Evening star., 1945-04-11
This and That
BIZ Charles E. TraceneU.
PORT BELVOIR, Va.

Dear Sir:
Il am an amateur ornithologist by
hobby, and take pleasure in recording
the different species of birds wherever
I may be stationed. I have identified
the residents and recorded spring ar
rivals in Wisconsin. the Mississippi VAL
ley in Illinois, the mountains and des-
erts Of California. and the forests of
Yukon Territory. Canada.
Recently l have come to Fort Bel
voir and have noted what birds I could
while on duty mostly by recognizing
their songs. since have no time to look
for them. Your column in The Evening
Star has interested me.
Please send me list of birds iden-
tif1ed in the locality during l945 to
March 20, also those species that spent
the winter in this vicinity. l would
appreciate such list very much. and
will try to supplement it with my own
observations from now on.
yours truly, Maj. NJ. S. D.
Birds seen and identified here during
the time specified included;
Horned grebe, great blue heron. black
crowned night heron. lesser Canada
goose, mallard, black duck, pintail. bald
pate. green winged teal, goldeneye.
American merganser, turkey vulture.
Coopers hawk, red-tailed hawk, bald
eagle, marsh hawk, sparrow hawk, bob
white, coot, killdeer, Wilson's snipe,
herring gull, ring billed gull.
Mourning dove. barrel owl, short cared
owl, belted kingflsher, flicker, red-bellied
woodpecker hairy woodpecker, downy
woodpecker, blue jay, crow, Carolina
chickadee, tufted titmouse, white
breasted nuthatch. brown creeper, win
ter wren, Carolina wren, long billed
marsh wren, mockingbird, robin, hermit
thrush, bluebird.
Golden crowned kinglet. ruby crowned
kinglet, pipit, cedar waxwing. migrant
Shrike, startling, myrtle warbler, English
sparrow, meadow lark, red-winged
blackbird, cardinal purple finch, gold
finch, towhee, slate-colored junco. tree
sparrow, field sparrow, white-throated
sparrow fox sparrow, swamp sparrow,
song sparrow, duck hawk, barn owl,
screech owl, great horned owl, cowbird,
purple grackle. vesper sparrow, chipping
sparrow, purple martin, pine warbler.
These birds are, roughly, those which
winter here, but of many of the species
only few stay the year around.
Only half dozen robins, for instance,
will be seen in the winter, and prac-
tically all of these in Rock Creek Park.
Bluebirds winter in Washington and
vicinity, notably in the Wesley Heights
section, but probably not more than one
or two hundred
This is South for the hermit thrush,
and those which have been seen in win
ter were in Rock Creek Park, as might
be suspected.
There are few fox sparroWs or purple
finches here in winter, but some will
be seen by fortunate observers.
Few suburban residents will ever see
a red-winged blackbird at any time of
year.
Turkey vultures. or buzzardS, as they
are commonly called may be watched in
the vicinity of the National Geological
Park.
It is interesting to stand on the CAL
vert Street Bridge and watch them soar.
Few winged things have their mastery
of the art.
Pigeons are beginning to take over this
bridge. Many of them may be seen walk
ing along the railings. These wild speci-
mems also have begun to roost in and
under the other small bridges which
span the creek and the roadways
1t should be pointed out that the
average home garden in winter will not
have a very large percentage of the
foregoing list. The main birds which
winter in an average suburban garden
hereabouts are cardinals, titmice, chick
adees, nuthatches, brown creepers, blue
jays, English sparrows, white -throated
sparrows, song sparrows, starlings,
downy woodpeckers, hairy and red-bel-
Lied woodpeckers, pigeons, an occasional
flicker, and doves.