Conowingo Dam

Bald Eagle (Immature)

Yesterday, I spend the day at Conowingo Dam's Fisherman's Park. Great weather. Lots of sun and a nice looking blue sky to boot. Lots of Bald Eagles around too. Getting out of my car, I notice 6 Eagles in a tree upslope of the parking lot. A little while later, another photographer shows me a photo of 12 Bald Eagles perching in a tree near the park's boat ramp.

I have some good opportunities to get some nice fishing and flight shots, but I manage to miss many of these shots for one reason or another. And, the captures that I do manage to get disappoint me.

The dam's Peregrine Falcons are around throughout the day. Perching on the dam's superstructure or on the island's transmission towers. Chasing Eagles. Putting Great Blue Heron up. Taking prey.

The dam stops making power in the late morning, and I spend the rest the day hanging out with the usual dam crowd. Always a good crew. My favorite time of the year to be at the dam. Going back soon.

Red-headed Woodpecker Portrait

Sky Meadows State Park, Fall 2009

Thanksgiving Day, 2009

Northern Pintail (Female)

Northern Shoveler Portrait (Male)

Out to Bombay Hook NWR for the day. I am the first person to visit the refuge this day, so I have the place to myself for awhile. Weather, cloudy with light rain. Lots of fog around early in the morning. Beautiful day in its own way.

Highlights include: Pied-billed Grebe, Snow Goose, American Black Duck, Northern Shoveler, Northern Pintail, Bufflehead, Hooded Merganser, Ruddy Duck, Northern Harrier, Bald Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, American Coot, Killdeer, American Avocet, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Western Sandpiper, Dunlin, Wilson's Snipe, Savannah Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, & Eastern Meadowlark.

Favorite Moments:

Photographing Northern Shoveler and Northern Pintail in very poor light. Trying, without success, to photograph Pied-billed Grebe. Watching a couple of Bald Eagles doing some tail chasing. Seeing two Northern Harriers perching together on a snag opposite Raymond Pool. Trying to photograph a Red-tailed Hawk without being able to get this bird bird inside the reach of my lens. Missing a great opportunity to photograph two Wilson's Snipe. Spending a few hours photographing Savannah and White-crowned Sparrows.

Birding Buffoonery:

Running into a photographer who tells me that he displays his work at Blackwater NWR. This guy asks if I am going back to Finis Pool to "get the owls."

"Got music," this photographer wants to know?

"No," I reply.

"Have much luck 'taping,"I ask?

"Yeah, well you have to have music. I'm not going to fool around much with the owls just now, but look for me later today. I guarantee I can call either Barred Owl or Great Horned out in 10 minutes or less," this nature photographer tells me. "Gonna get me a flight shot if I can."

What nonsense! Wildlife Refuges are not playgrounds or amusement parks, something many birders and nature photographers do not seem to understand. Besides which, "taping" is an unethical birding practice that has little to do with the actual harm caused.

Instead, the issues here are: 1) "taping" is prohibited at Bombay Hook NWR without benefit of a permit. 2) One does not have to "tape" owls to be able to see and or photograph them." 3) "Taping" owls outside of a legitimate scientific construct is indeed "fooling around" with them. And, 4) "Taping" demonstrates a fundamental disrespect towards birds, birders, and birding.

How this photographer can be "taping" owls at a venue that prohibits the practice without benefit of a permit, but be displaying his work at another nearby National Wildlife Refuge constitutes birding buffoonery of the highest order.

American Coot

Belle Haven Picnic Area

Here in Virginia's Coastal Plain, American Coot is a common transient and winter resident. The species has been described as being a chicken-like Rail. Often occurs in large numbers. This Coot was part of a 100 plus flock. Has to run along the water to take flight.

Potomac River

Bald Eagle

Red-shouldered Hawk (Immature)

American Coot

On the Potomac River for a couple of hours yesterday between the Belle Haven Picnic Area and the Stone Bridge near Alexandria, VA.

