The last few days of April mean one thing for birders in DC–the beginning of peak migration! This is a time of year where you can expect familiar species to return but also get the excitement and anticipation of unexpected or scarce species popping up. One expected migrant is white-crowned sparrow, and an individual at the U.S. Botanic Gardens treated me to great views after work the evening of April 26th. The Botanic Gardens aren’t a huge green space, but they have lots of cover and running water–two key elements for bringing in migrants looking for green patches in the city.
On the 27th, I went to Kenilworth and saw my greatest diversity of species so far this year (71 species). This included FOY spotted sandpipers, greater yellowlegs, and cliff swallow, as well as great crested flycatcher, warbling and red-eyed vireo. Orchard orioles were singing, as was a lone rusty blackbird, and several warblers (Northern waterthrush, black-and-white, common yellowthroat, yellow, palm, and yellow-rumped. This day also marked the return of a singing blue grosbeak, which will (hopefully!) be a steady presence through the spring and summer.
The 28th brought our first rarity of the year and a life bird for both Janet and I–Eastern whip-poor-will. This roosting male bird was–incredibly–spotted by a local birder about 50 feet off the ground in the middle of the woods in Rock Creek Park. Truly a fantastic find, this bird brought out dozens of birders, many of whom were seeing this species for the first time ever. Being so high up and off the trail protected the bird from some of the bother that can be caused by large groups of birders and when we arrived about a half hour before sunset we were able to enjoy nice views with a great group of respectful observers. This is a bird that stays almost entirely still throughout the day, only becoming active after dark, and it was fascinating to watch it calmy sitting and sleeping. Since this bird chose to roost on a somewhat skinny branch, it didn’t quite look like the extension of the wood that is typical in field guide photos; however, it’s still incredibly impressive the bird was noticed at all. Since we arrived so close to sunset, we decided to stick around until after dusk to see if the bird would sing. Eventually, the bird began to stir as the sun set. It stretched its wings a few times, then made a short flight to an exposed perch. It never sang but it did vocalize a few times giving soft “whip” calls, and we also got to observe its flycatching behavior, where it makes short sallying flights from a perch to grab insects. Living in such an urban environment with no plans to leave, this is a bird I wasn’t sure we’d ever see–a great start to peak migration!
The following morning I birded the Rock Creek Park Maintenance Yard hotspot, and was surprised by my FOY great egret as a flyover. This morning also yielded Swainson’s thrush, wood thrush, chipping sparrows, ovenbird, black-and-white warbler, northern parula, yellow-rumped warbler, and rose-breasted grosbeak. Very surprising to me was also a singing Louisiana waterthrush right near the maintenance yard itself–typically, I only observe these down the hill much closer to the the creek. A quick trip around the Nature Center area produced an American Redstart and a yellow-billed cuckoo, the later of which I was very happy to hear as I totally missed out on this species last year in DC. Hopefully this bodes well for more cuckoos in the city this year.
I took three days off work in the middle of the week and used my first day off to return to Kenilworth Park. Soon after arrival, I heard a bird singing that I’d never heard in DC before: yellow-breasted chat! Someone had reported a chat the day before, but I’d totally forgotten about this as I had assumed the bird would quickly move on. Fortunately, I was wrong and was treated to a morning of continuing song from the chat as well and a dozen or so floppy display flights. The bird was incredibly cooperative, and someone with a better camera than me could have gotten some absolutely incredible photos. As it was, I still got some great photos of this bird and attempted a few videos as well. There’s nothing quite like the varied, slow-moving song of a yellow-breasted chat and I was privileged to experience the bird as I did that morning.
I’d quickly put out the word about the chat and soon was chatting with Bart, Molly, and David, who had arrived to see it. Bart spotted some laughing gulls flying by (FOY for me) and I later joined Molly for her group walk at the gardens, where she made a great spot by picking out a least sandpiper on the lagoon mudflats. Hopefully we’ll get some more leasts soon, but we’ve been without rain for some time and they usually like the vernal pools in Kenilworth Park which have lately been almost fully dry. (As I type this, there are storms in the forecast for the next few days so fingers crossed for some extended rain!) Today was also the first day that indigo buntings were back in numbers–their song will be a constant for the next few months.
On Wednesday, I dropped Janet at work and decided to use my second day off to look for warblers at LBJ Memorial Grove, Theodore Roosevelt Island, and various spots in Rock Creek Park. It was a later start and a hot day, and it seemed like the birds weren’t singing as much as usual. Still, Theodore Roosevelt Island proved fruitful, with first of year veery, Cape May warbler, and black-throated blue warbler. A quick stop at Reservation 630 Park also produced a singing chestnut-sided warbler. Otherwise, the day turned out somewhat quiet, but that seemed to be the trend across the District.
For my final day off this week, I went back to Kenilworth with bobolink as a hoped-for target. These are some of my favorite migrants–I love their song, I love their look, and their general bubbly energy. I always fear I will blink and miss the bobolinks as they move through in the spring, because it really is about a two week window when they all come through. Fortunately, today was a lucky day, and I heard my first bobolink of the year as it sang while flying over unseen around 7am. As I circled back a few hours later to return to the car, that’s when a few more birds made their presence known and the familiar song was–all-of-a-sudden–right next to me. A male perched out it the open at the top of a tree and allowed for a few photos during his serenade. Let’s hope there will be a lot more bobolinks over coming days!
The other highlights of the morning were shorebirds–two Wilson’s snipe gave me better views than I’ve ever had of this species, and sharing their vernal pool was a lesser yellowlegs, as well as (momentarily) a greater yellowlegs that was soon spooked off by the territorial snipe. A pipit (and probably a few more) were also in the vicinity.
