VA BIRDers,
Since the cool front was passing through I put in some time this weekend at
a few locations. I started off at the Stone Bridge of Hunting Creek at 6 am
Saturday and snagged 4 newly arrived Blue-winged Teal. On the river side
the diminishing mudflats yielded up 3 Sanderlings and some nearby Wood Ducks
plus 15 Greater and 5 Lesser Yellowlegs. I headed south to The Point mainly
to see if I could find anything. It was a bit birdy but no significant
migrants noted among the 59 species, highlights were Green Heron, 2
Yellow-billed Cuckoos, Acadian Flycatchers (HY and adult singing), Trails
Flycatcher, adult and HY White-eyed Vireos, Yellow Warbler, Pine Warbler, 4
Worm-eating Warblers including at one singing adult and at least 2 HY birds,
and a flyover Bobolink.
Sunday I decided to try Occ. Bay NWR and arrived just a bit after 7am (when
the gate opens). The day started mostly overcast, with some hazy sun poking
through mid-morning but then becoming dull and gray afterwards; not the
low-humidity, low-temp day we hoped for! Although OCBNWR is not known as a
fall migrant hotspot it does have its moments - although today was not
really it. Yet the highlight was a Least Flycatcher mixed in with a wide
range of local breeders; the other is the arrival of Pied-billed Grebe to
the area. There were several Trail's Flycatchers, a Brown Thrasher, 2
Yellow Warblers, 2 Prairie Warblers, a Prothonotary Warbler, a bunch of
Common Yellowthroats, juvie Field Sparrow, flyover Bobolinks, and 4 Orchard
Orioles. I totaled 61 species which was amazing considering not one vulture
or hawk (other than Osprey) were noted!
Afterwards I met up with Jan Frye and, after the downpour, we tried our hand
at Neabsco Creek and noted a flying Black-bellied Plover as well as Purple
Martin and Bank Swallows from the marina. We went to the north side and
lucked into 2 Chestnut-sided Warblers foraging in the oak trees next to the
road. We moved north to Belmont Bay marina. Highlights here were Ruddy
Duck and 2 American Coots plus two Pied-billed Grebes, a few Forster's and
Caspian Terns and 2 Spotted Sandpipers.
Our next stop was Fort Belvoir (archery range) where we hoped for shorebirds
but found none. The swallow situation was pretty good with 2 Tree, 75
Rough-winged, 5 Bank and 15 Barn in attendance, as well as a 2 dozen
Brown-headed Cowbirds on the lawn and a calling Barred Owl. Our last stop
was the Stone Bridge at Dyke Marsh at about 430 pm (the tide was fairly low,
not the optimal time). We dug out 2 Sanderlings plus 20 Semipalmated
Sandpipers, 6 Least Sandpipers and some Greater Yellowlegs. The waterfowl
were Mallards.
Below is the Occ. Bay NWR list today taken from observations from the
parking lot to the bay edge and thence around the perimeter past the banding
stations and on to Turtle Pond and back to the parking lot plus the Wildlife
Drive out (4 hrs).
Kurt Gaskill
C. Goose 17 (100+ can be easily seen from Belmont Bay Marina)
Wood Duck 5
Mallard 8
Pied-billed Grebe 1
DC Cormorant 27
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 1
Osprey 6
Bald Eagle 1
Killdeer 3
Solitary Sandpiper 1
L. Gull 9
RB Gull 2
Forster's Tern 1
Mourning Dove 7
YB Cuckoo 1
Chimney Swift 5
RT Hummer 5
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied WP 5
Downy WP 3
No. Flicker 4
E. Wood Pewee 1
Trail's Flycatcher 6
Least Flycatcher 1 (Aug 8, 2002 at Leeslyvania SP is my early date)
empid sp 1, eating poison ivy berries and buried in foliage, at first its
back was brown then the next look was green, it then disappeared
E. Phoebe 3
Great Crested Flycatcher 3, incl one HY with a very short tail!
E. Kingbird 9, conservative number
Warbling Vireo 2, one was a bright HY and makes me think successful breeding
here this year
Red-eyed V 2
Am. Crow 7
Fish Cr 8
No. Rough-winged Sw 4
Barn Sw 15
C. Chickadee 5
T. Titmouse 9
White-br Nuthatch 2
C. Wren 20
H. Wren 3
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 6, the wild cherry trees by Turtle Pond is a good
location for observing birds
E. Bluebird 12
Am. Robin 17, lots of spotted breasts which sometimes (mistakenly) hints at
a spotted thrush, like Swainson's
Gray Catbird 17
No. Mocker 2
Brown Thrasher 1
Yellow Warbler 2
Prairie Warbler 2
Prothonotary Warbler 1, HY
Com. Yellowthroat 14
E. Towhee 1
Field Sp 2, juvie noted
Song Sp 2
No. Cardinal 20, clearly breeding given the lack of red in some
Blue Grosbeak 5
Indigo Bunting 11
Bobolink 2, flyovers
Red-winged BB 6
Com. Grackle 120
Brown-headed Cowbird 1
Orchard O 4
Am. Goldfinch 14
