VA Birders
The Northern Virginia Bird Club held a walk this morning at Aquia Landing Park
and Crow's Nest Natural Area Preserve in Stafford county. We collectively
found 54 species at these two locations. At Aquia Landing, our best birds were
a briefly singing Marsh Wren, a very cooperative Yellow-billed Cuckoo, several
White-eyed Vireos including one still singing, all three mimid species, a
female Rose-breasted Grosbeak, a Swamp Sparrow as well as four warbler species
-- Common Yellowthroats, Palm Warblers, Magnolia Warblers and Northern Parulas.
At Crow's Nest NAPs board walk, notable additions were flyby Blue-winged Teals
and a Common Raven.
Intriguingly, at both locations, were heard interesting calls from the marsh
that really baffled me. They most closely fit what the Sibley app calls the
'nasal feeding call' of a Sora. However, these sounds were not followed by any
'ker-wee' or 'keep' calls or any classic Sora whinnies, so I wasn't completely
sure these were Soras. Nevertheless, Soras should be arriving at these two
locations in the last week of September through mid-October. Both of these
locations -- especially the new boardwalk at Crow's Nest NAP -- are reliable
spots in northern Virginia for Soras in fall migration.
The complete eBird list for both locations is below.
Elton MorelArlington, VA
Aquia Landing Park, Stafford, Virginia, US
Sep 23, 2017 7:25 AM - 10:25 AM
Protocol: Traveling
0.5 mile(s)
Comments: NVBC walk led by Elton Morel. Possible Sora heard - 'nasal feeding
call' - but no classic 'ker-wee' or 'keep' calls or whinny heard.
48 species
Canada Goose 150
Mute Swan 10 Residents
Pied-billed Grebe 12
Double-crested Cormorant 11
Great Blue Heron 3
Great Egret 1
Turkey Vulture 7
Osprey 2
Bald Eagle 5
Laughing Gull 60
Ring-billed Gull 4
Caspian Tern 2
Forster's Tern 22
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 40
Mourning Dove 1
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1
Belted Kingfisher 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 4
Downy Woodpecker 3
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 4
Eastern Wood-Pewee 2
Eastern Phoebe 3
White-eyed Vireo 4
Red-eyed Vireo 1 Heard only - 'shwee' call
Blue Jay 6
American Crow 4
Fish Crow 2
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 150
Tree Swallow 40
Carolina Chickadee 6
Tufted Titmouse 4
House Wren 1
Marsh Wren 1 Heard only - sang a couple of times from the marsh.
Carolina Wren 6
Gray Catbird 10
Brown Thrasher 2
Northern Mockingbird 6
European Starling 2
Common Yellowthroat 8
Northern Parula 2
Magnolia Warbler 2
Palm Warbler 3
Swamp Sparrow 1
Northern Cardinal 12
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1
Red-winged Blackbird 15
American Goldfinch 4
View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S39345025
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
Crow's Nest Natural Area Preserve, Stafford, Virginia, US
Sep 23, 2017 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Protocol: Traveling
0.1 mile(s)
Comments: NVBC walk led by Elton Morel. Possible Sora heard - 'nasal feeding
call' - but no classic 'ker-wee' or 'keep' calls or whinny heard.
22 species
Wood Duck 1 Flyby
Blue-winged Teal 4 Flyby
Great Blue Heron 1
Black Vulture 1
Turkey Vulture 8
Osprey 1
Cooper's Hawk 1
Bald Eagle 2
Red-shouldered Hawk 2
Laughing Gull 12
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker 1 Heard only
Eastern Phoebe 1
Blue Jay 1 Heard only
American Crow 2 Heard only
Common Raven 1 Flyby
Tree Swallow 10
Carolina Chickadee 1 Heard only
Tufted Titmouse 2 Heard only
Carolina Wren 2 Heard only
Common Yellowthroat 1 Heard only
Red-winged Blackbird 10
View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S39345021
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
