Week Ending April 20, 2014

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With Friday being "Good Friday", and a holiday for my company, I was able to get out for a hike at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge in the morning. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate, with completely overcast skies, a strong 15-20 mph northeasterly wind, and temperatures in the mid-to-upper 40s. I walked the western dike from the contact station south to the False Cape State Park entrance sign. While walking the west side of the Loop Road I saw a shorebird with a long downcurved bill fly past out over the Back Bay marsh. The size & shape assuredly made it a Whimbrel, which was my first of the year! On the way down the dike I saw a Pied-billed and a Horned Grebe up very close. Also, a pair of Killdeer must have been nesting near the dike at one spot since they kept circling me in the air and screeching at the top of their lungs. Off in the middle of the impoundments I saw what turned out to be a large cloud of Glossy Ibises circling around the marsh. From the photographs I counted at least 114 of them, which is the most I've ever seen in a day. While watching them land on the marsh, I also saw a young Bald Eagle fly over heading southeast towards where they were at. The impoundments were very choppy with waves today since the wind was screaming across from the northeast. I'm guessing it was because of this strong wind that there was no dabbling ducks to be seen, when last time I was there a couple weeks ago there was hundreds of them.

Carolina Wren uncharacteristically sitting still long enough to be photographed.

In fact, the only two ducks I saw the entire time hiking was a nesting pair of Wood Ducks on a small freshwater swamp in the forested area of the west dike. There wasn't much in the way of Gulls today but I did see another Caspian Tern, and some Forster's Terns. There was a small group of maybe 10 terns out in the impoundments but it was too far to positively ID. At the far southern end of the dike, I had a hawk fly past quickly, but was unable to get an ID, though I suspect it was a Cooper's Hawk since it was large, and I didn't see the white rump that a Northern Harrier would have. I've seen both species in the park in the past so it wouldn't surprise me if it was either. Walking back up the west dike I got some additional photographs of the Glossy Ibises, which had moved further northwest from their original spot, and were much closer to the dike while in the air. Once they landed in the marsh though, they were completely invisible from my position. I saw a Great Egret & a Snowy Egret seemingly hunting together along a small tidal creek leading up to one of the impoundment release valves. I think I actually saw more people today than birds, as every few minutes another vehicle was going past me on the dike for whatever reason. When I got back up to the contact station I walked the Bay Trail and then the Kuralt Trail but came up very empty handed on both, seeing just a few Red-winged Blackbirds, and that was it. 

The view down the Washington Ditch Trail at the Great Dismal Swamp NWR, and a Wild Turkey staring back at me.

With a never-ending drizzle on Saturday, I was unable to get out hiking. But, Sunday morning was unpredictedly beautiful. The sun was actually up, while the forecast had called for an all overcast day. I finally made it down to the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge for the first time ever. I've seen so many photographs come out of this area in April of the beautiful songbirds that are migrating northward. Apparently the park is one of the largest stopping locations for them since it is about 175 square miles of undistiburbed swamp & forest. Nowhere in the Hampton Roads area is as large of a wilderness area. I got down to the Washington Ditch access at about 8 AM and right away I was greeting with a group of 7 Wild Turkeys in the farmfield to the north of the access road. After taking some shots from my car (had I gotten out, they'd have surely run off), I parked at the trailhead and started down the Washington Ditch Trail towards Lake Drummond. The lake is a rather large (about 5 square miles), freshwater, and is one of only two natural lakes that exist in Virginia. Waters from the surrounding swamps filter through a series of ditches that were designed & installed in the early 1800s and empty into the lake. The Washington Ditch was surveyed & constructed under the supervision of George Washington himself! This trail travels 4.5 miles right through the heart of the swamp, and reaches the lake at it's most northern point.

A Pearl Crescent, one of several species of butterflies seen at the Great Dismal Swamp NWR.

Along the 4.5 miles I had the sun directly in my face, which made it difficult to see things in front of me, so I had to do a lot of walking and stopping to look back away from the sun. There was an absolutely incredible amount of bird songs in the air, probably more than I've heard anywhere around here. I was constantly looking in trees trying to find the culprits, but more often then not, I couldn't locate where the bird singing actually was. The leaves aren't fully out yet, but there was enough for the small colorful warblers to hide easily behind. On the trip out, I saw probably a dozen Prothonotary Warblers, a couple of American Redstarts, a Common Yellowthroat, and also a White-eyed Vireo. All four species were the first I've encountered this year, and the Prothonotary Warblers were the first ones I've ever gotten focused photographs of. For some reason, the autofocus on my camera has been getting worse & worse each time I use it, and it was not able to focus on the birds with any accuracy. I ended up having to manually focus most of my shots today, which in the dense cover of the forest, on tiny songbirds, made for a very difficult day. At the junction with the Lynn Ditch Trail, I saw another pair of Wild Turkeys off to the north, but as soon as they realized I was there they took off running quickly in the opposite direction. At this junction, there is a water elevation control structure, kind of like a dam, though it has the ability to close or open valves to let more or less water through. There was a several foot drop in the ditch at this spot so I felt higher up for a little while walking along the ditch. The trail adjacent to the ditch is actually built on top of the material that was removed while creating the ditch, which is why they are side-by-side. I'm sure material has been added to strengthen the trail at some point, but for the most part, it is the fill material that just came from the ditch construction.

First White-eyed Vireo of the season!