Water Birds

Ruddy Duck On the Potomac River

Gadwall at Jackson Abbott Wetlands

Birding With Batteries

The September/October 2009 edition of Bird Watcher's Digest features an article that discusses "taping" in some pretty regrettable and distracting ways. Birding With Batteries is written by Ms. Caitlin Knight, a doctoral student at the College of William and Mary. According to the magazine, when Ms. Catlin "is not studying birds, she is writing about them."

To be fair, this article is not about "taping" per se. Nevertheless, Birding With Batteries recycles some of the more popular "taping" mythology that is so often associated with articles that discusses "taping" in a casual way. "Taping" amounts to using an electronic or artificial lure to call in birds.

The article's tag line states, "High-tech gear comes into the field with us." Photographs in the article appear to show someone, perhaps Ms. Catlin, in the field holding what looks like a "taping" platform. Text in the article's sidebar states that, "increasing numbers of bird watchers and ornithologists are relying on technology in the field, especially equipment that plays bird song and sounds." The article does make the point "taping" is at best a controversial subject, but the article spends no time at all discussing why this is the case. No matter how many times I read Birding With Batteries, I come away with the impression that "taping" is something other than the unethical birding practice it so obviously is.

Birding With Batteries, so far as I can tell, explores the world of high-tech birding. Ms. Catlin wants to know who is using certain high-tech birding gear; whether some birders are more technologically inclined than others; and if birders "draw parallels between the use of technology in bird watching and steroids in sports, since both "additives" enhance the users ability?" This article asks a number of questions, but it somehow fails to answer them. Regardless, I question the form of one of Ms. Catlin's questions, since there is absolutely no proof that "taping" somehow enhances a birder's ability.

To answer her questions, Ms. Catlin designed a six-question survey, which she apparently distributed to List Servs in Virginia, Ohio, & one of the Carolinas. Ms. Catlin does not discuss her survey questions in her article, so I have no way of knowing what these questions are. Nor does Ms. Catlin tell me how many birders responded to her survey.

The article suggests that "taping" enhances a birder's ability or provides some other competitive advantage. That many birders believe this is obvious. However, this "taping" mythology is birding buffoonery of the highest order. To begin with, using an electronic lure is hardly a substitute for birding skill of field craft, and no one reading Birding With Batteries should be left with the impression that "taping" is some kind of performance booster, especially since the practice is at best controversial and at worst is unethical.

Texas. April 2001. A four person team competes in a Big Day event where "taping" is permitted. The winning team competes without "taping" because it feels the trend in birding is towards ethical birding. This team records 233 species in a 24-hour period, shattering a North American Big Day record that had previously stood for 23 years. This demolishes the theory that "taping" is some kind of performance booster.

Ms. Catlin discusses the manner in which the introduction of binoculars eventually contributed to the decline of the shotgun ornithology practiced in another era. "Thank goodness," Ms. writes. The idea, I suppose, is that technology equates to progress.

I will not argue here with Ms. Catlin's assertion that the introduction of binoculars eventually makes shotgun ornithology obsolete, though for the sake of clarity, the decline in shotgun ornithology had at least as much to do with the eventual acceptance of sight records as did the introduction of binoculars.

Nevertheless, using "taping" platforms outside the construct of legitimate scientific inquiry can hardly be thoughtfully discussed as progress. We ought not to be thanking our lucky stars for the advent of "taping" platforms or treating "electronic playback" as some kind of gift to the birding world at large. Those who believe that "taping" represents some higher, more modern, form of birding are uninformed, misinformed, in denial, or delusional.

Binoculars, for instance, are a mostly passive birding tool. They permit birders to look at birds from a distance. In effect, binoculars try to get us the satisfying looks we crave by limiting the potential for disturbance, while "taping" platforms are specifically intended to create disturbance by calling birds in.

