes in plain sight on three different trees, before flying back into the deep woods.

Hooded Merganser, female among the turtles, Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. There were actually three females on this log, enjoying the sun along with seven or eight turtles.

Beginning Birder Class, Huntley Meadows Park

I went out with a beginning birder's class and learned alot about binoculars, scopes and looking for and identifying birds. No new birds for me, but some good pics and a nice morning outdoors. In addition to the pics that follow, we saw a northern flicker, canada geese, a downy woodpecker, morning doves, redwinged blackbirds (of course). Disappointly, the Canada goose nest that I pictured earlier in the month, with the goose "feathering" her nest, had been abandoned. No sign of any eggs.

Eastern Phoebe, Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA. April 2005.

Hooded Merganser, female, Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. She swam in the pond near us for quite awhile, going through a whole bathing routine, before flying off.

Green heron, Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. We were standing on the observation tower at the Park, about 20 feet above the ground, and this green heron flew into a tree right at eye level for us.

Cardinal, female, Huntley Meadows Park, April 2005. Canon 10D. She eventually dropped this huge leaf and flew on.

Huntley Meadows Park. April 2005. This park is just beautiful, although the water levels are going down now that the beaver have abandoned their dam. For more information, go to www.friendsofhuntleymeadows.org

Green Heron at Monticello Park, Alexandria, April 13

On Wednesday, April 13, Fred and I flushed a green heron while walking around Monticello Pond.  We had a good look at it with the binos after it flew to the opposite side of the man-made pond. 

 

There were also many mallards, Canada geese, domestic geese and what looked like Mallard hybrids???---almost all black ducks with a mallard-like head and bill, and a bit of white on the front.  Quite beautiful.  Will go back with my camera.

Jackson Abbott Wildlife Refuge, Woodlawn, VA, April 11, 2005

To complete a full day of birding (unplanned), Fred and I decided to stop off at the Jackson Abbott Wildlife Refuge--a couple miles from our house. We carried the scope in and set up on the observation platform that overlooks the wetlands (not the pond). Got great looks at a great blue heron, several wood ducks and the hooded merganser pair pictured below (much better through the scope!). Also the ubiquitous redwinged blackbirds and Canada geese. One last pass with the scope revealed a belted kingfisher sitting on a tree branch waaaay back--too far by far to try for a pic. All in all, a great day of birding.

Hooded Merganser, Jackson-Abbott Wildlife Refuge, Woodlawn, VA. April 2005. Way in the back of the pond I scoped this Merganser pair. A new bird for me, and I wasn't sure if my 300mm lens would capture a good enough pic to confirm the sighting, but it did! A male wood duck was also standing just to the right.

Wood Ducks on display, Jackson-Abbott Wildlife Refuge, Woodlawn, VA. April 2005. Two pair of wood ducks climbed up on this log--for a better look at us, perhaps?

Mason Neck State Park, Monday, April 11, 2005

Mason Neck State Park. Husband Fred and I went for picnic lunch and a walk at Mason Neck State Park. There is also a National Wildlife Refuge there, but we saved that for another time.

On our way out to lunch, on the river overlook trail to the north of the Visitor's Center, we flushed an immature bald eagle--probably 2d year by the amount of white. No pic as he startled us as much as we startled him (or her) and those great wings moved him out pretty fast! We ate lunch at the overlook and saw a flotilla of 24 double-crested cormorants float by, and two great blue herons flew past.

After lunch, we walked along the Bay View Trail. Scared an unidentified snake--what we could see was solid gray--and then from the observation gazebo saw several pairs each of blue-winged and green-winged teal, pictured below, along with wood ducks, Canada geese and mallards.

Blue-winged teal, Mason Neck State Park, VA. April 2005. There were six to eight pairs in this pond on the Bay View Trail at Mason Neck. Also green-winged teal (pictured below), mallards and Canada geese.

Green winged teal, Mason Neck State Park, VA. April 2005. In the light, the ear patch looked blue. There were six to eight pairs in this pond on the Bay View Trail at Mason Neck.

Monday Morning Bird Walk at Huntley Meadows - April 11, 2005

Had a great morning.  In addition to the birds pictured in the earlier (following) posts, I saw a northern flicker, a great blue heron, probable Cooper's hawk, a juvenile red shouldered hawk in flight (we could see the buffy crescents on his wings), tree swallows, mallards, Canada geese, and wood ducks.  The "pro" birders, of course, saw much more.

The common snipe pictured below was a new bird for me.

Osprey, Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. While we were watching, this osprey came in, pulled a muddy stick out of the water and flew off.

Great egret and probable snowy egret, Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. There's a chance it could be a little egret, but when in doubt, I always assume it's the more common bird

Redwinged blackbird, Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. There are many redwinged blackbirds in Huntley Meadows. This one was singing his heart out.

Common snipe, Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. This snipe is watching the pair of yellowlegs...

Yellowlegs, Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. I couldn't decide whether greater or lesser.

Yellowlegs, Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. I couldn't decide whether greater or lesser. In some views, the beak appeared slightly upturned...

Rusty blackbirds, Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. Note the black beak and pale eye. (At least we could see them when I took this picture.)

Eastern Bluebird, Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. The dark band is the shadow of a tree across this bluebird.