The further I got away from the parking area, the more birds & especially the more butterflies I began to encounter. I had an inquisitive Carolina Wren hop around on a stump very close to me for an extended duration so was able to get some nice photographs of it; which is very uncharacteristic of these small & hyper birds. As for the butterflies, I started seeing them about 3 miles east of the parking area, and the final mile & a half to the lake was just full of them. Most of them were Zebra Swallowtails, but also had a number of Pearl Crescents, Painted Ladies, and one Black Swallowtail also. About the 3 mile mark as well there is a sizable Beaver lodge, and close downstream the Beavers are actively building a dam across the ditch. Backup from the dam has the trail almost flooded across for a hundred yard or so section. The water was just inches from the trail top, percolating upward into the tire treads that sit on either side of the trail. If the dam continues to grow in size, the trail will definitely be flooded as a result. Next time I'm out it will be interesting to see what this area looks like. But for now at least, I was able to keep walking and made it to the lake probably around 10:30 AM. At this point, I finally was going to not have the sun in my eyes, having made the turn westward to head back to the parking area. Of course, out of nowhere, it became completely overcast & I lost the sun anyway, after I fought staring into it the whole way out. So from that point on the light level was very low for photography, being that the sun was gone, and I was in deep, thick forest & swamp. On the trip back I scared up a couple of ducks that I believe were Wood Ducks, and I encountered another American Redstart, being the 3rd on the day.

Another species of butterfly that was very numerous, Zebra Swallowtail.

The Prothonotary Warblers continued to sing and be visible all over the place along the trail, but at a far enough distance where extreme closeup shots were impossible. I also came across a spot where 3 Yellow-bellied Sliders were sitting on logs out in the swamp. While I was walking I realized just how remote the park gets, I hadn't seen a single person all day, and I was the only car in the parking area when I'd arrived in the morning. It wasn't until about mile 7 that I finally saw a group of folks walking towards me. Of course, the trail is perfectly straight, so it took me another 15 minutes or so to actually reach them. Just before that, I found my first Eastern Ratsnake of the season, about a 3 or 4 foot long specimen that was arched upward on the trail looking at me. I took a few photographs of it from ground level on my knees and sat there waiting for the group of people to approach so that I could let them know it was there. They were all looking at it as I walked onward, hopefully nobody tried to mess with it, looked like a group of William & Mary students. Also on the way back, I heard a warbler singing that sounded like the sound bye the movies use when a bomb is going to go off, I later found out that it was the call of a Prairie Warbler, one of the prettiest of our spring birds out here.

First Prothonotary Warblers of the season at Great Dismal Swamp NWR!

Unfortunately I never located any of them, but I at least can confirm their ID by voice now which is something I need to work on for the other birds. When I reached the parking area again, I had wanted to walk the 3/4 mile boardwalk trail that starts there as well, but I was pretty exhausted from the 9 miles to and from the lake, and with the overcast skies making photography not work out I opted to head back, it was around 12:30 PM anyway so I was ready for some food. Thinking about it afterwards, I definitely understand why this is listed as a major birding hotspot. There is just a massive amount of undisturbed habitat for the birds to eat, drink, and nest in. I didn't see any birds of prey today, but folks keep posting sightings of Red-shouldered & Red-tailed Hawks in the area so maybe next time. Ruth is having some of her friends from Connecticut come down next weekend & I'm hoping to get back out here at least one time. Once the leaves have fully opened up throughout the park, it'll make it that much more difficult to locate all the small singing songbirds, even though they're very bright & coloful, they can still hide extremely easy in this environment. 

Eastern Ratsnake taking a peek out over the forest floor at Great Dismal Swamp NWR.

Week Ending April 13, 2014

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This week started off with a rainy day Monday, and a mostly cloudy day on Tuesday. On Tuesday however, I did get out for a 6 mile walk through the neighborhoods of Little Neck for exercise, but didn't bring the camera with me since it was completely overcast. I didn't really see any birds to speak of either so it worked out OK. Had I seen something interesting I'd have beaten myself up for bringing my camera with, like has happened so many times in the past.  Wednesday proved to be a much nicer day, mostly sunny and in the 60s. I went down to First Landing State Park after work hoping I might catch some more migrating songbirds. I did the usual walk, parking at 64th Street outside the park and walking in along the Cape Henry, Long Creek, and Osprey Trails. I got a later start than I'd prefer, so I only walked to the south shore of White Hill Lake & Back, which is about 5.5 miles or thereabouts. I counted a total 4 Osprey nests up and running along the Osprey Trail so far, though there could very well be others that are just out of sight. The leaves in the park are really just starting to show up, but in another week or so it'll probably be completely greened up. Bradford Pears around the area are still in bloom, but are starting to fade it seems. Also along the Osprey Trail, the pair of Canada Geese still appears to be nesting. This is the 2nd year I've seen them in the same spot. Their nest is on a small freshwater pond just south of the trail, but well concealed within a small island of cattails. It is kind of neat that they are able to nest so close in proximity to Ospreys without hesitation, I would have though goose eggs would be like liquid gold for a hungry Osprey family, but maybe they really do stick to just fish.

My first Black Racer (snake) on the season, roughly 4 or 5 feet in length at First Landing SP.

Either way, the geese are there and hopefully they'll hatch out a family of goslings in a few weeks that I can photograph. The next pond to the west held a pair of Snowy Egrets, which took to flight as soon as they saw me unfortunately. Usually about this time of year I'll come across Tricolored Herons at the park, mixed in with Snowy Egrets, so I was on the lookout. Unfortunately though, I didn't spot any, though I did total up 11 Snowy Egrets on the day, which is a career high for me in the park. At the western tidal creek bridge, I could hear a Belted Kingfisher cackling, which is pretty common in this spot as there is one bold Kingfisher that never lets me photograph it with any quality. White Hill Lake was quiet for once, I didn't spot any ducks or herons out on the water, but the Osprey nest on the north side is still active. On the return trip I saw a Bonaparte's Gull right up on the shoreline of Broad Bay, only the second one I have ever seen on the inland side of the park. A Great Blue Heron was out in the western tidal creek marsh, and was pretty weary of me taking photographs so I kept on walking. In the area of the Osprey Trail that I refer to as The Grove (east of the Broad Bay beach about a quarter mile), songbirds were moving about like they typically are. I saw some Carolina Chickadees, and Tufted Titmice, the usuals. But also, there was a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher hopping around. I tried desperately for a few minutes to get a good photograph but came up with a lot of out-of-focus, or tree branch only photos, with maybe a couple shots that at least were confirmation of the sighting. It was pretty quiet the rest of the way, and close to 7 o'clock when I returned so the setting sun made for difficult shooting. 

