Tom Blackburn
Our 2023 Birdathon was a big success. Our team included Libby Lyons, ASNV President; Gerry Abbott and me, both ASNV Board members; and Dixie Sommers, a former Board member of ASNV and current Board member of the Virginia Society for Ornithology. Dixie meticulously planned our itinerary, and Gerry drove.
In 14 hours of birding we found 94 species – a record for our team, which has participated in ASNV’s Birdathon for four years. We began our day at Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve at 6 AM, where we started off strong with 40 species. We were pleased to see Tree, Barn, and Northern Rough-winged Swallows, and we found both the Barred Owl and the Wild Turkey that have been seen there recently. We also found the first of many Great crested Flycatchers, whose distinctive “breep-breep” calls greeted us at nearly every birding site.
Baltimore Oriole, Deborah Bifulco/Audubon Photography Awards
We next headed to Monticello Park, a renowned spot for warblers. This site was a little disappointing; we found only 7 warbler species, and couldn’t find the Louisiana Waterthrush, Northern Waterthrush, or Ovenbird, which are sighted there fairly frequently. The lack of warblers made me doubtful that we would be able to reach my ambitious target of finding 100 species. A quick 30-minute stop at Four Mile Run was productive, as we found a beautiful male Wood Duck, Least and Spotted Sandpipers, a Killdeer; and a gorgeous Baltimore Oriole perched for us in the bright sun.
We next birded Huntley Meadows Park, whose wide variety of species makes it a mandatory stop. The highlight was seeing the resident Hooded Merganser with its 6 young. We stopped there for lunch, with 65 species under our belts in the first 6 hours. However, because we’d already knocked off most of the common species, we knew it would get harder as we went along.
Our next stop was the Fairfax County Landfill. To people who don’t birdwatch, landfills seem an odd place to find birds. But this landfill has one of the largest areas of undisturbed grassland in the area, and we included it in the hope of finding grassland birds. Our efforts were rewarded, as almost immediately we heard the buzzing call of a Grasshopper Sparrow, got a brief glimpse of an American Kestrel, and heard an Eastern Meadowlark. A few minutes later we were astonished to find a huge flock of at least 100 Bobolinks. All four species are in decline in our area due to the loss of extensive grassland habitat. We also found both the Turkey Vulture and the Black Vulture. Although both birds are common, it was a relief to see them. The Black Vulture was our nemesis in bird last year’s Birdathon – it was the last species we saw that day.
Bobolink, Caroline Samson/Audubon Photography Awards
We were all getting a little tired at this point, but we headed to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, where we found our two target birds, the Yellow-breasted Chat and the Prairie Warbler, as well as a few others. Dixie suggested that we next try the road into Mason Neck State Park where she had heard Wood Thrushes. Sure enough, we hadn’t even stopped the car when we heard their beautiful flute-like songs. As an extra bonus, we also heard an Ovenbird’s “Tea-cher, tea-cher, tea-cher” and a Scarlet Tanager – two birds we hadn’t found yet. A stop at Meadowood Recreation Area resulted in several birds, but only one new one – a Chipping Sparrow.
Scarlet Tanager, Charles Vickers/Audubon Photography Awards
It was getting late, but we were still trying to increase our total for the day. We headed to Burke Lake Park, where we knew would find Purple Martins at the collection of Martin houses. At that point, it was 7:30 and we debated calling it a day. Instead, we drove another 20 minutes to get a “sure thing” bird – Cliff Swallows nesting under a bridge at Bull Run Marina. There was not much light left, and the birds’ colors were fading to black, but we found 8 of them flying in and out of their nests.
We headed back to Dyke Marsh to get our cars. Earlier in the day we had talked about walking a trail in the dark in hopes of hearing a Great Horned Owl there. But after 14 hours of birding, no one seemed all that interested in the possibility of adding another species to the 94 we had found that day. We headed home, tired but happy with our day. Perhaps we’ll find 100 species next year.
Learn more about this year’s Birdathon here.