An Unusual Sighting at Fairview Park Pond

This afternoon Whitney Redding sent me a message about a bird she saw at the small pond by the Fairview Park Marriott. She wanted to know what this sleek, hook-billed bird she saw was. She took a photo from a distance with her cell phone. At first and second glance of Whitney's photo, I knew the bird but for the life of me I couldn't figure out why it was in the little pond near the beltway.

Dan and I raced over there with our cameras. We saw the bird swimming along the edge of the pond, head down, fishing. The bird, which we have seen in great numbers in the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers and Chesapeake Bay, was a Double-crested Cormorant.

The Double-crested Cormorant likes to do two things: fish and rest. They don't have as much preening oil as other water  birds so they dry their wings after time in the water.

Their feathers get soaked and makes them slick and fast underwater.

The birds are numerous and not endangered. They can be found in freshwater and brackish, pretty much anywhere there's fish.

Thanks, Whitney, for your keen eye. There's a new bird to add to our neighborhood birding list!

Ruby-throated Hummingbird: Fall Migration and Hurricanes

With September comes the ramping up of fall migration for neo-tropical songbirds. We have observed in our yard for over a week now, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds feeding aggressively form the cardinal vine's red flowers and from our feeder. Even in the rain that occurred all day on Wednesday, I observed two birds taking turns at the feeder. The rain ruffled their tiny feathers and made them a little more tired so they took rest breaks by the feeder before flying into the trees to get shelter from the rain.

I have been researching how hurricanes affect fall migration. Many birds, esp. seabirds, fly along the coast. They can fly further inland rather than use energy battling headwinds. Some larger seabirds will go through the hurricane and stay in the calm eye! Birds are quite sensitive to changes in barometric pressure and winds so they adjust their routes as needed. The biggest threat to birds in hurricanes can be the aftermath with destruction of habitat and food sources such as winds blowing fruit and seeds from vegetation.  Some birds not native the continental U.S.  have been shifted by hurricanes from their habitat to the U.S. mainland. It will be interesting to see any observations after Harvey and Irma on any birds native to Mexico or the Caribbean being blown into the U.S.