Beautiful little Pine Warbler in it's namesake tree at Pleasure House Point.

Thursday I was able to get out to Pleasure House Point since it was yet again a gorgeous spring day out in the 60s & sunny. On the way home from work I had passed a Green Heron on one of the ponds off Kings Grant Road, so on my way back out to the park I stopped and got a couple photographs for the first of the season. At the park, I worked from east to west, having parked at Loch Haven Park again. No Gadwall today in the stormwater retention pond surprisings. The sandbars out in the Lynnhaven were full of Gulls, Terns, Cormorants, and Pelicans like they always are this time of year. No re-sighting of the Harbor Seal I'd seen before here, but it may be that they've moved further north with the warming of the weather the past couple of weeks. Like last visit, the Yellow-crowned Night-Herons were present, and provided the best photo opportunities since they're large, slow, not-so-weary, and enjoy being out in the sunlight; pretty much the perfect subject to photograph. I spotted a Green Heron along the shores of the second largest of the freshwater ponds, and later saw a pair of Mallards in the same pond, presumably the same pair I've seen the last few visits. Walking around the largest pond allowed me to sneak up on a Pine Warbler that was calling from about 20 feet up in a large pine tree. I got some photographs of it before it moved onto the next tree.

Horned Grebe in Pleasure House Creek.

They seem to be the only species of warbler I've seen in the park, which I'm OK with since they're beautiful, but it would be nice to get some migration variety. The Pine Warblers are here year-round, and love areas with tall pine trees, which this park has a great deal of. I got some shots of a Great Egret along the ditchlike pond that flows from Marlin Bay Drive out to the river. The pear trees in the park are still blooming & very pretty, as they were at First Landing on Wednesday. Along the river on the way back there was a Horned Grebe in fairly close. When I dove I snuck up on it and got quite a few close shots before it dove again, it didn't seem too bothered by me on the shoreline. When I headed back up to the car I saw an Osprey hovering over the stormwater pond, and while sneaking up on it, inadvertently spooked a Green Heron that was on the shoreline that I hadn't even seen. I tried to re-locate it on the river where it had flown in the direction of but couldn't, and instead yet again scared off another bird, a sparrow this time that may have been a Field Sparrow, I can't say for sure. After having used up my good luck apparently I decided to call it a day, fortunately I had been successful with a few birds earlier, before I started scaring everything off. 

The Cherry Blossoms of Washington, D.C. at peak bloom.

After a lengthy, traffic-filled, drive up to Fairfax on Friday, I was ready for some photography when Saturday morning rolled around. My girlfriend & her mother and I drove into Washington, D.C. to see the cherry blossoms around the Tidal Basin. They were right in their peak this weekend, so it timed out perfectly. We went into the city at 6 am and it was already full of people. The parade was going to be at 10am so I'm sure it only got crazier after we left. I took some photos of the blossoms, and a few of some Robins but didn't see much in the way of wildlife. Mallards, Canada Geese, Double-crested Cormorants, Gulls were about the only birds out, which are all the common ones I should expect in the city. After the festival, Ruth & I did do some walking on the Cross County Trail in Lorton right behind her mother's house. The only notable wildlife we saw was a large number of Toads calling and swimming around in a storm water retention pond. At least it was a beautiful day out in the high 70s with a nice breeze. The leaves up there were just starting out, so about a week behind Hampton Roads. 

More of the National Cherry Blossom Festival.

Sunday morning I got up early and went out for a long hike on the South Run Trail off Hooes Road, just north of Silverbrook Road. This is a trail I've hiked a number of times as it is very near Ruth's mother's neighborhood, and it has a surprising amount of wildlife along it. The trail encircles Lake Mercer, a reservoir created by damming up the South Run Stream which exits Burke Lake about 3.5 miles upstream. I usually walk around the east side of the lake, then follow the stream up to Burke Lake and back along the west side of the lake. The trail is a paved path, so there is usually a lot of joggers/walkers, and many dogs on the trail. Since it is in a stream valley, the neighborhoods are visible this time of year on either side up on the higher ground. It reminds me a lot of the trails that are common in Williamsburg. These trails are usually there mainly for the purpose of allowing pump trucks access to the sanitary sewer manholes that have been run through the area, utilizing the natural terrain slope to help them flow properly. The paved paths just happen to also function perfectly for recreational uses. With all the residential areas nearby, there are a ton of feeder birds in the stream valley. Tufted Titmice, Carolina Chickadees, Carolina Wrens, American Robins, White-breasted Nuthatches, Northern Cardinals, Dark-eyed Juncos are all extremely common in the forests here. The stream valley is also home to a lot of other wildlife though. I actually saw a female Wood Duck about 50 feet up in a tree along the stream, and could hear the calls of a male, but couldn't locate it.

Carolina Chickadee watching as the leaves start to come out in Fairfax County. 

It is possible he was in a tree cavity somewhere where they are nesting for the season. I've seen a number of Red-shouldered Hawks in the valley, including my very first a couple years ago. However, this time I couldn't seem to find any that I could ID. Though, I did see two hawks that were clearly Buteos of some species, but they were in flight and too fast & far away to properly identify. At the Burke Lake dam end of the trail, a pair of nest boxes has been set out for Tree Swallows, which were seen flying all over the place over the shallow waters next to the dam. These waters were full of Toads, just like the previous day, singing & swimming around frantically, I'd imagine it is just the breeding time of year and that's why they are so loud and mobile. I'd never seen it before, but I watched an American Crow actually grab one of the toads up off the water and proceed to devour it. I didn't realize crows would actually take live food, I always have known them as carrion feeders, though I suppose every day isn't garbage day so they must make use of something else for sustenance. The forest also is home to a number of woodpecker species, of which I saw both Downy & Hairy, Pileated, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, and Northern Flickers. Fortunately, since the leaves aren't totally out yet, I had good vision through the woods to be able to see all these birds, in a week or so it will get a bit more difficult, though, more beautiful. When I'd reached Lake Mercer on the way back, I got to see a number of Mallards, Canada Geese, and even one Great Blue Heron that was frightened off by a dog before I could get close enough to it for a photo. Near the emergency spillway I kept an eye on the treeline but didn't find any foxes this year. Two summers back I saw a mother Red Fox with 5 or 6 young pups walking around on the edge of the treeline. From the top of the dam, I spotted my first Barn Swallows of the year, and also saw what could have been a Beaver swimming around, trying to avoid a fisherman who was in a kayak near the outlet structure of the lake.

