Hi VA-Birders,
The Hampton Roads Bird Club joined up with members of the Richmond Audubon
Society this morning to explore the James River Park - 42nd Street entrance.
Arun Bose was our expert trip leader and did an excellent job of ensuring we
had great looks at most of the 74 species we tallied. We got that number before
noon and by walking less than a mile! It's truly a "hot" birding spot in May.
Arun and Lewis Barnett arrived early and found BLACKBURNIAN, BLACK-THROATED
GREEN and MAGNOLIA WARBLER in the parking lot. Though the first two warblers
never re-appeared for HRBC members, we did have great views of MAGNOLIA twice
during the trip.
Our first minutes in the parking lot were quite productive, as we saw NORTHERN
PARULA and CHESTNUT-SIDED and heard SWAINSON'S THRUSH, WOOD THRUSH,
BLACK-THROATED BLUE and BLACKPOLL.
Most HRBC members present today had never visited this park before, so they
loved the fantastic vantage point provided by the bridge where we saw:
- Georgeous male Baltimore Oriole in the sun
- Pair of Orchard Oriole
- Several male and female SCARLET TANAGER, some very close
- Pair of Rose-Breasted Grosbeak
- Group of CEDAR WAXWING
- BLACKPOLL, MAGNOLIA WARBLER and INDIGO BUNTING
Along the river, on our walk to the Visitor's Center, we found SPOTTED
SANDPIPER in different locations, enjoyed the song of a WARBLING VIREO, and
kept looking for a vocal CANADA WARBLER until many of us had a chance to see it.
Back in the parking lot at the end of the trip, we saw several warblers in one
small area: MAGNOLIA, BLACK & WHITE, NO. PARULA and AMERICAN REDSTART. Complete
list from the morning is provided below.
From there, the 9 members from our club explored The Wetlands on our own (with
valuable instructions from Aaron on the trails and birds). Thanks also to Jan
Frye for her recent posts and suggestions, too. The big highlight was a BARRED
OWLET, which was sitting on the edge of the nesting hole so we were able to
see it well. It didn't move during the time we watched it. Another treat was
seeing and hearing our FOS ACADIAN FLYCATCHER. Besides these two species,
additional ones we added to our morning list were YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER,
PURPLE MARTIN, BARN SWALLOW and HOUSE FINCH.