Ms. Catlin points out that her survey respondents are "united in their thoughtfulness toward each other and the animals they watch." With respect to "taping," this is wishful thinking. So far as I can see, there is not much in the way of goodwill between those of us birding passively and those who insist on birding by any means necessary, i.e. "taping." Moreover, "taping" can hardly be described as "thoughtful behavior," especially since the practice is so often abused in unbelievably thoughtless ways.

Clearly, "taping" demonstrates a lack of respect for birds, birders, and birding in ways that have nothing to do the actual harm the practice causes. Regardless, comparing binoculars with "taping" platforms and/or the march of progress is a largely pointless and misleading exercise that has nothing much to do with either the underlying rationale for "taping" or birding with batteries.

Ms. Catlin dutifully repeats the nonsense that birders "taping" are nearly untied in their belief that the practice should be "used sparingly, carefully, and conscientiously in order to minimize potential danger to birds (by attracting predators, wasting birds' energy, or causing parents to neglect their young)."

This birding dribble flows directly from the American Birding Association's (ABA) often cited and defective limited "taping" construct. There is no such thing as "responsible taping," a construct invented to drape those "taping" in some self-serving mantle of legitimacy.

How exactly are "taping" platforms to be used "sparingly?" How are they to be used "carefully?" For how long and how often should birds be "taped?" Should amplified speakers be used in "taping" platforms? Should breeding birds, passage migrants, and winter residents be subjected to "taping's" vagaries?"

Survey the "taping" community on these and other important questions, and it will not take long to discover that the very people who promote this unethical birding practice cannot even be bothered to answer these questions in some uniform way, much less in a way that makes some kind of sense.

Here is a novel thought. If we really wish to avoid causing the "taping" dangers referred in Ms. Catlin's article, perhaps we should avoid the practice altogether, instead of simply trying to limit the harm we cause! Yes, birding often involves disturbance of one kind or another, but "taping" is clearly an altogether avoidable disturbance.

One of Ms. Catlin's respondents, no doubt a "thoughtful birder," adds this gem to her article. Referring to technology in general, this birder remarks, "If it us for your enjoyment and it does not interfere with someone else's experience, have at it."

"Have At It," a combat birder's battle cry. Welcome to the wonderful world of combat birding, where birding by any means necessary is a much coveted and equally useless principle of birding. In spite of the many ways that "taping" is rationalized, "Have At It" pretty much describes the rules of the road vis-a'-vis "taping." This is hardly progress. And, birding with batteries cannot possibly make this birding behavior any more lame than it already is.

Notes:

Here in Virginia, the Virginia Department of Inland Game & Fisheries (VDGIF) has published its responsible wildlife viewing tips. VDGIF recommends birders "avoid "using artificial calls and lures" which disrupt natural animal behavior.

The Virginia Society of Ornithology (VSO) has adopted a Code of Birding Ethics that does not endorse recreational "taping" because of the potential for harm. Somehow, the VSO also manages to adopt the ABA's limited "taping" construct in its Code. This birding buffoonery is made even more confusing because the VSO continues to be unwilling to tell its membership and others that "taping" is actually prohibited at many public land venues without benefit of a special use or research permit. How foolish is this?

Red-tailed Hawk Portrait

Dumb As A Stump

Yes, it has been awhile, but it is time to play another round of "Dumb As A stump" with the Virginia Society of Ornithology (VSO). This column will be a regular fixture in Bird Sense.

I have been hammering the VSO for a while now, something I will continue doing until the VSO shapes up and amends its ethics statement and addresses other issues too.

Why bother with the VSO at all, some may wonder? The answer is simple enough. One of the purposes of this blog is to discuss Virginia's birding community, including the VSO. After all, the only community that I can write about is the one that I belong to.

No, I do not belong to the VSO, but the VSO hardly defines the four conners of Virginia's birding community. There is, after all, birding life outside the VSO, something the VSO continues to struggle to understand. There are some things happening in Virginia's birding community that I like quite a bit; and, of course, there are some things happening that I do not like one bit. The "Dumb As A Stump" feature of my blog is my opportunity to sound off, take others to task, and help some begin thinking about the issues raised here in a more timely, thoughtful, and focused way.