White-tailed Deer on the run in the South Run Stream Valley of Fairfax County.

I'd reached the car and thrown my pack into it, turned the key, and realized it was only 9:30 in the morning. I decided I had another couple miles in me, so I walked downstream from the parking area. This turned out to be a great thing, because up til that point, the Wood Duck was really the only out of the ordinary bird I'd seen. But on the ensuing 2 miles, I found a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and photographed it. Then, I saw a flock of Rusty Blackbirds, which are now a new addition to my life list! After that I also saw a Louisiana Waterthrush, which is my first of the season. It was quite fast, and in the underbrush, so my photos aren't the best, but this is now the 3rd time I've seen this species, after having added it to my life list just last June at Crabtree Falls. Along the stretch I also had a pair of White-tailed Deer run directly at me, which is highly unnusual. They cut to my right about 50 feet away from me and then bounded across the stream. Something spooked them, and a pair of people were not far from me, so they must have been splitting between us on their run. I could still see them a couple hundred yards off, grazing in the woods, but didn't feel the need to try to sneak back up on them given that they'd already provided me with a good show. I didn't find any of the colorful spring warblers in the woods, but it turned out to be a great hike, and weather right around 70s while I was out, so a perfect end to a good week in the outdoors. Next week, I have Friday off of work for holiday, so I may try to go down to the Great Dismal Swamp NWR where everyone seems to be having good luck with finding colorful migrant birds!

My first Rusty Blackbird, a new life bird, taken in the South Run Stream Valley in Fairfax County near Lorton.

Week Ending April 6, 2014

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As you probably have read by now at the end of my last blog, this past weekend was extremely wet and dreary. Though I made it up to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel to take some photographs on Sunday, that was it for the weekend. The weather took a turn for the better on Monday though, and by afternoon it was right around 60 degrees and completely sunny. I drove down to First Landing State Park right after work and was hiking in at 64th Street by 4:15. I did my typical after work 6-mile route through the park (64th Street, Cape Henry Trail, Long Creek Trail, Osprey Trail, Long Creek Trail to White Hill Lake Creek Bridge, and back the same route). Along the Cape Henry Trail before Lake Susan Constant I saw my first butterfly of the season. I believe this one was a species called a Question Mark. It fluttered around a bit before finally landing on a holly tree leaf where I was able to get a couple photographs before some joggers passed by and it flew high up into the canopy.

My first butterfly of the season, a Question Mark Butterfly at First Landing SP.

Just after that, I saw an Osprey perched up in a tree near the freshwater lake; it was sitting on a pine branch feeding on a dead fish. The Ospreys are now back in full force around the region. All the nests along the Osprey Trail now have an active pair of Osprey attached to them. The large nest near the detached overflow pond between the two tidal creeks is active once again also. This nest has been unused the past two seasons, so I was surprised to find an Osprey perched in the tree today. The songbirds were also quite active today along the Osprey Trail. I took some photographs of a Dark-eyed Junco, some Tufted Titmice, and a couple of Carolina Chickadees as well. The way the sunlight was hitting the forest made for some interesting shots, but also made a lot of darkened photographs due to the shade under the trees. Early on, a pair of White-throated Sparrow, and a Carolina Wren were active along the Cape Henry Trail, but they were tough to capture with the shadows all around them. I’m still hearing a lot of Ground Skinks scurrying around the leaf litter on the forest floor as I walk on the trails past them, but I’ve yet to see any Fence Lizards or other species of skinks, like the common Broad-headed Skinks. Even on top of White Hill the lizards haven’t come out yet. I also didn’t find any Mud Turtles meandering around the trails. Typically in the spring I’ll see a few of them laying eggs on the sandy edges of the trails I walk. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks the reptiles will start showing up. Frogs were still singing from all the rainwater pools along the Cape Henry & Long Creek Trails. I haven’t heard any along the Osprey Trail but that may be because all of the water is brackish and not freshwater. Waterfowl are still around, especially at White Hill Lake.

Carolina Chickadee hanging out in the trees at First Landing SP.

Today there was a pair of Hooded Merganser, three Bufflehead, and some Mallards & American Black Ducks. Out on Broad Bay, there was a few Bufflehead but no other duck species were present. A pair of Canada Geese have taken up a nesting spot in the same spot they have the past two seasons along the Osprey Trail just to the east of the largest Osprey nest. The geese can be seen back in the cattails of a small pond on the south side of the trail. Brown Pelicans, Herring Gulls, and Double-crested Cormorants were seen out over Broad Bay, mixed in with a pair of Osprey that were circling what was probably a shoal of fish. This morning, I had spent some time on eBird checking on the distributions of some species of Warblers to see if their migration was moving closer to the area. There has been reports of Yellow-throated Warblers around but I didn’t find any of these. Like the other hikes I’ve done at First Landing this year, I saw some Yellow-rumped Warblers, and heard, but didn’t see any, Pine Warblers. These two are the common warblers in winter time around the area. Soon, a rainbow of other warblers will be showing up, but nothing that I have seen yet. The weather is looking pretty great for the week, with rain expected on the weekend. I will be trying to get out after work each day so that I hopefully don’t miss out on some of the beautiful migrants that pass through the region in the coming weeks. 

The almost best photo I've ever taken of a Yellow-rumped Warbler...if it hadn't turned it's head.

