VA BIRDers,
Marc Ribaudo, Peter Ross and I had a solidly good morning of birding at Occ.
Bay NWR. . Mist and light showers were with us on and off throughout the
morning and so we expected some action showing. We started at the gate a bit
before 7 and ended up counting lots of Mourning Doves and noted a few
warblers diving for trees. From the parking lot we headed east along
Bayview Rd to Charlie Rd, then took the perimeter road, Deephole Pt Rd,
around to the gazebo and then up and left on Lake Dr, visiting the Lake
area, and then back to the parking lot using the main road. We encountered 4
or 5 small groups of migrants plus scattered residents and migrants along
the way. The diversity was reasonably good considering the main portion of
the cold front did not push through at night but seemed to pass at about 11
am. We tallied 87 species and the highlights were Merlin, Barred Owls,
Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Philadelphia Vireo, Savannah and Swamp Sparrows
and 15 species of warblers. The top 10 species in terms of numbers (other
than gulls and non-migratory Canada Geese) were : E. Starling (125), Blue
Jay (100), Pied-billed Grebe (65), Common Yellowthroat (41), Mourning Dove
(35), Gray Catbird (33), Chimney Swift (30), No. Rough-winged Swallow (30),
Palm Warbler (25), and American Goldfinch (25). Honorable mention goes to
Northern Waterthrush with at least 9 individuals noted, more than I have
ever seen during an autumn morning in No. VA. Biggest miss was Red-winged
Blackbirds. The list is below.
Kurt Gaskill
C. Goose 375
Wood Duck 3
Gadwall 3
Am. Black Duck 1
Mallard 15
Ruddy Duck 1
Pied-billed Grebe 65
DC Cormorant 3
Great Blue Heron 4
Great Egret 2
Turkey Vulture 6
Osprey 2
Bald Eagle 2, ad
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 2
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Am. Kestrel 2
Merlin 1
Am. Coot 4
Killdeer 4
Greater Yellowlegs 1
Pectoral Sandpiper 1
Wilson's Snipe 3
L. Gull 100
RB Gull 60
Caspian Tern 6
Forster's Tern 2
Mourning Dove 35
Barred Owl 2, one in the NE corner near Dallas (?) Rd and the other along
Deephole Rd between Easy and Fox Rds.
Chimney Swift 30
Ruby-thr Hummer 1
Belted Kingfisher 4
Red-bellied WP 8
YB Sapsucker 1
Downy WP 7
No. Flicker 20 or so
Pileated WP 2
E. Wood Pewee 3
Least Flycatcher 1 (plus an empid sp that only called)
E. Phoebe 13
Philadelphia V 1
Red-eyed V 2
Blue Jay 100, 2 small flocks moving south plus 15 scattered in the refuge
Am. Crow 3
Fish Crow 3
Tree Sw 6
No. Rough-winged Sw 30 (plus about 20 swallow sp.)
C. Chickadee 6
T. Titmouse 5
C.Wren 8
H. Wren 6
GC Kinglet 2
RC Kinglet 3
E. Bluebird 12
Am. Robin 15
Gray Catbird 33
No. Mocker 5
Brown Thrasher 1
E. Starling 125
Cedar Waxwing 20
Tennessee 1
No. Parula 3
Yellow 1
Chestnut-sided 1
Magnolia 6
Black-thr Blue 2
Yellow-rumped 8
Black-thr Green 4
Blackburnian 1
Palm 25
Blackpoll 15
Black & White 1
Am. Redstart 4
No. Waterthrush 9
Com. Yellowthroat 41
E. Towhee 1
Field Sp 6
Savannah Sp 1
Song Sp 4
Swamp Sp 1
No. Cardinal 14
Rose-br Grosbeak 2
Indigo Bunting 20
Bobolink 1
Com. Grackle 1
Brown-headed Cowbird 15
Am. Goldfinch 25
