edm@verdix.com (Ed Matthews) (04/20/91)
Hello All, It's chilly, damp, and very overcast this Friday morning here in Northern Virginia. Looks like rain for the second consecutive weekend, so I went looking for warblers this morning in case I get rained out on the weekend. The warblers are on the move, but not quite in full stride yet. This morning at Great Falls National Park, Virginia, along the Potomac, one of the great warbler flyways in the US, I saw 100+ Yellow-Rumped Warblers, 2 Northern Parula Warblers, and 1 Northern Waterthrush. The numbers have been similar for the last three weeks. Last weekend, despite the rain, I got 500+ Yellow-Rumped, 4 Palm, and 1 Praire and two weeks before ~75 Yellow-Rumps and 1 Prairie. Reports of others are trickling in, but are sporadic. Bright, sunny, weekend days have been few and far between, so we haven't had all that many folks in the field recently. Things will start picking up over the next two weeks. I've heard more birds than I've seen though. Looked for but missed a calling Ovenbird last weekend, and of the dozen or so calling Parulas today, saw only two, one male and one female. The male was exquisitely colored with one of the largest chestnut patches on his breast that I've ever seen on a Parula. I guess I heard 3 or 4 Northern Waterthrushes, but only saw one. Haven't seen any Louisiana Waterthrushes yet, but there's plenty of time since they breed along the Potomac. Other signs of spring include the yodeling Loon sp. I heard this morning, the many Wood Ducks in the trees, the dozen Chimney Swifts that I spotted moving through on the 16th, the Purple Martins that arrived yesterday, reports of kettles of Broad-Winged Hawks, and the first report of a Ruby- Throated Hummingbird on the 16th. My hummer feeders went up yesterday. Two weeks ago, we had a major invasion of Purple Finches (I'm usually lucky to see a few birds a year) and there are still some about and this week the Chipping Sparrows mobbed my house. The Blue Gray Gnatcatchers are back in force as are the House Wrens. At one point this morning, I was in the midst of a mixed flock of 200+ birds, in order of decreasing numbers: Yellow-Rumped Warblers, American Goldfinches, Purple Finches, Blue Gray Gnatcatchers, and Carolina Chickadees. In the same spot were several woodpeckers and nuthatches. If you're into wildflowers, the Potomac is the place to be this time of year. The violets and phlox are moving into full bloom, the coral bells are sending up bloomstalks, the mayapples just started blooming, we're seeing the tail end of the spring beauties and dutchman's britches, there is an odd trout lily still in bloom in the shadier locations, the jack-in-the-pulpits are just leafing out, the virginia bluebells are peaking, the buttercups, wild strawberries, and cinquefoil are doing their best to yellow up the place, a few daises and yarrow are blooming here and there, and the various mallows just started blooming. Happy warblering, -- Ed Matthews edm@verdix.com Verdix Corporation Headquarters (703) 378-7600 Chantilly, Virginia