Another beautiful day on Tuesday, so I went up to Pleasure House Point after work. This time I parked at the east end of the park, and walked along the water all the way to the west end and back, then did another half loop to make it probably close to 4 miles of walking. Continuing the streak over the last week, I saw another Horned Grebe in Pleasure House Creek. Unlike last week, the tidal water today was probably lower than I've ever seen it before. There was actually sandbars showing around the trails that I didn't even know existed until today. One example was just off the southernmost point of the trail at my favorite crabbing spot. Here there was a sandbar exposed about 50 feet out into the water which I had always assumed was deep water; apparently not so. With the water so low, I was hoping I might see a Clapper Rail emerge from the tidal marsh, or one running on the exposed mudflats, but I didn't find any unfortunately.

Ospreys are all back to their nests in First Landing SP.

As with last week, the waterfowl was very much around though, and in terms of ducks, there was Gadwall, American Wigeon, Northern Shoveler, Mallard, and Bufflehead all over on the brackish waterways. The rails may not have showed up with the very low tide levels, but the Yellow-crowned Night-Herons were right at home. I saw at least four of them hunting on the mudflats, and each of them appeared to be focusing on areas where the freshwater ponds drain through culverts into the tidal waterways. I'm not sure if the moving water helps them sneak up on prey, or if the prey itself is just attracted to the moving water, but there was definitely a pattern to where they were foraging. In addition to the Night-Herons, there was one lone Great Blue Heron pretty far out on a mudflat, surrounded by Great Black-backed & Herring Gulls. I got my first photograph of a black-headed Laughing Gull, having just seen my first one on Sunday morning, it's nice to see them back in the area, another sign of springtime as far as I'm concerned. The large exposed mudflats were also home to large numbers of Bonaparte's Gulls, which also looked like they had their black head plumage back. I hadn't yet seen any with the breeding colors until today. The gulls weren't alone on the flats as I did see a Royal Tern a couple times, and also saw one Killdeer land out near a group of immature Herring Gulls. While walking around the largest of the freshwater ponds, a Sharp-shinned Hawk flew directly over top of me, then pulled a bank turn and flew a wide circle around me. I got some long-range out-of-focus shots of it just before it pulled up directly in line with the sun and I had to turn away.

The Yellow-crowned Night-Herons have returned to Pleasure House Point for the Summer!

It flew to a tree over by the golf course across the creek and perched up in a large pine tree. The resident Ospreys on the creek didn't seem to like this intruder in their nesting area, and were quite vocal about it. Several times I saw the Ospreys flying circles out over the water, and one of them flew directly over top of me with a large helping of spanish moss and sticks for it's nest. No other birds of prey were present today. After the close encounter with the Osprey, I got a chance to take photographs of more Yellow-crowned Night-Herons, despite the few people that had dogs out & walked right by them without realizing it. Also in close to shore on the largest of the tidal flats by the trail was a lone Greater Yellowlegs. This might be the same one that was present last time I was out here. When I was nearing the islands of marsh grasses, a Red-breasted Merganser female was chasing minnows around in the now-shallow channel. The water was shallow enough that you could clearly see the bottom all the way out to the marshy islands. After trying pretty hard to get some nice photos of the Merganser, I kept heading eastward and photographed a Northern Mockingbird, and a Red-winged Blackbird that were spatting over the tree they were both perched in. No ducks were on the stormwater retention pond at Loch Haven Park, which is a surprise, since typically there are a number of Gadwall, and usually at least one Egret also. I suppose the construction that is taking place on the new visitor center has something to do with this. By the time I reached my car, it was about 6:30, and I'd counted 29 species of birds on the day, not a bad couple hours of after-work birding.

My first photographs of a Wood Duck in First Landing SP!

Thursday morning I had a field meeting on a work project so I knew in advance that I'd be wearing jeans to work. Since I'd already be dressed for it, I brought my camera & backpack to work also. So when 4 o'clock hit, I ran out the door. It had been sunny and about 65 degree out in the morning, but apparently got overcast and cooled off into the 50s sometime after lunch. I had planned on going to the Norfolk Botanical Gardens to try to locate a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher. Also, another was spotted at Stumpy Lake the same day. These are the first ones of the season that I'd heard of. When I saw how cloudy it was though, I decided to just go to First Landing instead, in the hopes of at least getting a good workout in if I couldn't get good photographs. It turned out to be a great switch. Right off the bat, just after I'd turned onto the Cape Henry Trail south of 64th Street, a female Wood Duck burst up into the air off a small freshwater cypress swamp. It's mated male was there also, swimming through the dense foliage. It moved back into the swamp but I did get a couple photographs of it in the process. This is only the second time I've seen Wood Ducks at First Landing, and the first time I've ever gotten clear photographs of them! After I left the Wood Ducks, I kept on the Cape Henry Trail, then cut up to 64th Street after the lake and hopped onto the Long Creek Trail. I could see there was a couple of people walking with a dog out in front of me, and figured they'd scare everything off so when we hit the junction with the Osprey Trail, and they took it, I opted to uncharacteristically stay on the Long Creek Trail.

A Greater Yellowlegs in the shallows of Broad Bay. 

After the junction, the Long Creek Trail is a swampy mess of mud for the first hundred yards or so. After that though, the trail conditions were great, I'd forgotten how much more up and down there was on this trail as opposed to on the Osprey Trail (both reconnect up at White Hill on their west ends). I'm extremely glad I decided to go this way for a change, as after just a few minutes, I came up over a small crest on the trail and a Gray Fox was just getting ready to cross the trail. We looked at each other for a moment and then it turned back around and disappeared into the underbrush. I walked about a hundred feet past where it had been on the trail and waited about 5 minutes. Then I walked slowly back, hoping it might come back out and try to cross as per it's original plan. Sure enough, it had moved about half way from the dense underbrush towards the trail, and I was able to get a couple of manually focused shots of it behind a lot of cover. It ran again, and so I tried this again, but unfortunately it seemed to have figured out my game and didn't show back up. It was very amusing to me that this is the very first time I've ever seen a Gray Fox in the park, and I've been there over a hundred times at this point. Also, my girlfriend had seen a pair of foxes on Tuesday at a work function on a golf course, so hearing about them was almost a little bit of foreshadowing what was to come for me! After the fox, the overcast conditions started to break in bits and pieces and about a half hour later, the sky had totally broken up and the sun came out. I was pretty excited that now the lighting would be better, and very happy I stuck with the decision to get out hiking after work. I walked past the are that the Great Blue Herons typically nest at, but did not spot a single nest, which seemed very unusual to me at this point in the year. All I saw here was an adult Bald Eagle make a fly-by of the site. After that I reached White Hill, and headed down and around White Hill Lake to the creek bridge. As usual, I turned around from there and headed back.

