Folks,
*Highlights*
*Back Bay NWR (5/22/15)* - 3:45 to 7:00 PM - 1 female Black Scoter on
northernmost freshwater impoundment along West Dike Trail, 1 American Coot
on pond north of maritime forest, FOY Yellow-billed Cuckoo (3 in maritime
forest), FOY American Redstart (male on Bay Trail), FOY Cattle Egret
(overhead fly-by on Bay Trail), Greater Yellowlegs, Indigo Buntings, Blue
Grosbeaks, Eastern Kingbirds, Orchard Orioles.
*Back Bay NWR (5/23/15) *- 7:40 to 9:20 AM - American Redstart (female
behind visitor center on Bay Trail), Flycatcher (likely Acadian but unable
to determine off quick look), two separate warblers seen along Bay Trail as
fleeting looks that were unable to ID, Orchard Orioles, 1 American Coot in
same spot as before, Greater Yellowlegs, Indigo Buntings, Blue Grosbeaks,
Eastern Kingbirds, No scoter present this time along West Dike Trail.
*False Cape SP (5/23/15) *- 9:20 to 10:10 AM - FOY Summer Tanager (male &
female near visitor center), Prairie Warbler, Ruby-throated Hummingbird,
Indigo Buntings, Ruddy Turnstone, No Red Knots present along beach today.
*Back Bay NWR (5/23/15) *- 10:10 to 11:50 AM - No Red Knots presents today,
Black-bellied Plovers, Ruddy Turnstones, Royal Tern, lots of Brown Pelicans
over dune line but essentially no other birds flying in the windy
conditions, Cedar Waxwings.
*Outing Photographs*
*http://www.rbnature.com/galleries/we-20150524/
<http://www.rbnature.com/galleries/we-20150524/>*
*Full Species List(s)*
*http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23584822
<http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23584822>*
*http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23594916
<http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23594916>*
*http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23595010
<http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23595010>*
*http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23595105
<http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23595105>*
*Full Details*
Memorial Day weekend got off to a nice start with beautiful sunny skies and
weather in the low 70s on Friday evening. After work, I headed down to Back
Bay NWR, arriving about 3:45 PM, parking near the Loop Road entrance. With
success that many folks have had at the base of the Bay Trail, I made a
quick stop to see if I could find any warblers here, but seeing & hearing
nothing after a few minutes, headed down the Loop Road's western side
instead. *Red-winged Blackbirds* were frequently seen, but birds were quiet
on the Loop Road. One Northern Watersnake was seen swimming in the ponds
adjacent to the gravel roadway, and photographed. This particular snake
kept submerging itself and swimming down into the vegetation at the bottom
of the shallow pond, then would rise up with just its head sticking out of
the water's surface. I've never seen one act quite like this before, but it
made for some neat photographs (see link above). Reaching the junction with
the West Dike Trail, a pair of *Eastern Kingbirds* flew across the trail
and headed off to the southeast. Throughout the next stretch of the
trail, *Boat-tailed
& Common Grackles* were seen, and one *Great Egret* made a fly-over, but
still, pretty quiet for birds. Reaching the southwest corner of the large,
marshy impoundment, I spotted a duck sitting out on the water, thinking it
was probably a* Mallard* since they're really the only species around right
now in any numbers. However, as I got closer, it was obvious that the bird
was actually a female *Black Scoter*. I believe this is the first one I've
ever photographed on freshwater before, and it was a strange feeling seeing
it against a marshy backdrop rather than the open ocean. The bird never
took to the air, but did dive several times, coming up to see where I was,
then diving again. After a few dives, and a few photographs, I continued on
my walk so that it wouldn't be disturbed. Near here, there is a junction
with a trail that cuts east-west across the impoundments, forming the
northern edge of a large rectangular pond. On this pond, there are a couple
small mudflats, though most of the pond is just open water. *Semipalmated
Plovers *and *Greater Yellowlegs* could be seen on the mudflats in small
numbers, with a pair of female *Red-breasted Mergansers* that were sitting
on the exposed surface. Mallards & *Canada Geese* were out on the water
swimming, and 7 *Snowy Egrets* were hunting out in the middle where it must
be quite shallow. One *Caspian Tern* could be seen all the way across the
pond on the eastern shore, and it later did a flyby of my location,
providing some nice looks at the large amount of black on its underwings.
