On Thursday, May 27th I went to Huntley Meadows Park in Fairfax, Virginia from 7 AM- 12 PM. The temperature was around 85 degrees, and partly cloudy in the morning but the sun came out at around 9:45 AM and there was a light breeze throughout the day. The park begins in a dense deciduous forest with a lot of canopy cover and a dense under story. There were thunderstorms last night so the forest was particularly humid. The forest eventually opens up into a vast open wetland consisting of marsh lands with vernal pools that all eventually lead into a large pond. There was a board walk for traversing the entire wetland. In the forest, it was difficult to discern different species because of the thick vegetation, and loud cicadas. However, a few species were heard like the Cedar Waxwing, Eastern Wood -Pewee, American Goldfinch, and a few species of woodpeckers (Downy and Pileated), as well as other song bird species. They were mostly all in the tops of the overstory and singing fairly consistently. But the woodpeckers were climbing along the trees along with the White-breasted Nuthatches. Once in the wetland, the some of the species swimming or standing in the water were Mallards, American Black Duck, Great Blue Heron, and the Green Heron. They were in some of the vernal pools but mainly in the main pond. I saw a family of Canada Geese swimming across the pond which was really cool to see, and the gosling were still small which I don't get to see often. There were many species flying across the wetlands like the Common Grackle, Red-winged Blackbird, Tree Swallows, and Barn Swallows. They were all singing and flying and diving in and out of the shrubbery as well as flying into the dispersed trees. Many of them would interact in the air and chase each other regardless of the species type. There were Osprey and Red-tailed Hawks flying overhead, and the hawks appeared to just be circling, but I could see the Opsrey looking for fish, and trying to get better angles for hunting which I'd never seen before. I also so multiple American Crows chasing a Green Heron through the air which was the most exciting thing I saw today!
heard in the forest throughout the day
Single individual heard in the late morning
Heard throughout the day across the forest
Single individual heard in the early morning
Seen and heard flying across the wetlands
heard in the overstory of the forest
A few seen flying over the wetland
Many seen flying across the wetlands diving into the marsh and singing as they fly
Many seen and heard flying through the wetlands and landing in shrubs and trees
Multiple family units and individuals seen together in the pond
heard and see on a tree in the forest
Individuals seen flying over the wetland and landing in trees and calling
Many individuals flying and seeing and diving into the shrubs in the wetland
None observed, but a few individuals heard singing
Some heard singing throughout the day
3 individuals flying over wetland but none diving
Heard singing throughout the day in the forest
None observed but a few individuals heard calling throughout the forest
3 individuals observed but many heard singing in the forest
Individuals observed in the forest and heard singing
Seen circling overhead across the wetlands and the forest
One individuals seen flying across the wetlands and rarely landing
One individual seen on the top branches of a tree on the end of the wetland
Seen in the water with a mallard and hybrid offspring
Just one individual seen in the forest
Just heard in the trees in the forest
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