Juvenile Cooper's Hawk perched up in a tree next to my office complex!

Nothing much was moving around near the lake, and I didn't see any of the normal waterfowl either. An Osprey was calling from the nest on the north side of the lake, and a couple of Canada Geese did fly in, but that was it.  Once back up and over White Hill, I heard a Belted Kingfisher flying around the area of the western tidal creek. I did spot it eventually, but it was so far away the photos didn't come out real good. After I crossed the western bridge, I saw a Greater Yellowlegs wading around in the low tide of Broad Bay right up near shore. Also, there was a Great Egret back in the creek's marsh. The yellowlegs kept me entertained for a while as I took a lot of photographs to ensure I got a couple good ones. After this, I passed an active Osprey nest, and made my way over the eastern tidal bridge and along the beach back up inland on the Osprey Trail. Songbirds were flying in all directions just before the next Osprey nest, and another three Greater Yellowlegs were in the marsh to the north making quite a racket before they took to the air. I passed the small marsh to the south where a pair of Canada Geese have taken up spring residence, and saw a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers near the Osprey nest off to the south. Between here and the Long Creek Trail Junction I spotted a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher, but absolutely could not get a photo of it since it was constantly on the move through the thick foliage! While I was trying to focus on it, another bird crossed my line of sight, and it turned out to be a Black-and-White Warbler! I got one decent shot of it, which makes this my first migrating warbler on the year! Ironically, this is only the second such bird I've seen in my life, and the first was two years ago almost in this same spot in the park. The sun was now starting to get low, and then rest of the walk back to the car didn't yield any further sightings, but it had been a great evening walk. My Virginia Beach species total is now up to 109 birds on the year! Hopefully, the migrants will keep moving through the area in the coming days, as it appears this week is really their first week of having shown up in Hampton Roads.

Great Blue Heron at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

Perfect weather continued on Friday, so yet again, for the 4th day this week I was able to go out hiking after my work day ended. Being Friday, I left around 2:30 in the afternoon and was heading out of the parking of my office when I saw a Cooper's Hawk fly over top of me and land in a tree at the back of the lot. Since I was going hiking anyway, I had my camera in the car, so I reversed the vehicle and drove over towards where it had landed. I got out, assembled my camera, and located the bird high up in a pine tree. I got a few photographs of it and then headed out to actually go wildlife viewing. Couldn't believe it showed up right at my office like this, and that I had a camera with, usually it doesn't happen this way. It was fairly cloudy out, as a warm front was on it's way through the area, but I went down to Back Bay NWR anyway. The West Dike trail had opened up on the 1st of the month, so finally I can get some miles in at the park without having to walk the beachfront down and back. When I got to the park, I finally got to use my annual pass that Ruth had bought me for Christmas, since they started charging entry to the park, also on the 1st. There was a ton of cars in the lot, more than I'd ever seen on a weekend morning so far this year. It turned out that a class from CNU was visiting to study reptiles & amphibians. I got stuck behind them on the boardwalks, so had to abandon my plan to walk the Bay Trail. Instead I headed right down the West Dike. I photographed a Great Blue Heron that was barely off the loop road, and didn't seem to mind that I was right next to it. When I set out on the West Dike, right away I saw large numbers of Snowy Egret, probably over 50 in total. Mixed in with some Snowies was a Glossy Ibis, and later a lone White Ibis juvenile flew in as well. With the trail now open, you have access to viewing the freshwater impoundments that were previously closed to the public over the winter.

Yellow-bellied Slider at Back Bay NWR...the turtles are all back out for the spring.

There was a TON of waterfowl out in the water. Northern Shovelers dominated, but there was also Gadwall, and I saw my first pair of Blue-winged Teal on the year as well. Great Egrets were also very abundant, mixing in with their smaller cousins, the Snowy Egrets. Right out in the center of the first major impoundment, a Caspian Tern was sitting on a mud flat that was barely submerged. In addition to the birds, the turtles were out in force. Almost every log I came across was full of Yellow-bellied & Red-eared Sliders, and also what looked like maybe a Painted Turtle at one location. I saw several Savannah Sparrows walking on the exposed mud shorelines around the impoundments as well. With the warm front passing through while I was walking, the skies finally were able to clear off, and it got much warmer as I neared my turn-around point for the day (the beginning of the maritime forest's intersection with the dike). Near this point, large numbers of American Coots were swimming out in the water, and I also saw several Muskrats swimming about, though I struggled to get any good photographs of them since they sit so low to the water when they're swimming. In this same area I saw my first Dragonflies of the year, but didn't get any photographs. On the way back north towards the contact station, now with the sun out, I could see a bit better out on the impoundments. A lone adult Bald Eagle was sitting far out on one on top of a deadhead. The Caspian Tern (first of the year for me) was still sitting out there as well. Some Red-winged Blackbirds were calling from perches in the cattail marshes off the dike, and both Common & Boat-tailed Grackles were around as well. The Egrets were all still in the same position on the way back, and I was able to get better shots of them, and both species of Ibis. Not far off from the egrets, a Cooper's Hawk was sitting quietly in a tree watching for something to prey on.

My first colorful migrant of the season, a beautiful male Prairie Warbler at Back Bay NWR.

