My wife and I spent the period of Oct 12-16 at our place on Cedar Creek in
Shenandoah County. Despite some gloomy, cool, and occasionally damp weather,
it turned out to be a good time for birds. As usual, we prepared eBird
checklists for most days and ended up with an aggregate species count of 40
which is good for this time of year. Most were species we had seen earlier in
the fall, but a few were new arrivals: Yellow-bellied Sapsucker; Blue-headed
Vireo; Lincoln’s, Swamp, and White-crowned Sparrow. Other non-resident
visitors included American Kestrel, Red-breasted Nuthatch, N. Mockingbird,
Tennessee Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Wilson’s Warbler, and Purple Finch.
Late-lingering breeders were Eastern Phoebe, Gray Catbird, Chipping Sparrow,
Eastern Towhee, and Indigo Bunting. I’ve attached one checklist (Oct 16) which
was our longest list.
While all of these birds are always a treat, the main event was clearly a
significant invasion of Purple Finches. Their numbers increased each day from
18 on Oct 14, to 32 on Oct 15, to 43 on Oct 16. As noted on the checklist, the
latter two counts are almost certainly conservative as the birds were scattered
among several feeders or ground-feeding sites and adjacent shrubbery, weedy
patches, and trees. As expected female-plumaged birds outnumbered adult males
by perhaps 3 to 1 which would be expected as the former includes adult females
and first-year birds of both sexes—all inseparable in the field. Whether the
day-to-day increase reflects the arrival of more birds in the general area or
just more birds coming to our feeders is unknown. A low count at the start of
the period is expected, however, as we don’t leave feeders up when we are not
there because of bears. Other high numbers included Blue Jays migrating
overhead with 69 on Oct 14 and Am. Crows with 18 in one flock on Oct 15. Large
fall movements of jays are common, but large groups of crows are not—in
contrast to the huge winter roosting flocks we see regularly in Arlington.
Other species of note: Cedar Waxwings - one flock of about 30 on Oct 15. This
species has been unusually scarce this fall perhaps due to a failed wild cherry
crop in late summer and a sub-par (and as yet unripe) wild grape crop. Ravens
have already appeared in synch with the advent of deer season, as usual. The
single Tennessee and Magnolia Warbler are a bit late for us, but they are by
far the most common fall warblers at this location, so having one lingering
late is not remarkable, especially given strange weather patterns of late (such
as Hurricane Michael). Finally, Am. Goldfinches are unusually scarce this
fall, for which I have no explanation.
In closing, I should note that we were not at this location during most of the
first 3 weeks of September, so we have no data on birds for that period which
is usually our peak fall period. Instead, we had to satisfy ourselves with
about 100 species in and near Beijing, China, where we were visiting family.
The 145 Oriental Honey-Buzzards one morning in the mountains perhaps made up
for missing the birds of our own little patch.
Best regards to all and good birding!
Dave Davis
Arlington and Cedar Creek
Davis-Mills Farm, Shenandoah, Virginia, US
Oct 16, 2018 8:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Protocol: Stationary
Comments: From deck: JAM and DGD. 54F/overcast/calm.
28 species (+2 other taxa)
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) X Heard only, low in the west; most
likely our local-breeding birds
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) 2 Feeding together and
interacting in trees in yard
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) 2
Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens) 1
Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) 1
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) 1
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) 1 Flew rapidly over meadow and landed
briefly in big white pine on hilltop
Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) 2
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) 3
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) 10
Common Raven (Corvus corax) 1
Carolina/Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis/atricapillus) 1
White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) 2
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula) 2
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) 1
House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) 1 Brief feeder visitor, not associating
with Purple Finches
Purple Finch (Haemorhous purpureus) 43 Actual count, but likely
conservative as some birds were almost certainly in shrubbery or high above in
trees, while most were at or near one of our feeders or ground-feeding areas.
As with previous days, female-plumaged birds considerably outnumbered adult
males.
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) 4 At feeders. One and possibly two
birds had very short tails, suggesting a late brood.
Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina) 2
White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) 1
White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) 2
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 3
Lincoln's Sparrow (Melospiza lincolnii) 1
Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana) 1
Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) 3
blackbird sp. (Icteridae sp.) 25 Rough estimate of tight flock that passed
over quickly. Not seen well enough to ID but probably red-wings or grackles
(short-tailed females or young) or both
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) 2
Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea) 1 Feeding under mock-orange with
sparrows and finches. Prob. a first-year bird, but possibly an adult female in
non-breeding plumage
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S49252534 ;
<https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S49252534>
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home ;
<https://ebird.org/home>)