Blue-gray gnatcatcher, Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. There were two or three of these in this tree. While not my first blue-gray gnatcatcher, this was the best look at one I've had, and my first good picture.

Dyke Marsh Bird Walk, April 10, 2005

Went for my 2nd bird walk at Dyke Marsh. Saw the bald eagle nest with bald eagle in residence, double crested cormorant, great blue heron, red shouldered hawk, red bellied woodpecker, tree swallows, gulls, brown headed cowbird, carolina wren, sea gulls, spotted sandpiper (picture didn't turn out too well, but it was definitely the sandpiper),osprey, european starlings and yellow-rumped warbler.

Osprey, Dyke Marsh, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. This osprey put on quite an aerial display, attracting several other osprey in either a courtship ritual or a territorial display.

Osprey, Dyke Marsh, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. This osprey was one of the three or four spectators to the aerial display going on in the previous pictures. They answered the question as to whether advertising worked...

Brown-headed cowbird. Dyke Marsh, Alexandria, VA. April 2005.

Tree Swallow pair, Dyke Marsh, Alexandria, VA. April 2005.

Tree Swallow pair, Dyke Marsh, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. After "billing" for a bit, one flew off for a little feeding.

Yellow-rumped warbler, Dyke Marsh, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. There were lots of these flitting about.

Mourning Doves, Dyke Marsh, Alexandria, VA. April 2005.

European Starling, Dyke Marsh, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. In breeding plumage.

Wood Duck, Alexandria, Va. April 2005. Today we saw a duck fly into the woods. Sure enough, it was a male wood duck! He obligingly sat in a tree in our backyard neighboor's yard for about fifteen minutes while we watched him through the scope, the binoculars and the camera. There is a tree trunk with a large hole about 10 yards away, but we didn't see a female around.

We'll be keeping our eye open for more wood duck adventures. We also saw the usual cardinals, white throated sparrow, carolina wren and tufted titmice today.

Backyard Birding April 7

Finally got my feeder up and running yesterday; woke up this morning to titmice, cardinals and a carolina wren active at the feeder.  Also in the backyard: a white-throated sparrow, an eastern phoebe, some other sparrows I couldn't ID and a female red-bellied woodpecker working through the treetops.  I'm sure there was lots more there that I'm not experienced enough to ID.  Can't wait to find them.

White throated sparrow, my backyard, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. We have a brush pile in the side yard that the little birds love. A frenzy of sparrows caught my eye and I took this from our bedroom window. It only took about 10 shots, most of them horrible, to get this one acceptable shot.

Spotsylvania Battlefield Park

Spotsylvania Battlefield hike. April 2005. We saw several downy woodpeckers, including two having wild woodpecker sex, a distant hawk, and the following Eastern Phoebe.

Eastern Phoebe. Spotsylvania Battlefield, VA. April 2005. This little guy or girl posed for the longest time, letting me get photos from several angles.

Eastern Phoebe. Spotsylvania Battlefield, VA. April 2005. The phoebe finally had enough of my photo shoot. I love pics of birds in flight, when the sun shines through the primaries.

Monday Morning Bird Walk Huntley Meadows, VA

Hawk, juvenile red-shouldered. Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. I went on the Huntley Meadows Monday morning birdwalk on April 4. From the boardwalk, we hiked into the woods to another set of ponds. Watched this hawk through the scope for awhile but it never moved to give us a better look.

In addition to the hawk, I saw the following birds:
Greater yellowlegs (curved beak was visible through my binoculars, and part of the group heard the call later), yellow rumped warbler, red-headed woodpecker, wood ducks, great blue heron, redwinged blackbirds, green winged teal, yellow bellied sapsucker, red bellied woodpecker, many nesting Canada geese, ring billed gulls and an eastern bluebird. There were also several deer, and one Canada was nesting on top of the beaver lodge! Pictures of some of the birds follow.

Hawk, probably red-shouldered. Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. We looked at this hawk and another in an adjacent tree through a scope for quite a while, and also watched them fly between trees. Group consensus was that they were juvenile red shouldered, which are apparently fairly common at Huntley Meadows.

Red headed woodpecker. Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. I love woodpeckers and hadn't seen a red headed before. We watched him through the scope for quite a while.

Green winged teal, male and female. Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA. April 2005.

Redwinged blackbird. Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. His "epaulets" weren't showing, but I liked the pic....

Canada Goose, male. Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. This male was right next the boardwalk, between us and the female in the next picture. He was keeping an eye on us while she feathered her nest...

Canada Goose, female. Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. We saw many (57 according to the bird count) Canada geese, the females on nests. This one was feathering her nest--she was pulling out down and tucking it in.

Yellow bellied Sapsucker, Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. Poor picture, but the only one I have right now. We saw it clearly through the scope.

Dyke Marsh Bird Walk

Dyke Marsh Bird Walk. We saw (according to my guide, Ed) rusty blackbirds, a bonaparte gull and a couple of different swallows including rough winged and a black vulture.

I could identify: house sparrows, robins, wood ducks, double-crested cormorants, bald eagle, osprey, male & female scaup, a great blue heron, northern flicker and a blue jay. The highlight for me was this golden-crowned kinglet. We saw several. According to Ed, the gusty wind was keeping the small birds down.