VA Birders,
My report should have said that the Brewster's Warbler had an all-white
throat (not chin).
Good birding,
Val Kitchens
Arlington, VA
--------------------------------------------------
From: "Val Kitchens" <vbkitchens@xxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, June 20, 2011 8:10 PM
To: "VA-Bird" <va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Va-bird] NVBC Highland Co. Weekend, June 10-12, 2011 (Late Report)
VA Birders,
Sorry for the late report, but I haven't had time to post anything sooner.
The 14 members of the Northern Virginia Bird Club (NVBC) who took part in our Summer 2011 Highland Co. Weekend found 81 species of birds plus a Brewster's Warbler (hybrid). Most notable was the new bird we added to our overall trip lists: Alder Flycatcher. We found this bird on Saturday afternoon, June 11, at the Beaver pond on the south side of US Rt. 250 several miles west of Monterey and just east of Rt. 600. The bird was heard singing and/or seen by several members of our group.
From our headquarters at the Highland Inn in Monterey, we started the weekend with a Friday afternoon trip to the Blue Grass Valley. We saw a Bobolink on the wires along Rt. 220, but didn't find any more in the Blue Grass area where we have seen many of them in past years. At the Trout Hatchery, we had a quick look at a Broad-winged Hawk, and saw a female Wood Duck with chicks and a Belted Kingfisher. At Forks of Water, where we also stopped Sunday morning, we found Least Flycatcher, Warbling and Yellow-throated Vireo, Cedar Waxwing, and both Orchard and Baltimore Orioles.
On Saturday morning, we birded our way down to Paddy's Knob, where the most common birds were Chestnut-sided Warbler and Dark-eyed Junco. Altho one car thought they might have heard a Mourning Warbler and Blue-headed Vireo at the beginning of this road, we didn't see either species, nor did we even hear a Least Flycatcher. We did have a hail storm up there, but fortunately, we were all in our cars when it hit. We can only wonder if this storm had an effect on the birds. After lunch at a private farm in the Mill Gap area, where we had our best look at a Scarlet Tanager on the trip, we went north on Rt. 640, where we saw a pair of Bald Eagles, to Rt. 250. Then we headed west, stopping first for the Alder Flycatcher mentioned above, and then on to Rt. 601, where we found Vesper and Savannah Sparrows. On the way back to Monterey, we took Rt. 637 north from Rt. 250, and had great looks at a Red-headed Woodpecker on fence posts next to the road.
On Sunday morning, with permission of the owner, we birded a private farm in the Blue Grass Valley. We met some other birders there, who told us they had just seen both Black-billed Cuckoo and Golden-winged Warblers. We soon had good looks at a Black-billed Cuckoo, but we didn't hear any Golden-wings for over an hour. When we finally heard one and then tracked it down, the bird we saw was definitely a Brewster's Warbler; it had an all-white chin. One member of our group said he saw a bird he believed to be a female Golden-wing across the road from the farm. Other birds of note seen during the weekend included several Am. Kestrels, Common Raven, Cliff Swallow, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and Eastern Meadowlark.
Good birding,
Val Kitchens
Arlington, VA
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