Last month, in a "Dumb As A Stump" article, I hammered the VSO for its continuing inability to announce its newsletter on VA-Bird, a List Serv it sponsors. I wondered just how long it will take the VSO to figure out how to use its List Serv to its best advantage, especially since the VSO has now been sponsoring VA-Bird for almost two years. The VSO, it appears to me, has five speeds, these being: slow, slowly, slower, slowest, and full stop.

Club meetings, field trips, announcements, and related topics are routinely discussed on VA-Bird. There is simply no good reason why the VSO cannot correct this continuing oversight. Why the VSO is unwilling to do this is a mystery.

Memo to the VSO:

Announce the latest edition of your club's newsletter on the List Serv you sponsor. Dah!

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Of course, the VSO continues to be unable to publish its VA-Bird rules both properly and as promised. The VSO continuing problems with its List Serv is a near perfect metaphor for this crew, so far as I am concerned.

Talk about slow! In February 2009, the VSO finally got around around to publishing its VA-Bird rules. In announcing these rules on VA-Bird, a VSO official remarked:

"People have been asking whether the list has any guidelines for users. We have been been operating since May of 2007 without any explicit rules, but I think it is time that we had some. I have canvassed similar list services, solicited suggestions, and counseled with birders I respect, but this is it for now."

I can image that it came as big surprise to the VSO brain trust that people were actually asking whether VA-Bird had any rules! Honestly, who could possibly have known that a List Serv sponsored by a statewide ornithology club might actually need some formal rules? Why it took the VSO almost a year-and-half to publish these rules is no mystery once one realizes that the VSO often operates in the fog of some kind of perpetual hurry up and wait posture.

The VSO, of course, claims that it did certain things to get its VA-Bird rules into shape. Other list services were canvassed, blah, blah, blah. So, when the VSO finally publishes its VA-Bird rules, one immediate problem surfaces. Somehow, the VSO forget to tell its subscribers not to attach things like photos to a VA-Bird post. Please!

So, in June of 2009, when someone figures out how to include a photo attachment to a VA-Bird post, apparently something the VSO did not even believe was possible, how much of a surprise was it that the VSO had to go back to its membership and others and say, well, we forgot to cover the whole attachment thing, but let's not be including attachments to VA-Bird posts anyway?

Between June of 2009 and today, one might think that the VSO could gin up the time required to revise its now defective and supposedly well researched VA-Bird rules to reflect the fact that attachments should not be included in a VA-Bird post. After all, the time required to correct this oversight would take what, all of 15 minutes to do! But, not this crew. Slow, slowly, slower, slowest, and full stop. Am I right?

Returning to February 2009, when the VSO first publishes its VA-Bird rules, the VSO promised to do more going forward to republish these rules in the form of monthly reminders. The VSO also promised to publish these rules on its web site. Nine months later, these things still have not been done, prompting one VSO official to write me in September 2009, saying:

"We have not done as well as we could in making the list rules known...We will get the rules published to the VSO's web site." Sound familiar? Slow, slowly, slower, slowest, and full stop.

The VSO has certainly not gone out of its way to publish its VA-Bird rules properly, leaving me to wonder how much longer the VSO intends to continue this comedy of errors, because I am hardly responsible for making the VSO look bad. This, the VSO manages to do on its own with alarming regularity.

Memo to the VSO:

Amend your List Serv rules. Publish monthly or quarterly reminders, and get these rules published on the VSO's web site. Sometime this century would be nice a touch.

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Finally, the VSO continues to refuse to amend its defective ethics statement. How the VSO can adopt a limited "taping" construct, without bothering to tell its membership and others that this practice is actually prohibited at many public land venues without benefit of a special use or research permit is a mystery to me.

Memo to the VSO:

Wake up!

