This afternoon from about 3:20 to 6:45 was one of the most amazing days on
the Rockfish Valley Trail System and Spruce Creek Park. Although my species
list reached only 57, four of them were new for the park, including
Green-winged Teal, Double-crested Cormorant, Wilson's Warbler, and Clay-colored
Sparrow. The Wilson's Warbler is a little late but not to much. The prize of
the day (if not the season) was a Clay-colored Sparrow. Oddly it was still in
breeding plumage. From my notes it had a streaky crown with a pale medium crown
stripe, pink bill, it was about the size and shape of a Chipping Sparrow, with
a bold face pattern, white spercilium, malar, and throat. Beneath it was a
plain pale grey.
I also got several peak counts for the park including, 345 Song Sparrows,
11 Lincoln's Sparrows, and 14 White-crowned Sparrows. Another highlight was a
single Orange-crowned Warbler, first for me in Virginia.
Species List:
8 - Green-winged Teal
37 - Double-crested Cormorant
1 - Great Blue Heron
1 - Black Vulture
3 - Turkey Vulture
1 - Sharp-shinned Hawk
1 - Cooper's Hawk
2 - Red-shouldered Hawk
1 - Killdeer
1 - Wilson's Snipe
1 - Rock Pigeon
10 - Mourning Dove
4 - Red-bellied Woodpecker
3 - Downy Woodpecker
1 - Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
2 - Northern Flicker
4 - Pileated Woodpecker
6 - Eastern Phoebe
12 - Blue Jay
13 - American Crow
2 - Common Raven
20 - Carolina Chickadee
9 - Tufted Titmouse
7 - Carolina Wren
1 - Ruby-crowned Kinglet
20 - Eastern Bluebird
6 - Gray Catbird
5 - Northern Mockingbird
57 - European Starling
9 Cedar Waxwing
1 - Nashville Warbler
1 - Orange-crowned Warbler
1 - Black-throated Blue Warbler
80 - Yellow-rumped Warbler
9 - Prairie Warbler
45 - Palm Warbler
1 - Pine Warbler
2 - Common Yellowthroat
1 - Wilson's Warbler
3 - Indigo Bunting
6 - Northern Cardinal
2 - Eastern Towhee
1 - Clay-colored Sparrow
12 - Chipping Sparrow
7 - Field Sparrow
11 - Lincoln's Sparrow
345 - Song Sparrow
1 - Fox Sparrow
27 - Swamp Sparrow
1 - Vesper Sparrow
3 - Savannah Sparrow
14 - White-crowned Sparrow
10 - White-throated Sparrow
8 - Eastern Meadowlark
3 - Common Grackle
7 - Rusty Blackbird
84 - American Goldfinch
57 - Total Species
Tim Hodge
Nelson County, VA
