From the field

Rock Creek Park field trip report, Sept. 13, 2008

By Paul DeAnna

On Sunday, June 1, 2008 Ted Vawter led a group of 16 birders on the annual foray to Little Bennett Regional Park near Clarksburg, Maryland.  The day was warm but clear with a steady wind.   The group observed some of the expected birds in the brushy environs of the parking lot which included Chipping and Field Sparrows, goldfinch, eastern bluebird, indigo bunting, cedar waxwings and common yellowthroat.  A pine warbler calling from the evergreen grove was not seen.  A low flying Broadwing Hawk bearing carrion flew directly overhead.

Field Trip Report

Pennyfield Lock, Saturday, May 3, 2008

Hughes Hollow field trip, March 15, 2008

by Paul DeAnna

Overview

The C&O Canal is a National Historical Park on the Maryland side of the Potomac River. Built in the nineteenth century, it formerly carried coal, building supplies, and agricultural goods from Cumberland in western Maryland to Washington, D.C. Now, instead of serving as a transportation corridor, it serves as a quiet retreat for humans and provides habitat for wildlife. The park is 184.5 miles long but less than a mile wide. It transects two physiographic regions, from the eastern edge of the Piedmont in Washington to the western edge of the Ridge and Valley province in Allegany County.

DC Audubon’s inaugural trip to enjoy the spectacle of hawk migration in Fall commenced in a rather chaotic manner. As a result of somewhat unclear/confusing directions to the site, carloads of expectant hawk-watchers arrived at rather varying times at the given destination – Waggoner’s Gap. Twenty one participants were joined there by invited raptor expert, Ernesto Ruelas Inzunza who drove an amazing 4 hours from Ithaca to be with the group.

DC Audubon’s annual fieldtrip to the Little Bennett Regional Park in Montgomery County (MD) began with a group of enthusiastic birders meeting up with co-leaders John Beetham and Dhananjaya Katju at the ‘Kingsley Trail’ parking lot on a muggy albeit bearably cool morning. This regional park was once the home of farming communities as well as small scale industries utilizing the wealth of natural resources available to early settlers of this area.

Field Trip Participants: Photo by Patty Campbell.DC Audubon had its 7^th annual Fall field trip to Rock Creek Park on Sunday, September 16, and a brilliant day it was, with 51 species identified, including 12 elusive warblers. But I’m getting ahead of my story. How did we do so well? Simple. We did everything right, beginning with our choice of a day following the passage of a cold front, with a sunny sky and winds out of the north (OK, put this down to luck, since our field trip dates are chosen months in advance—but your return visits need not be). We started early, arriving shortly after 7 a.m. at the Ridge, otherwise known as Picnic Area 17/18, and well known to DC birders. The ridge rises sharply above the surrounding city, and together with its north-south configuration, this makes it a very inviting feeding stop for migrants descending from their overnight passage. While there are many approaches to birding a park as large as this one, you can’t go wrong with a start at the Ridge. And the birds cooperated as I have rarely seen in recent memory; the trees were swarming with them and it was very hard to single out one particular flash of feathers and successfully identify it. Welcome to Fall birding, which can be very demanding, and frustrating as well!

Sixteen participants joined trip leader Dhananjaya Katju on a near-perfect spring morning at the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens. As the group strolled along the water lily ponds, Red-eared Slider turtles soaked in the sunshine, while Barn and Tree swallows hawked insects. Resident Canada Geese were in reproductive mode. Brooding females were visible along dykes separating the ponds. One goose nest-site was rather creative….on the exposed root system of a fallen tree (see photo; goose is visible at roughly 3 o'clock).

Report by Matt Curtis.

After the morning coffee and introductions, seven DC Audubon friends and members set out for Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is one of my favorite birding spots within a relatively easy drive from DC. With the diversity of habitats and its proximity to Delaware Bay, a keen eye and ear can spot some amazing birds, and can pad even the most avid birder's yearly lists. The morning was bright and sunny, the air already warming up, a slight breeze, the general feeling was that this was going to be a good day for birding.