Our walk at the Dulles Greenway Wetlands Mitigation yesterday yielded some nice encounters. Below is a listing of the different species and a few notes from the field.
Birds:
Wood Duck, Mallard, Northern Shoveler – 5 juveniles or females – at the early end of the date range in the Gold Book, Great Blue Heron – 1, Great Egret – 8 perched together, later 2 perched across Goose Creek, Green Heron – 6 or 8, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Red-shouldered Hawk – 1 seen, 2 or 3 heard, Red-tailed Hawk – juvenile, Killdeer – 1, Solitary Sandpiper – 4, Least Sandpiper – 2, Mourning Dove, Yellow-billed Cuckoo – heard, Ruby-throated Hummingbird – 1, Belted Kingfisher – 1, Red-bellied Woodpecker – heard, Downy Woodpecker – 1, No. Flicker – heard, Willow Flycatcher – 1 silent one perched atop a willow where they’ve perennially nested, Red-eyed Vireo – good looks at 1, American Crow, Tree swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Carolina Wren, Gray Catbird, Cedar Waxwing – heard by a few, American Redstart – extended looks at a young male, Common Yellowthroat
Chipping Sparrow – parents feeding young in a nest next to the parking area, Field Sparrow, No. Cardinal, Indigo Bunting, Am. Goldfinch
Butterflies:
Spicebush Swallowtail, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Cabbage White, Orange Sulfur, Eastern Tailed Blue, Pearl Crescent, Common Buckeye, Red-spotted Purple, Viceroy, Monarch – approximately 4
Noteworthy “bugs” and spiders:
large Praying Mantis munching on a skipper!
a couple large Golden Orb Spiders on beautiful webs
Reptiles and Amphibians:
a large water snake swimming across the marsh pool water, 2 or 3 times seen
a Painted Turtle swimming across the clear shallow water of the Goose Creek
a tiny Green frog (thumbnail size)
Mammals:
a White-tailed Deer in the marsh
Flowers:
Sneezeweed, Wild Mistflower (Ageratum), New York Ironweed, Swamp Milkweed, Moth Mullein, goldenrod, Wingstem, Birdsfoot Trefoil