[Va-bird] 5/29/15 - Virginia Beach - Back Bay NWR - 2 Black-necked Stilts

From: Rob Bielawski <robbielawski@xxxxxxxxx>
To: VA-Bird List <va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 29 May 2015 21:39:47 -0400

Folks,

*Highlights*
Back Bay NWR - 3:40 to 7:05 PM - 2 Black-necked Stilts seen on C-Storage
Pool (the pond connected to the pumphouse along the West Dike Trail, County
Lifer), Yellow-breasted Chats, Orchard Orioles, No Eastern Kingbirds today,
adult Bald Eagle, 11 Glossy Ibis (7 in flight, 4 on the B-Pool viewable
from West Dike), 1 Yellow-billed Cuckoo, several Great Crested Flycatchers,
1 Prothonotary Warbler, American Coot still hanging out on the B-Storage
Pool near entrance to maritime forest. One rather large Eastern Cottonmouth
seen, and a Raccoon nearby also, very active wildlife evening at the park.

*Outing Photographs (Photos not yet posted, aside from 1 of the Stilts)*
*http://www.rbnature.com/galleries/we-20150531/
<http://www.rbnature.com/galleries/we-20150531/>*

*Full Details*

From the moment I arrived this afternoon at Back Bay NWR, it just felt like

it was going to be a good outing. On the entry road, I spotted some Eastern
Towhees, Northern Cardinals, Northern Mockingbirds, and several Ospreys.
Just after parking and stepping out of the vehicle, a Prairie Warbler was
calling from a tree just east of the parking lot, offering good looks and a
couple identifying photographs. Though they're common in the park, it was
nice for one to show up right in view here, instead of having to hunt them
down in the scrubland like usual. I quickly walked along the visitor
contact station and worked my way towards the small pond, then down the
boardwalks to the Bay Trail. Perched in the grove of trees nearby was a
Northern Cardinal and Red-winged Blackbird, both calling loudly. I'd hoped
to see a warbler or two along the Bay Trail, but as I walked it westward,
nothing whatsoever flushed, so I turned around at the pond, heading back
towards the Loop Road. I stopped for a moment at the cypress grove at the
eastern end of the trail, but nothing was moving around here and it appears
that this spot, a hot spot just a week or two ago, has now finally cooled
off. Coming into the park, I had it in my mind that perhaps if I walked the
beachfront, that maybe I'd pick up some shorebirds I hadn't yet seen,
hoping for a possible Whimbrel or Black Tern. I took the Seaside Trail
boardwalk down to the beach, seeing a Great Egret on the E-Pool next to the
parking lot, and another Northern Cardinal along the boardwalk itself. On
the beach, the wind was really driving into shore, blowing sand inland. The
crashing waves have carved out the beach considerably, and it was a bit
difficult to walk on given how moist it was just beneath the surface. While
attempting to walk along the water's edge, a wave rolled over my feet, and
I thought to myself just how terrible a Sanderling I would make. Speaking
of which, Sanderlings and Semipalmated Sandpipers were both present, though
they were the only shorebirds seen between the Seaside and Dune Trails.
Only a pair of gulls passed overhead, otherwise, birds here were
nonexistent. So, I abandoned my plans to walked the beach towards False
Cape, and instead walked up the Dune Trail back onto the Loop Road.

Along the boardwalk just prior to reaching the Loop Road, a Yellow-breasted
Chat and a Blue Grosbeak were seen up on the power wires. This was only the
second chat I've ever seen, having just added this species to my life list
a couple weeks ago after finding one in False Cape State Park to the south.
Excited, I snapped some shots, but was in a poor spot given the light
streaming in from the west. I tried to work around the bird, but it dropped
down into a thicket unfortunately. The Blue Grosbeak though, in a surprise
move, flew right at me, landing in a shrub nearby, and though shaded a bit,
I was able to get a nice photo showing off its blue plumage! I walked the
eastern side of the Loop Road around to where the West Dike Trail begins
and then continued onward. With the sunlight facing me from the west, I
spent most of my time focused on the impoundments to the east side of the
trail. Walking along the C-Pool, I picked up a Yellow-billed Cuckoo gliding
over the ditch and into the nearby forest canopy. Nearby, a Barn Swallow
was snapping water off the ditch's surface, and several Great Egrets were
visible, standing tall out in the marshes. As I approached the 'island' of
trees along the southwest corner of the pool, I noted a pair of
Brown-headed Cowbirds again in the same spot as seen on Monday, but also
noted a lack of Eastern Kingbirds at the park, of which I didn't see a
single one for the first time in a while. Near here, I spotted a large
Red-bellied Watersnake that swiftly moved off the shoulder into the ditch,
and a few minutes later also saw a Northern Watersnake swimming along the
water surface down the ditch. Clearly, the reptiles are out enjoying the
start of summer weather. The Black Scoter I had seen last Friday was
nowhere to be found today again, so it is clearly gone from the area at
this point. Walking up near the C-Storage Pool it was obvious that much of
the water had recently been drained from this usually
deeper-than-the-others pond. This pool is now mostly mudflats, giving a
great amount of habitat back to the shorebirds. And today, they were taking
advantage already. As I arrived at the northwest corner of the pool, I
could see birds walking around, and as soon as I got the binoculars up, I
about jumped for joy, seeing two black & white birds with long legs & neck,
clearly Black-necked Stilts! These are the 2nd and 3rd stilts I've ever
seen in Virginia, and the first ones ever in Virginia Beach. I snapped lots
of long range photographs, then scanned the rest of the pool. Canada Geese,
14 Mallards, and a few Greater Yellowlegs were out walking the flats as
well. Several peeps were also visible, but too far out for me to
confidently identify.

