On most of my recent trips to Baltimore to visit relatives I’ve done at least a little birding in Washington, DC, VA, and/or WV to try to fill gaps in those “state” lists. Although I had exceeded the old ABA reportable threshold in all 3 some years back, my key goal was to be at least 15 over the threshold in each location. I reached the “reportable plus 15” goal in WV in 2014, but I was still short by 2 in DC and 3 in VA. So that meant I needed to focus my Baltimore-area birding on DC and VA on future trips.
With an upcoming trip to Baltimore in
December 2015, I set up eBird Needs Alerts for both DC and VA to see what might
be around. I was surprised to see that recent
reports included no less than 7 possible “state” birds in DC and another 5
possible state birds in northern VA. And
many had been seen multiple days so they might well be chaseable. I also sent a note to local DC birder Paul
Pisano and he was most helpful giving me some micro-directions on each of the
DC targets. But as the trip neared, the
reports on all but 3 species stopped coming in, and even a few negative reports
were posted. I was now less optimistic,
but still hoped for 2 new birds each in DC and VA. Armed with the latest information I set up an
itinerary starting with birding in 5 locations in DC, followed by birding at 3
locations in northern VA, which would give me a chance at all 12 recently, or
at least somewhat recently, reported target birds.
I started my trip at the Kenilworth Aquatic
Gardens in the northeast corner of DC, arriving there about 20 minutes before
dawn. The prime targets here were an
American Bittern, Purple Finches, and Ravens.
Although all had been reported regularly a week earlier, there were
negative reports for all 3 species in the last 5 days. In fact, given the negative reports I even
wondered if I should make a stop here at all.
But ever the optimist, I began to walk slowly along the main trail in
the pre-dawn light making my way toward some ponds that had been the favorite
spot for the Bittern. I was only part
way down the trail toward the ponds when I stopped to check out some gulls
flying overhead. Just then a bird
flushed from a small area of cattails not a few feet away – it was the
Bittern. I probably would have walked
right by it had I not stopped for the gulls.
A nice rarity for DC (a “write-in” in eBird) and my first new DC bird. This has been an elusive species for me
across the country, even though it is regular throughout most regions (see my
statebird map below).
I continued out to the boardwalk listening
intently for calling Ravens or Finches but to no avail. I then headed back toward a spot where an
unconfirmed Orange-crowned Warbler had been reported the previous day. There was a nice flock of White-throats and
Juncos there, but no warbler, though a singing (!) Hermit Thrush was nice. And then I heard the faint “tick” calls of
Purple Finch overhead, and looking up I saw 2 birds passing by (#2). Not a rarity but still a tough bird in DC,
filling in the last gap in the northeast portion of my statebird map.
I headed out of Kenilworth very happy to
have seen 2 of my 3 targets, which frankly were 2 more than I expected.
Next stop was the Rock Creek Golf Course
where a Red-headed Woodpecker had been reported for 2 consecutive days a week ago,
though there were no updates in the last 7 days. Luckily a specific location was mentioned, and
I was able to quickly find the dead tree where the bird had been seen. But the best I could do was to find a
Pileated in the distance. I walked a bit
farther down the fairway and heard a Red-belly and a Flicker Then in the distance I heard several familiar
Red-headed call notes that the BirdTunes app calls “rattle calls” (#3). DC was the last gap in the eastern part of my
statebird map for this species.
The next target bird was a Mute Swan that
had been reliably seen around Theodore Roosevelt Island in the Potomac
River. It had most recently been seen on
the east side of the island, viewable from Rock Creek Parkway, and Paul
Pisano’s suggestion was to drive slowly down the Parkway and look toward the
island as I drove past the Kennedy Center.
Sounded simple enough, as long as I could look for the bird safely in DC
traffic (when was the last time anyone drove slowly down any parkway in DC?). As I neared the island I hoped for a place to
pull over, or that there would be a red light to stop traffic - but it wasn’t
to be. Luckily as I got to the Kennedy
Center I was able to slow down a bit, looked to the right, and there was the
Swan swimming close to the island (#4). DC
was the last northeast “state” where I needed this species.
Then I was on to Hain’s Point where a
recent report included 7 Lesser Black-backed Gulls mixed in Ring-billed Gull
flocks. I drove around the perimeter of
the park and saw very few gulls at all.
The best I could do was to find a late Laughing Gull in a small mixed
gull flock. So lacking the critical mass
of gulls, I headed out of the park rather than searching any further.
My last DC stop was the LBJ Memorial Grove,
which is on an island on the western edge of the Potomac River, just barely in
DC. For about 10 days an Orange-crowned
Warbler had been seen here with a mixed Chickadee/Kinglet flock. Amazingly an American Redstart had also been
seen in this or a nearby flock. The
Orange-crowned was reported to be rather easy to find in brush immediately
north of the parking lot, while the Redstart was only seen infrequently in the
same general area. Within a minute of
getting out of my car I heard some Chickadee calls and quickly found a mixed
flock of Chickadees and Kinglets in the brush just north of the parking
lot. Fully expecting to find the
Orange-crowned with them, I looked through the flock multiple times, presumably
seeing each bird in the flock several times, but the target bird was nowhere in
sight. The flock moved on to the east,
but was soon replaced in the brush by another mixed flock. This group included the typically harder to
find Redstart which gave excellent views.