Over the next stretch of trail, I passed the pumphouse that floods the
impoundments with water from Back Bay when needed, and continued south,
nearing the entrance to the maritime forest. In the couple hundred yards
north of the maritime forest, I've been seeing a fair amount of *Orchard
Orioles*, which seem to enjoy the few trees that dot this portion of the
trail. On the pond near here was 1 *American Coot*, which is hanging around
quite late into the month, and also a pair of *Greater Yellowlegs* that
seem to be in this area each time I walk nearby. A beautiful male *American
Goldfinch* was seen with a female companion in one of the small trees along
the trail here as well, making it the second time I've seen one this week
out far from suburbia and feeders. Entering the maritime forest, a *Blue
Grosbeak *was seen calling from high up a tall tree. Also, a single *Mourning
Dove* was perched up in a tree where the east-west trail crossing the
park's interior hits the roadway. Along the roadway, I finally encountered
my first *cuckoos* of the year when two *Yellow-billeds* jumped from an
overhanging branch visible from the road up into the protection of the
canopy. I snapped a few shots of one of the birds before it flew off into
the forest (see above link). A single *Prothonotary Warbler* was heard in
the forest also, and it actually flew right across the road in front of me,
giving me good looks of a bird that I don't often spend time trying to put
eyes on in this section due to the thickness of the foliage. A pair of *Great
Crested Flycatchers* also provided nice looks and photos along the forested
roadway. Upon exiting the forest, a Nutria was pulled up on the shoreline
of the adjacent ditch, cleaning itself and shaking off for a few minutes. I
walked a hundred yards or so to the south, sadly seeing a very small, young
Cottonmouth smashed on the roadway. The young snakes have a beautiful
pattern of varying brown colors and are a sight to behold when alive, so
this was a quite sad to see. I turned around here and headed back
northward, seeing a couple of Carolina Chickadees in the forest but not
much else. The coot, yellowlegs, and Black Scoter were all present on the
northward journey again, and more photographs were taken. When I reached
the northern end of the West Dike Trail, I took the Loop Road around to the
east, hoping to get some looks at a Prairie Warbler, which are quite common
along this section. Unfortunately, I didn't get my Prairie this time, but
did find a pair of Blue Grosbeaks up near the Dune Trail's boardwalk. I
opted not to walk down to the beach this time, instead heading directly up
to the Bay Trail, which I walked out and back. Walking westward, about
mid-way between the Bayside Trail boardwalk connection and the pond at the
west end, a small songbird flew across the trail, pausing briefly on a
branch before disappearing into the thick foliage. Fortunately, I got a
good look at the bird while perched, clearly a male *American Redstart*
showing just a little bright-orange and a mostly black body, my first of
the year. Continuing west, I reached the end of the trail & made the
turn-around, seeing a white bird flying over quite high up. Sporting yellow
legs, a stocky yellow bill, and a rusty patch on the chest, this bird was
my first *Cattle Egret *of the year, so the Bay Trail turned out to be a
good move this time. I headed back to the vehicle, not re-locating the
redstart for a photo unfortunately, but still excited to have seen one here.
After good success on Friday evening at the park, and after reading and
hearing about the Red Knots that Ron Furnish & Marie Mullins had spotted
along the beachfront near the False Cape SP border, I headed down to Back
Bay again as soon as I woke up on Saturday, arriving at 7:40 AM. I started
off with a walk down the Bay Trail, which again turned out to be a good
decision. I had a warbler cross in front of me, that looked to have several
colors on it, but it never stopped or stood still long enough to let me
focus on it unfortunately. A part of me hopes this might be the Magnolia
Warbler spotted near here by Karen & Tom Beatty recently, and all of me
hopes if this is the case, that it sticks around so I can actually get a
look at it! Behind the visitor center, in the hotspot apparent of the last
couple of weeks I got a female American Redstart, and photos this time, so
I was excited about that! Also, a flycatcher that was most likely an
Acadian hopped through the dense foliage, but I couldn't get good enough
looks to validate the ID. So the birds are definitely around this area, but
they weren't giving me much time to see them today. The wind was really
howling from the northeast at probably 15-20 mph, continuously, so birds in
general today were tough to find in the open. Heading down the Loop
Road, a *Common
Tern* flew over me, as did a couple of *Ospreys*, but again the dominant
birds now are the Red-winged Blackbirds. Walking the West Dike Trail
yielded the same typical birds I'd seen the day before (Blue Grosbeaks,
Indigo Buntings, Orchard Orioles, Eastern Kingbirds), but nothing new was
sighted. A *Great Blue Heron* was seen trying to swallow a rather massive
Bluegill that it must have caught just before I spotted it. A few decent
photographs of this bird show just how gluttonous they can be. I wondered
exactly how they're able to swallow these fish whole and digest them
without the spines on the fins hurting their throats or stomachs, but I
guess they've been doing for a while, and have figured it out. The Black
Scoter had disappeared overnight and could not be re-located on any of the
visible impoundments from the roadway, which I was happy about, since I was
concerned it might be an injured bird given its behavior on Friday evening.
