After yesterday’s trip to East Potomac Park, today I opted for a more peaceful (read: away from the cherry blossom crowds) walk around Kenilworth. Starting at dawn and with winds from the northwest still gusting, I wasn’t expecting many (if any) new migrants, and that proved mostly true. It was also very cold this morning, with my car’s thermometer indicating 30 degrees when I arrived. That was enough to freeze all but the deepest of the prairie potholes, and although I looked, no snipe were to be found today. There was a lone American pipit that I found foraging in the far athletic fields amongst a large gathering of robins, and I suspect there were at least a few others around.
Today ended up being mostly about the ducks, with the birds of the day being two blue-winged teal (a male and female) together on the Kenilworth lagoon. A few mallard nesting pairs, as well as one bachelor group, were scattered about, and I also managed to find the continuing Northern pintail (female) and hooded merganser (also female) that have spent the winter here.
It’s always a pleasure to see a good kettle, and today, while at the KAG boardwalk overlooking the lagoon, nine black vultures came by and, over the course of a few minutes, gathered together to ride a thermal. Raptor viewing was slow today, but I did spot a Cooper’s hawk darting over the lagoon which triggered the alarm calls of several species and scattered the small flock of swallows (tree and Northern rough-winged) that were working the lagoon. Of the swallows, the rough-wingeds were my first of the year–another sign that migration is beginning in earnest. There was also a fourth-year bald eagle covering a stretch of the Anacostia, and it gave great looks at its almost full adult plumage, with a bit of a dark tail and very dark terminal band (see photo).
A few individual birds put on a great show today, including a pileated woodpecker and a ruby-crowned kinglet that even showed a hint of its namesake crown. The kinglets (both species) are really on the move now, and singing, too–soon we’ll be at peak time for them. It’s also getting to the point in the spring where I really try to appreciate our winter birds as they’ll be on their way north in the next month or so. Hermit thrushes, fox sparrows, and white-throated sparrows are among my favorites, and always brighten up the winter, so it’s sad to see them go, even with the excitement of the coming migrants. I did have a white-throat pose nicely, right toward the end of my walk.
Today’s checklist can be viewed here.