Although the Redstart is a rarer bird in winter than the Orange-crowned,
I have seen Redstart in DC in the warmer seasons, and needed the Orange-crowned
for my DC list. So I decided to try to
re-find the first Chickadee/Kinglet flock to see if the target bird had joined
them. I eventually re-found the flock in
some pines to the east, and after a little searching found the Orange-crowned
Warbler mixed in (#5). How did I miss it
when I first looked through that flock?
My statebird map for this species is very spotty in the east where it is
uncommon or rare, though not surprisingly I’ve seen it in most of its regular
western states.
I left DC with 5 new birds – much better
than the 2 that I expected. And 4 of
these (Bittern, Red-headed Woodpecker, Swan, and Orange-crowned), along with
the Redstart, were “write-ins” on eBird.
It was a nice start for the day, and now it was on to VA.
The first VA stop was at the Belle Haven
area along the Potomac River in Fairfax County, where there had been 2 recent
reports of Lesser Black-backed Gulls, and one of a cooperative Merlin. When I arrived at midday the tide was high
but falling and I could only find about 50 gulls, and nothing unusual. Over the next 45 minutes more gulls flew in,
but they were just the regular suspects.
And there was no Merlin in sight.
I considered staying longer in hopes that more gulls might arrive as the
tide continued to drop, and maybe even the Merlin might appear. But with 2 other stops to go, I decided to
head out. Interestingly, I made a stop
here at Belle Haven on my last trip to northern VA in January 2015, and
searched for but missed these same 2 species on that trip as well.
Next on my itinerary was Huntley Meadows Park
where multiple Rusty Blackbirds had been reported most every day over the last
couple weeks. I had birded this park a
couple times before, and knew that there were lots of wet swampy woodlands that
would be ideal for Rusty Blackbirds. But
since no specific locations for the Rusty’s were mentioned in the eBird posts,
I was concerned about how long it might take me to find them – if I found them
at all. As I arrived I went to the
nature center thinking that I might find a park worker who might be able to give
me some suggestions on the Rusty’s. But
before I could ask the worker behind the desk I noticed another birder and
asked him about the birds. It turned out
that he had just completed leading a birdwalk at the park, and had had several
Rusty’s that morning. He took me to the
spot where he had seen Rusty’s mixed in with Red-wings perched in some low
trees, but we only found 1 Red-wing. I
decided to wait at this spot hoping the birds might return. Over the next 15 minutes small groups of
Red-wings flew in, and finally a lone female Rusty Blackbird joined them (VA
statebird #1). That fills a big gap in
my statebird map, though I still need this species in 3 other states where they
are regular.
My planned final stop was to be at turf
farms in Fauquier County, about a 90-minute ride to the southwest. There had been a recent post from Grassdale
Road in the middle of the turf farms with 26 American Pipits and 5 Vesper
Sparrows – 2 of my target birds. But I
had had reservations about heading to this spot from the beginning – the
sightings were listed in just one post, there were no details on the birds, and
it was a long ride away. And now with my
misses as Belle Haven, I wondered if I should head back there to see if my luck
might improve instead of heading to the turf farms. But the turf farm post was only 3 days
old. Plus I had birded a nearby spot at
the turf farms last winter and had had good luck there with Horned Larks and
Lapland Longspurs. So I decided to stick
with my original plans and headed to the turf farms.
The first thing I did when I arrived was to
slowly drive the mile-long road to get the lay of the land, with car windows
open to listen for Pipits, and also watching for sparrows that might flush from
grasses along the roadside. But I heard
just 1 Horned Lark and found no sparrows at all. On my way back I stopped several times to
listen even more intently, but only heard one sparrow which turned out to be a
Song. I was now close to the beginning
of the road sitting in my car wondering what to do next. Then I heard a couple call notes that sounded
Pipit-like coming from quite close to the car.
I got out and scanned the grass and found an otherwise silent flock of
14 Pipits foraging in the grass near the road (#2). If that bird hadn’t called I likely would
have missed them altogether. I now only
need American Pipit in 6 more mainland states.
With a few more minutes before I had to
head back, I took the short drive to the spot I birded last winter with
long-shot hopes I might run into Vesper Sparrows there. And although I found a flock of at least 20
Savannah Sparrows, none had white outer tail feathers. So Vesper Sparrow would have to wait for
future VA trip.
I ended up with about 65 species for the
day, including 5 additions for my DC list and 2 for my VA list. My DC total is now 183, 18 over the old 2011
ABA threshold of 165 – of course exceeding my somewhat arbitrary “reportable
plus 15” goal. But a more up-to-date
threshold could be calculated if one could find the total DC list. With some research on the web I found out
that the total DC list as of 4/19/15 was 334.
Dividing that number by 2 as the ABA used to do to calculate the
thresholds, that would equate to a new threshold of 167. In other words, 4 more species have been
added to the DC list since 2011. I would
imagine my 183 will be safely over newly calculated DC thresholds for many years
to come.
My VA list is now 246, which is 14 over the
2011 ABA threshold of 232. As of
December 2015, the total VA list had increased to 471 resulting in a new
threshold of 235.5. So the VA list would
have to increase by 22 before I would no longer reach the “reportable”
threshold. And although that sounds like
a big number, the VA list increased by 7 from 2011 to 2015. At that rate the threshold would pass my
total in about 15 years. Seems like even
15 over the old threshold might not be enough in VA.
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