The American Coot sighted yesterday was sitting right about in the same
spot, as were the pair of Greater Yellowlegs.
Entering the maritime forest, I felt I might see more birds than I had out
in the open, given that the area was protected from the winds. Great
Crested Flycatchers were again see, and Prothonotary Warblers were heard,
but still the birds remained tough to find here. Exiting the forest, what
was likely the same Nutria was seen again cleaning itself up. At the border
road with False Cape SP I headed eastward, turning south at the main entry
road towards the visitor center. Along this roadway a flock of *Double-crested
Cormorants* cruised by overhead, and again many Red-winged Blackbirds were
seen. Eastern Kingbirds, Tufted Titmice and Indigo Buntings were also seen
here, and a single* Red-tailed Hawk* was flying in circles overhead. Near
the visitor center, two birds flew by me overhead, calling a song I didn't
recognize. They landed in a tree nearby, one, a red bird, the other, a
greenish-yellow bird. Getting the binoculars up on them got me excited when
I realized they were *Summer Tanagers,* a male & female, and also the first
I've seen this year. I never see a lot of these birds in any given year,
last year I believe I only saw 2 as well (at First Landing SP), so they
were a welcomed sight. Continuing eastward from the visitor center towards
Barbour Hill and the beachfront yielded a Blue Grosbeak, and good looks at a*
Prairie Warbler* that was calling from a roadside shrub. A *Ruby-throated
Hummingbird *was seen along a powerline, and another was seen near some
honeysuckle. A Mud Turtle, and a newly hatched Snapping Turtle were also
seen where the powerlines cross the road and there is a small marshy spot.
When I reached the beach, I quickly scanned both directions hoping to
locate the Red Knots I was after, but couldn't see them from the hilltop
anywhere along the beachfront. Walking north on the beach, I had a pack of
*Sanderlings* staying out in front of me for the first mile or so, before I
finally walked closer to the duneline to get around them without spooking
them.* Ruddy Turnstones, Black-bellied Plovers, and Semipalmated Sandpipers*
were noted among the Sanderlings, but these were the only shorebirds seen
for the day. With the winds whipping into shore, and the waves crashing,
almost no birds were seen in flight over the open water. Brown Pelicans,
about 50 of them in total, were sighted flying over the duneline, but again
staying off the open ocean. Only a single* Royal Tern*, and two other
unidentified terns were seen the entire way from False Cape to the parking
area trails of Back Bay.
Heading over the dunes on the Dune Trail to the Loop Road yielded an*
Eastern Towhee* in the area they're typically seen and heard. Walking the
Loop Road north, I stopped and attempted to put eyes on a few birds that
were calling from cover, but just never could. I opted to walk the Bay
Trail one more time, hoping to re-spot the warblers I couldn't get good
looks at earlier in the day, but the trail remained quiet, with just one
Indigo Buntings calling from a very visible spot high up a tree. I did get
some nice looks at a Marsh Rabbit that was hiding in my favorite warbler
spot. As a final check, I walked the Kuralt Trail, which is the short
boardwalk north of the parking area, turning up a flock of *Cedar Waxwings*
and a *Carolina Chickadee*, but nothing out of the ordinary. So I headed
back to the car after the 10.5 mile walk, to go home and relax / sift
through all the photos from the last two days. Hopefully tomorrow brings
nice weather again, maybe a little less windy though so the smaller birds
can be a bit more visible!
*In-Depth Weekly Accounts & Photographs:*
*http://www.rbnature.com/blog-index/ ;<http://www.rbnature.com/blog-index/>*
Rob Bielawski
Virginia Beach, VA