Walking along the B-Storage Pool, the same American Coot that has been
sighted each outing over the last couple of weeks was again in the same
area of the main pond mudflats. A pair of Greater Yellowlegs, also seen
every outing recently, were in their spots again. And, this time I saw a
male Orchard Oriole flush from the trees on the west side of the trail.
Entering the maritime forest, an Indigo Bunting was singing loudly from a
perch that it seems to use often, and a Mourning Dove flushed from the A/B
cross dike, in sight just beyond the gate. A pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers
was seen flying over the roadway, disappearing quickly into the forest, and
several Great Crested Flycatchers were also observed making their raucous
Wheeep calls, then landing on open perches. No cuckoos were seen in the
forest this outing, and it wasn't until I had reached the south exit of the
forest, turned around, and walked halfway back before I heard my first
Prothonotary Warbler. I've been hearing at least 2 of these each pass
through the forest over the last couple of weeks. Exiting the north end of
the forest, I stopped to chat with Kyle, one of the park staff that had
driven past. As soon as he had taken off, I noticed that in addition to the
coot and yellowlegs, an Eastern Cottonmouth had taken up residence on the
mudflat in the center of the B-Storage Pool. This snake was laying out of
the water, with its head raised high up, moving slowly around the mudflat,
very close to both bird species. It was very interesting to observe the
three animals in such close proximity to one another. I was a bit curious
if the Cottonmouth was capable of taking prey as large as a Greater
Yellowlegs, or even the Coot, but it appears it didn't want anything to do
with either, because if it had, there was nothing to stop it. Several
times, the birds moved within just a few feet of the large snake, before
the snake finally decided to cruise off along the water surface back to the
shoreline marshes. While observing this in the middle of the pool, a
Raccoon also appeared on the far shoreline, walking along it, meandering in
and out of the reeds and offering up some photographs.

Continuing north along the B-Storage Pool, I found a female Red-breasted
Merganser at the northern end, the first I've seen out here in a few
outings, though not a rare sighting by any means. From the West Dike, I
could see 4 Glossy Ibis walking around out on the B-Pool's marshes, the
first I'd seen on the day. I passed the pumphouse, and scanned the
C-Storage Pool, finding both Black-necked Stilts still out on the exposed
mudflats. I had figured they would probably move on but they were there for
at least an hour and a half between my two passes of the pool. This second
time, they were in quite a bit closer and I was able to get some better,
although still not stellar, photographs to be able to prove the IDs. After
watching them for a few minutes, I continued north to the C-Pool. From far
off, I could see a large bird to the north flying out over the marshes.
Noting that all the egrets on the marsh took to flight, and seeing many
crows or blackbirds chasing the bird in the air, I figured it was either an
Osprey or an eagle. It turned out to be an adult Bald Eagle, making several
passes over the marshes, then landing up in the tall trees along the dike
trail to halt the attacks by a ravenous Red-winged Blackbird. I walked up
towards the tree as quiet as I could, hoping to be able to view it on its
perch, but a biker rode past me, and caused it to flush from the tree. It
made a couple of sweeps and I took a few photographs as its wings tilted
its body into good light, capture one nice shot with it very close to the
Moon as a backdrop before it flew off to the west! The rest of the way up
the West Dike was dominated by Red-winged Blackbirds, with a couple
cardinals and a Great Crested Flycatcher seen where the trail banks to the
northeast on the final straightaway. I then walked the Loop Road's west
side up to where the fishing 'pier' splits the D-Pool, following the song
of a Prairie Warbler to the eastern side of the Loop Road for a viewing
opportunity. It was amazing how the strong wind today was carrying the
sounds of birds. This warbler sounded as if it was 20 feet away, but it was
more like 500 feet away. I saw another pair of Yellow-breasted Chats, and a
single one nearby also, bringing my count for the day to 4, the most I've
ever seen in a day, by a factor of 4. Several Purple Martins were seen on
the wire across the E-Pool near the visitor center, and a Great Blue Heron
& Great Egret were stalking fish in the shallows. I walked the Bay Trail to
the boardwalk, and around the small pond back to the parking area, not
noting anything new in terms of birds, though seeing 3 of the rodents I've
seen a lot of recently (still not certain on what they are). I headed out
from the park at 7:05 PM, feeling very fortunate to have added the stilts
to my county list, and having seen so much wildlife on just a beautiful
evening. Now for the rest of the weekend!

*In-Depth Weekly Outing Details & Photographs:*

*http://www.rbnature.com/blog-index/ ;<http://www.rbnature.com/blog-index/>*

*Index of all of my eBird Reports (publicly viewable):*

*http://www.rbnature.com/lists/ebird-reports/
<http://www.rbnature.com/lists/ebird-reports/>*

Rob Bielawski

Virginia Beach, VA

[Va-bird] 5/29/15 - Virginia Beach - Back Bay NWR - 2 Black-necked Stilts

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