Hooded Merganser.
Photo by Gerco Hoogeweg
Six hardy birders came out on a rainy, windy morning at Broad Run Stream Valley Park for a bird walk led by Bryan Henson. Fortunately, the wind wasn’t as strong as expected and the rain petered out by the end of the walk. Our walk started off with a bit of a mystery. We heard a song that none of us none of us could identify with certainty. We made some recordings and will consult others to try to figure out what bird we heard — perhaps a Marsh or Sedge Wren? Either way, it would be a good find. As we continued our walk, we found many of our common winter species including Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, White-throated Sparrow, Red-bellied Woodpecker and many Song Sparrows. As we proceeded to the pond on the west side of the park, we found White-crowned Sparrows and some waterfowl: Bufflehead and Hooded Mergansers. As we walked away from the pond, we heard a couple of Horned Larks and spotted them flying away. All told, a pretty good list of over 30 bird species, and we all were happy we didn’t stay home.