Also, shortly after this, I heard some commotion in a shrub off to the bay side of the trail, and as I waited and watched, thinking it might be a Thrasher or a Towhee with how much noise it was making, I saw a beautiful little yellow bird make an appearance. With it's beautiful black and yellow face, and rust colored shoulder, I knew right away it was a Prairie Warbler, my first of the season! I hadn't seen one since last year when I saw my very first one in Freemason in Norfolk, right about this same time of year; they're migrating through the area finally. After the warbler, I came across a 2-3' long Eastern Cottonmouth in almost exactly the same spot that I photographed one last year along the West Dike. It was slithering along the shoreline in the water, and came to a stop when it saw me. I carefully looked around for others, while I moved down the bank to get into a good spot to photograph it from. I took a ton of shots of it, but it was difficult to get into a good spot with the sun, and with the grasses not in the way. Just a few hundred yards left of the West Dike and I was back on the Loop Road, where I saw my first Tree Swallows on the season. Also in this area, I scared off quite a few frogs into jumping into their little spring rain water pools, but was unable to actually see any of them, just heard all the splashes they would make as they leaped away from me. In the area where I had been seeing Field Sparrows throughout the winter I saw a Mud Turtle laying eggs in the sandy ground off the roadway. This is the first of them that I've come across so far this season.

Snakes are out now too! Eastern Cottonmouth (venomous) at Back Bay NWR.

It had heated up into the 70s by this point, and I got some relief from the heat by sneaking over the Dune Trail down to the beach. The ocean was full of wildlife today, and the strong easterly breeze cooled won the air probably 15 degrees cooler than it had been just over the dune line. Herring, Ring-billed, and Great Black-backed Gulls, as well as Laughing Gulls showing off their new black-head plumages were all out. I saw Royal Terns, and what was either a Common or a Forster's Tern. Double-crested Cormorants, Brown Pelicans, and Northern Gannets were also seen out over the water. Even an Osprey showed up, having just caught a large fish, and flew right over top of my position. It was truly an incredible day of photography out at the park, and with all the new birds I was seeing today, I'm up to 115 species on the year in Virginia Beach alone. Last year I saw 121 in total, so I'm almost at that same mark but only just over 3 months into the year! I walked back over the Seaside Trail to the parking lot and decided that my luck couldn't get any better, so I didn't walk the Bay Trail, just headed to the car and took off towards home.

Magnolia in full bloom at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens!

Saturday it had cooled off considerably, sitting probably in the upper 50s low 60s. Ruth & I had decided to head up to Gloucestor to see the Daffodil Festival parade. While on the way back we stopped at Gloucestor Point Park in the hopes of spotting the Eared Grebe that has been seen around the pier, but came up empty since the sunlight was playing murder on the water's surface and I couldn't verify the ID of any of the grebes I was seeing offshore. We stopped at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens after this, hoping to spot some migrating songbirds, but came up pretty empty handed. I took a few photographs of some Northern Cardinals, and an American Robin, but that was about it. I think the windy conditions just had the birds sitting tight hidden in cover. The gardens were looking pretty though, with the Daffodils and Cherry Blossom Trees in pretty well full bloom.

Male Northern Cardinal singing from the treetops at Norfolk Botanical Gardens.

Week Ending March 30, 2014

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Finally back after a weekend hiatus due to a weekend trip to Charlotte, NC last week. The only birding I was able to get in last week was from the car on the way home. I did manage to see my first Wild Turkeys off the season, on a farm field just west of Emporia, VA, and then later in the day on the way to dinner in Norfolk saw my first Yellow-crowned Night Herons too! This was on Sunday, March 23rd, which is early for the Night-Herons. They are starting to build up their  nests from last season in the Freemason neighborhood of downtown Norfolk. I'm looking forward to getting back out there to walk around and see how many nests I count. Last year, there was 12 nests in the area, with most of them being on one block of Freemason Street. I will be going out after work one day to walk the area, I miss living right by it where I could walk the streets everyday after I got home, hopefully the wood warblers will also be showing up in the area soon as this is the spot I saw my first Prairie Warbler last year in the first week of April. 

Boat-tailed Grackle at Pleasure House Point in Virginia Beach.

Well this week, after a gorgeously warm Saturday, the weather dropped back down to freezing level once again. The strongest Nor'easter of the season set up just off the coast of Virginia on Tuesday & therefore we had nasty rain & wind conditions. I had a friend from California in town so got to spend the evening up at Chick's on Shore Drive for dinner. Its nice to sit at a restaurant and be able to watch the storm rolling in outside, and be able to see a variety of birds all at the same time. There was a number of Bonaparte's Gulls flying around in the heavy winds, as well as one grebe that was either an Eared or a Horned, I couldn't quite tell for sure since they look very similar in non-breeding plumage and it was a bit to far out to see clearly anyway. Wednesday after the storm had moved further up the coast (bringing 100+ mph winds to Nova Scotia as I read later on Weather Underground) we had beautiful sunny skies, and temps in the 30s, with lingering 15-20 mph winds out of the northwest. I went up to Pleasure House Point after work to see if I could find some birds. I was a bit rusty after not having been out with the camera in about 10 days or so after vacation & all the stomach issues I'd been having from getting food poisoning. I actually parked along Marlin Bay Drive for the first time and walked the part west to east to start instead of the other way since walking this way allowed the sun to not be in my face early on. I saw the normal Gadwalls and American Wigeons out on Pleasure House Creek, and I also found that same pair of Mallards on the freshwater pond that I'd seen last time. I scared off a Greater Yellowlegs in the tidal marsh and saw a number of Boat-tailed Grackles in the southernmost part of the park.

Bradford Pear Tree are flowering around the area!