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But, wait a minute, these complaints are not really big-ticket concerns, right? Look, the VSO has had almost two years to figure out that maybe it would be helpful to announce the latest edition of its newsletter on VA-Bird. The VSO has had this same amount of time to get its List Serv rules published properly and posted to its web site. Just how long does the VSO require to do these things? Believe me, if the VSO really cared about taking care of these problems, it would do a better job of attending to these kinds of issues on a more thoughtful and timely basis. The VSO is not without the resources required to do this.

I do not agree that the VSOs continuing refusal to amend its ethics statement in a common sense way is no big deal. This is a very big deal. The VSO should not be afraid to do this. Amending its ethics statement is not something that has to be agonized over, especially since my suggestion to amend only improves the VSO's ethics statement and does nothing whatsoever to change the otherwise ridiculous way that that the VSO did its original "taping" calculus.

Besides which, if these are small problems, what is the big deal and where is the harm in getting these problems fixed. Correcting these problems once and for all only improves the VSO's internal operations. Continuing to live with these problems, especially when such simple remedies are available, embarrasses the VSO; in my opinion.

I would like nothing better than to tell Virginia's birding story to others in a way that has the VSO standing tall. But, for me to be able to do this, the VSO has to be standing tall. Until I see the VSO standing tall, I will be discussing this crew here with the same alarming regularity that prevents the VSO from addressing basic issues like those discussed above in a timely, forthright, and serious way.

Mama always said, "take care of the little things and most of the big things will take care of themselves." There lesson here, for anyone associated with the VSO with the ears to hear, is that I can hear the distant thunder and know that rain is on the way. The VSO can do better than slow, slowly, slower, slowest, and full stop.

Bird Sense has recently been selected to be one of the best birding blogs on the web, joining some pretty good company. Instead of living in a near perpetual state of denial and mediocrity, the VSO, should be doing more to make sure that the issues discussed here are addressed. But hey, I can point the VSO to the well. I can hardly force this crew to drink the water.

Next up, the "dumbing down of the VSO." A preview of sorts.

The VSO makes a big deal out of its conservation partnerships. To be sure, conservation partnerships are important and are all the rage. So, when the Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) wants help counting Rusty Blackbirds, the VSO partners with the VDGIF, sallying forth on one of its near legendary "forays" to count these birds. If nothing else, the VSO loves its "forays." But, are these "forays" proof of some grand, much less functioning, conservation partnerships?

True story. Not long ago, I met a woman at Occoquan Bay NWR (OBNWR). She has been birding the refuge a couple of times a week for three years. I met this woman the very day that she retired from the Federal government, they very day she is at the refuge to sign up as a volunteer. We get to talking, and I ask this woman if she knows about Fairfax Audubon, the Northern Virginia Bird Club, or the Virginia Society of Ornithlogy. She tells me that she has never heard of these clubs.

Riddle me this, if the VSO's conservation partnerships are so robust, how is it possible to walk into a Virginia National Wildlife Refuge, National Park Service, or State Park venue without having some opportunity to learn about the VSO and its chapters? How can anyone bird OBNWR a couple of times a week for a couple of years and never have an opportunity to learn about the VSO or Fairfax Audubon, a VSO chapter that has been surveying this refuge for something like twenty years? How is this possible?

At Delaware's Prime Hook NWR, I can a find brochure in the refuge's visitor center inviting others to join the Delaware Ornithological Society (DOS). At the Dupont Nature Center, also in Delaware, I can find a nice color brochure inviting others to check out the Ashland Nature Center's Hawk Watch. At Henlopen State Park (Delaware again), I can find a big banner inviting others to stop by this venue's Hawk Watch for a few minutes.

At Maryland's Soldier's Delight, I can find a color brochure on display in the park's visitor center asking others to join this venue's conservation effort. A kiosk at the Turkey Run Hawk Watch features a brochure inviting others to join the Cecil County Bird Club.

