Huntley Meadows and Dykes Marsh

It was a beautiful Friday so of course I got struck with the Bird Flu. First I went to Huntley Meadows but basically got shut out. I drove over to Dykes Marsh and saw that the fall migration was in full swing. Out on the Potomac River, there were rafts of Geese, ducks and coots for as far as the eye could see. This picture doesn't quite do the total number justice. This was just one raft in one direction.

Raft of American Coots

While I was checking out all of the water birds, I just happened to look up and (almost too late) saw 2 Bald Eagles chasing each other. That is the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria Virginia in the background. You can see it when you look down the Potomac River from Dykes Marsh. This was made famous in Dan Brown's book "The Lost Symbol".

2 Bald Eagles playing chase

There were a lot of smaller ducks near the shore that ended up being Ruddy Ducks. The male looks like it is wearing a burglar mask and the female has a black stripe under her eye.

Male Ruddy Duck

Female Ruddy Duck 

All of them eventually lifted their tail straight up in the classic Ruddy Duck way.

Tail up

There were also Buffleheads.

Buffleheads

There was nothing earth-shattering but it was just such a nice day out!!!!