Folks,
*Highlights*
Stumpy Lake Natural Area - 4:00 to 4:50 PM - Wood Thrush, Great Crested
Flycatchers, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Prothonotary Warbler, Ovenbird; very
quiet here overall though.
Back Bay NWR - 5:15 to 6:40 PM - Indigo Buntings, many Royal Terns, no
shorebirds in sight along the beach, 1 White-tailed Deer up close, but very
quiet here as well.
*Outing Photographs*
*http://www.rbnature.com/galleries/we-20150517/
<http://www.rbnature.com/galleries/we-20150517/>*
*Full Species List(s)*
*http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23446808
<http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23446808>*
*http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23446856
<http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23446856>*
*Full Details*
Another incredibly beautiful day in Virginia Beach led to me leaving work a
few minutes early to try for some birds that were being reported around the
area. I arrived at Stumpy Lake about 4 PM and headed out down the 2-mile
long figure 8 style trails hoping to see some new songbirds, having gotten
some reports of a few species I've been looking for. Near the connection
point of the figure 8, a single* Wood Thrush *was observed, and I'd guess
this is one of the two that I'd seen here on my last pair of outings since
its in exactly the same spot. Walking around the trails it was actually
really quiet, and the few birds that were calling, mostly *Great Crested
Flycatchers* and *Ovenbirds*, proved very difficult to get sightings of. I
heard one* Prothonotary Warbler* calling from the swampy area, saw a
few *American
Robins*,* Blue Jays*, *American Crows*, and a single *Blue-gray Gnatcatcher*,
but that was really about it. So after one trip of the loop, I decided to
make a dash down to Back Bay NWR where a few warblers & shorebirds had been
reported earlier in the day.
As I arrived to the park about 5:15, the sun had moved behind the clouds,
cutting down the already constrained amount of light at this point in the
evening. I headed out around the Bayside & Bay Trail near the visitor
center first, finding a few *Red-winged Blackbirds* and a small flock
of 3 *Indigo
Buntings*, which proved tough to sneak up on. From there I headed quickly
down onto the beach, hoping to catch my first Semipalmated Plovers of the
year, but the high tide appeared to have moved in, taking up most of the
shorebirds real estate, but even with binoculars I couldn't spot any in
either direction down the beach. A large collection of *Double-crested
Cormorants* and *Royal Terns *had taken up residence on the 'north mile',
where they're protected since the area is off-limits to the public. A
few *Brown
Pelicans* could be seen amongst them, and I scanned the flock of terns for
a Caspian but couldn't locate any unfortunately. I walked down to the
southern access, and back up over the dunes to the Loop Road, where I then
went back up to the Bay Trail. I'd have walked further but with the
lighting so poor with the clouds, I just decided to try my luck closer in
to the parking area. Walking the Bay Trail westward, I was continuously
flushing the set of Indigo Buntings I'd seen earlier, with them always
about 50 feet or more out in front of me, no matter how slow and quiet I
stalked them. A single *Field Sparrow* seemed to move right with them as
well, but this was really it for birds along the trail. When I reached the
end and turned around, I repeated the process all over again, though at
least this direction, the light was behind me, giving a couple
opportunities for photographs of the buntings as they paused ever so
briefly before flushing again. Walking over the connecting boardwalk to the
Bayside Trail, and around the small pond where the bitterns are often seen,
a White-tailed Deer walked out about 50 feet away, stopped, looked right at
me, and then slowly moved off into the dense forest between here and the
Bay Trail. So while the bird sightings weren't real heavy today, the
individual sightings were all very entertaining, and I always love seeing
the Indigo Buntings' beautiful blue colors up close, though hopefully I get
a chance soon with better lighting.
Rob Bielawski
Virginia Beach, VA