When do you suppose the VSO might get around to taking advantage of its so called conservation partnerships to do more to grow Virginia's birding community? The VSO has been around for decades, yet somehow, it is still possible for vistitors to walk into a Virginia State Park visitor's center or bird a venue for years without ever having an opportunity to learn about the VSO, much less be invited to join it; proof so far as I am concerned that the VSO continues to both underperform and be "dumbed down."

If the VSO does not want to fool around with placing brochures in facilities like public land visitor centers and contact stations, how about a simple banner that can be displayed at these places. Banners are inexpensive. They tend to have long shelf lives and do not have to be replenished with the same frequency that brochures do.

For example a VDGIF/VSO banner might feature the VDGIF's and VSO's logos and web addresses and read: "Come Join Us Birding Virginia Where Conservation Matters." Doing this kind of stuff makes it more likely that others will have an opportunity to be introduced to both the VDGIF and the VSO. Doing this kind of basic outreach over time will grow this community in ways that has not been done in the recent past.

One of the reasons that the VSO's membership is so puny is that this crew refuses to tell the right stories to the widest possible audience in the most compelling way possible. Birding is not about listing, something the VSO seems not to understand. One cannot join the VDGIF, but everyone can join the VSO. The VDGIF/VSO partnership is an important story, one that should be told to a wider audience because this an example of a story that others, especially new birders and those interested in birding will respond to.

So, there is a lot more to a conservation partnership than simple "foraying," something the VSO seems not to understand. The DOS and others are clearly invested in using their partnerships to do some basic birding outreach in an effort to grow their memberships. Obviously, the DOS and others get it, while the VSO's so-called conservation partnerships require some much needed work and attention.

Slow, slower, slowly, slowest, and full stop. In my opinion, the VSO has this community marching into its future backwards.

More later.

Conowingo Dam

Spent the day at the dam, one of my favorite venues this time of year. Lots of familiar faces; a chance to catch up with happenings along the fence line at Fisherman's Park. Listening to "shooters" talk gear, with a heavy emphasis on new camera bodies and lenses that have been fed to the cause. Lots of talk about the best way to expose for Bald Eagle, a high contrast bird (adults) and a low contrast bird (immatures).

I arrive around 9:00 a.m., just about the time the dam quits running water. Word on the fence line is that the dam may be making power again later in the afternoon, perhaps around 4:00 p.m.

Lots of Bald Eagles around, easily a hundred plus birds. I find a spot along the park's fence line to settle in looking for a couple of chances to get some Eagle shots. It's not the sunny day I expected, and as usual, there is a chill in the air along the Susquehanna River. Tough sledding for me.

With the dam not running water (making power), I have fewer opportunities to photograph Bald Eagles taking fish from the river. The few opportunities that do come my way find me struggling to get good exposures, and I am having a hard time getting my camera's autofocus to "lock up" flight shots. "Dude, one shooter tells me, it's that body. I thought you were trading up to a pro body." LOL! I spend my time "shooting" Bald Eagles on the tree line and getting the occasional flight shot. Most of the fishing activity is taking place across the river, well outside the reach of my lens.

Guys I know drop by to say hello and catch up. Stumble across a couple of Maryland photographers I know. Mostly hanging out now, waiting for the dam to begin running water again.

3:00 p.m., the dam's siren goes off and its red lights begin flashing, proof that the dam will be making power in a few minutes. This bring a big cheer from the fence line, as many of the hundred plus photographers at the dam begin migrating from the fence line down into the dam's bowl, where the afternoon light favors "shooters."

Sure enough, a few minutes after the dam begins running water, a couple of Eagles are out fishing. I have my best "shooting" opportunities of the day. I get some shots, and about 3:45 p.m., with the light beginning to drop behind the park's ridge line, I call it a day.

Not a great day at the dam, "shooting" wise, but there are no bad days to be the dam this time of year. Lots of Bald Eagles to see. A couple of Peregrine Falcons hanging around. Lots of things to learn. Great fun, really.

