February Walk at Algonkian Finds 30 Species of Birds

A dozen hardy birders headed out to Algonkian Park for the monthly walk on February 16.  Rain was predicted for the morning, but fortunately the rain held off until the second half of the walk.  To start the walk, we found a pair of adult Bald Eagles in a tree on Sharpshin Island.  A handful of ducks were on the Potomac River, including Bufflehead, Hooded Mergansers and Common Mergansers, in addition to a good number of Ring-billed Gulls. Eastern Bluebirds gave us close looks of their lovely shades of blue while we listened to a Downy Woodpecker hammering away on a nearby tree.

As we walked towards the cabins, a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers flew ahead leading us down the road.  The sight of Golden-crowned Kinglets flitting around pine trees brought us joy and a little bit of laughter.  All told, we found 30 species of birds.  The complete list can be viewed on eBird at: https://ebird.org/checklist/S213769485.