Howdy all,
Yesterday was an ok day at the banding station, where as, today was dead. Not
sure if it was the heat or what, but nothing was flying this morning. Yesterday
was pretty nice and we caught a few anyway. We had a nice young male SUMMER
TANAGER that was just beautiful. We also caught one of my favorite birds
yesterday, a hatch year WORM-EATING WARBLER. The rest were mostly expected, but
always nice to have a few different species.
Over at the Eastern Shore NWR, there are quite a few EASTERN KINGBIRDS flying
around and I have been seeing four to six BALTIMORE ORIOLES mixing in with
them. Other than that, it is pretty quiet. I put up a few hummingbird feeders
around the house, and had my first RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD come to the feeder
three minutes after I hung the first one. My quickest time ever! Since then,
there are at least four individuals using them, including a brilliant "ruby"
throated male. They are always fun to watch!
Totals for 8/18:
American Redstart????????? 2
Black & white Warbler???? 3
Common Yellowthroat????? 1
Worm-eating Warbler?????? 1
White-eyed Vireo???????????? 1
Carolina Wren???????????????? 2
Summer Tanager???????????? 1
Northern Cardinal??????????? 2
Northern Mockingbird?????? 1
Yellow-billed Cuckoo??????? 1
TOTAL-------------------------- 15
Totals for 8/19:
Carolina Wren????????????????? 1
Yep that's it......total.........1
Not sure what to expect tomorrow, but on the bright side, it can't get much
worse!
And if anyone is interested, the last two mornings, the sunrise was beautiful!
Both days, the sun was a bright red! Not sure if that means bad weather is on
the way, or if its still being affected by the burning Dismal Swamp. Whatever
it may be, the sunrise was awesome!
Cheers,
Jethro Runco
Coastal Virginia Wildlife Observatory