Red-tailed Hawk

Photographed at North Fork Wetlands.

Red-headed Woodpecker

Red-headed Woodpeckers in the walnut grove at Sky Meadows State Park.

Immature

Adult

Red-headed Woodpecker (RHWP) a favorite bird of early ornithologists, including Wilson and Audubon. A species under some pressure. Once common throughout Northeast, New England breeding populations nearly gone now. Supposed big declines in population throughout Mid-Atlantic region and elsewhere; most likely the result of the loss of potential nest sites (cutting down dead trees), competition for nest cavities, and even car strikes.

Went out to Sky Meadows State Park this morning looking for opportunities to photograph Red-headed Woodpeckers (RHWP), one of my favorite species. No trouble finding them in the park's walnut grove. RHWPs caching acorns and other nuts this time of year; one of only four Woodpecker species known to do this to preserve a food source throughout winter months. Better still, RHWP is the only Woodpecker species known to use bark to cover up cached food. Way to cool for simple words.

One of the most omnivorous of woodpeckers; eats insects, spiders, earthworms, nuts, seeds, berries, wild and cultivated fruit, sometimes the eggs and nestlings of other birds, and even bark. LOL! Opportunistic foraging strategies, including perch hunting flying out from tree trunks and branches to take insects from the air and on the ground. One of only a few ground foraging woodpeckers.

Often an edge species. Breeds in deciduous woodlands, river bottoms, open woods, open country with scattered trees, and open wooded swamps. Short distance migrant. Resident pairs sometimes remain together throughout year. Winter territories sometimes become breeding territory. Males establish territory. Often breeds in small colonies; especially attracted to newly burned and recently cleared areas, including low-lying wet areas with plenty of dead snags. Courtship displays include bowing displays and food exchanges. Very territorial; one or more RHWP(s) often chase other species, especially other woodpecker species, from nest areas and granaries.

Abundance here in Northern Virginia's coastal plain and piedmont, according to the Virginia Society of Ornithology's Gold Book:

Coastal Plain - Uncommon to locally rare permanent resident.

Piedmont - Uncommon to rare permanent resident.

While hardly a complete list, my favorite Northern Virginia RHWP venues include:

Huntley Meadows Park: the length of "Barnyard Run;" Also, edges along the park's backside hike/bike trail, including the park's Coast Guard and North Marsh, where the species is also well established and breeding.

Occoquan Bay NWR: Woods adjacent to Marumsco Creek. I do not know much about the species' breeding status here, though I would be surprised to learn that RHWP is not breeding here.

Manassas National Battlefield Park: Well established and breeding north of the park's Stone Bridge and Farm Ford in bottomland along Bull Run. Difficult area of the park to access. Not a walk I recommend, especially since this area is often closed to the public. Also, breeding in appropriate habitat north of the park's Stuart Hill Center.

Prince William Forest Park (PWFP): To my mind, this park, if you know where to look, clearly hosts the heaviest concentration (density) of RHWP in all of Northern Virginia, this in spite of the fact that the species was only recorded on the USGS breeding bird survey for the first time in twelve years in June 2009.

Well established and breeding in the park, especially along the South Valley Trail running out of the Oak Ridge Campground parking lot and in pockets of the park's North Tract (all along Rt. 619), and elsewhere in the park.

Sky Meadows State Park: Established and breeding in the park's walnut grove, along the edges of the Bridle Trial, and elsewhere in the park.

Recently, someone asked about RHWP behavior associated with territorial defense on VA-Bird? These kinds of observations and questions are what birding is supposed to be all about. Watching RHWP performing courtship displays, hawking insects, foraging on the ground, caching food, chasing other birds away from nest sites and granaries; these are the things that birding is supposed to be about. More proof that pure listing is not much more than a form of self-robbery. Why we raise birders to cherish birding be game instead of raising them to be careful observes is a mystery to me.

Assateague Island State Park

Sanderling