Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea)
One of the best things about being retired is that we can go places during the day that we used to only visit on weekends. That’s what we did today, heading out to McKee-Beshers in Poolesville and parking at the furthest parking area on Hunting Quarter Road, near the dog training pond. There were a few others out with long lenses, as apparently a few notable birds had been spotted there recently. We aren’t monitoring those lists regularly so for us, it was just good luck that we happened to see this prothonotary warbler (Protonotaria citrea). We also saw (and I photographed) a greater yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca), an American coot (Fulica americana), and a solitary sandpiper (Tringa solitaria), birds we don’t generally see this far inland. The coot was sitting on a nest.