Sunday, November 20, 2005

National Arboretum Walk

I walked my usual circuit around the National Arboretum this afternoon. As is common in the afternoon, the birding was pretty slow, with only a few short bursts of activity.

I had been worried that perhaps the pileated woodpecker population in the arboretum had disappeared, since I had not seen any in quite a while. But today I saw one and heard another in the wooded area known as "Fern Valley." I saw one female at close range; it was digging a hole into a dead tree limb.

SPECIES SEEN: 28

Canada Goose
Mallard
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
Ring-billed Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Carolina Wren
Northern Mockingbird
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
European Starling
House Sparrow
American Goldfinch
Eastern Towhee
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal