Gliders and a Flycatcher at the West Hyattsville Metro Ponds

Today, I went for a quick bit of birding and insect catching despite the haze blown in from Canadian wildfires. I must have cut quite a figure with an N95 and a long insect catching net, flailing around in Chillum Community park.

The highlights of my bird list were a Great Crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus) and a dozen Chimney Swifts (Chaetura pelagica) swooping at impressive speed to drink from the retaining pond surface. It’s a marvel that they never seem to miscalculate their trajectory and end up fully submerged.

These runoff ponds were so cleverly designed and stocked with native plants. Hats off to all involved in this project. This is the first (and only) hotspot I submitted to eBird for consideration as a public hotspot, and it’s been gratifying to see how many other people have posted lists here, some quite regularly.

In Chillum Community park, across the footbridge spanning the Northwest Branch of the Anacostia, I netted my first insect: what I believe to be a Spot-Winged Glider (Pantala hymenaea).

Here is the landscape I caught it in.

My identification procedure was to run it through the iNaturalist “Spot” application, and then look at a few species in the genus to rule them out.

The key field mark, a “spot” that spans the bases of both hindwings, is hard to see in this first picture. I’ve included a detail shot that shows it more clearly. Turns out it’s pretty hard to photograph these guys in a net with a mid-range smartphone.