The visitor's center is coming along and the whole building is now sheathed in plywood. It is quite an eyesore but hopefully they eventually do something to conceal it a little better. I found a grebe in winter plumage (maybe the same one I saw from Chick's the night before), but it kept moving further out I couldn't get any worthwhile shots of it. When I reached the area I normally park at, it was obvious just how much higher the water levels were from the strong northwest winds. The storm water retention pond here is typically disconnected from the effects of the tide by a concrete weir, which keeps the pond level at a set elevation. When we get strong storms though, the tide backs up into the pond, and overtops the weir. The water then becomes a mix of freshwater (from rainfall), and brackish (from the tide). The Gadwalls seem to not mind as there was about a dozen of them on the lake, and they've been present everytime I've been to the park. A Great Egret was also hunting the shoreline, and was too cunning to let me sneak around it to a good photo spot. When I headed back down along the tidal waters, I saw what I thought was a log floating in the river, but when I zoomed in with my camera I realized it was actually the head of a Harbor Seal! It popped up and down a couple times, moving very large distances between breaths, but I did get a couple of shots that could prove what it was. Some folks had seen a Seal up on the beach where I like to crab at the park a few weeks back, so I'm guessing this was the same one.

My first Yellow-crowned Night-Heron photo on the season, taken at Pleasure House Point!

A man who passed me on the trail with his dog said they see it sometimes basking out on the sandbars in Lynnhaven Bay at low tide; something to definitely keep an eye open for next time. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel islands aren't that far north of here, and I did see a pair of them a month or so back, so I guess it makes sense that they'd also travel up into the Lynnhaven. After seeing the seal, I didn't think I could possibly in for any other surprises, but I did get another one, as I found a beautiful Horned Grebe in the mid-stages of acquiring it's breeding plumage. This one let me get fairly close, so I could actually get some decent shots of it before it moved further out into Pleasure House Creek. I also got some neat photographs of some Boat-tailed Grackles that were riding out the strong winds at the ends of some cattails along the creek trail. Shortly afterwards, I came across a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron and got my first photographs of one this season! It was down in the cattails along the creek & didn't seem at all concerned with me. I also believe I found it's nest high up in a large pine tree along one of the trails. Last year, there was probably a dozen immatures hanging around the park so I'm looking forward to trying to find more of their nests, and see more adults in the coming weeks as the temperatures start to warm up. I had parked just outside the park, north of the largest of the freshwater ponds, so I was walked around the pond when I saw some tiny birds hopping around a cluster of pine trees. They turned out to be Golden-crowned Kinglets, and as usual, they moved way to often to ever allow me to manually focus my lens on one, so I had to stick on auto, and got a couple fuzzy but decent photos of their beautiful crests. After this, a Snowy Egret came cruising in over top of me and landed in a pine tree overhanging the pond. With the loud wind, I was able to get around it to the right side, with the sun behind me, and took some photographs from the cover of the woods. It did see me though, but didn't seem to want to fly since it was busy just trying to stabilize itself on the pine bough it had perched on; the wind was really whipping the branches around. I left it without spooking it into flying, and heading back up to the car. For an evening hike after work, it was quite a successful outing. After today's birds, I'm now up to 105 species in Virginia Beach so far in 2014, quite a ways ahead of last year at the same point where I think I was in the 60s or 70s. 

Snowy Egret seeking out shelter from the wind in a large pine tree at Pleasure House Point.

Friday after work I got out to First Landing for an 8-mile hike from 64th Street along the water all the way to the start of the Fox Run Trail at the far west end of the park and back. It was partly sunny when I left work but by the time I was at the park, it became completely overcast and made it difficult taking quality shots. The Ospreys are sitting on the main nest along the Osprey Trail, and several of them were out in flight over Broad Bay. Also, when I reached Broad Bay on the Osprey Trail, I saw a flash of feathers, and then watched as a Peregrine Falcon began bombing a Ring-billed Gull that must have gotten too close to it. The Peregrine shadowed the gull all the way across the bay heading south, making repeated passes at it with unbelievable speed. This is the 4th Peregrine I've seen in my life, and the 2nd at First Landing. But, this is the first time I've ever seen one actually pursing another bird, it was truly incredible. Not too long after I saw this, I was heading along the ridge on White Hill and heard an Osprey screeching. I looked up to see the Osprey, and instead saw a Bald Eagle fly past very low. I ran back to the highest point very quickly and was able to set up in a spot where there is a clear view of the sky just before the Eagle passed over it. I got a couple shots where I should have probably been more zoomed out, but I underestimated just how low the eagle was cruising.

The only colorful bird seen on an otherwise dreary day at First Landing State Park, an American Robin.

As with the other day, we had very strong winds today, and the birds of prey seemed to be the only birds capable of flying in them. Down the other end of the ridge on White Hill Lake, there was a group of American Black Ducks swimming on the far side. I had another interesting sighting when I reached the far west end of my route. Like Wednesday, I saw a Horned Grebe! Before this week, I've only seen one in my life. This is now the 3rd or 4th I've seen this week. It was situated out in Long Creek on the inside of Bay Island. I took some photos of it and with the docks and a boat with a tarp behind it, the water came out looking very neat with a blue reflective sheen on it. I still haven't gotten a very well focused shot, but they're getting better slowly. In the same general area, I got my most colorful photographs, that of an American Robin that was all alone, and perched right above the trail for me. No new songbirds have showed up yet with migration but it should be starting up soon. The Great Blue Herons were being quite loud all over the park, you could hear their dinosaur-esque screams from far off along all the trails near water. The weekend weather is also not looking so great, so we'll see what I'm able to accomplish, but for today, not a whole lot of photographs, but getting to see the Peregrine made it all worthwhile. 

My first photograph of a Horned Grebe on the season at First Landing State Park.

Saturday turned out to be quite a wash, raining, cold, and dreary all day long. Sunday started off the same way but Ruth & I went up to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel just to drive it to see if we could spot anything interesting. We stopped at the first island for what actually turned out to be almost an hour of photographing waterfowl. It was raining pretty much the whole time, but there was so much going on around the island that I didn't want to stop. It has been a few weeks since I was up on the bridge-tunnel complex, and it seems to have changed a bit in terms of the species. Before, there was large numbers of Long-tailed Ducks off the north point of the island, and tons of Buffleheads as well. Today, I saw only 3 or 4 Long-taileds and only a couple Buffleheads. The dominant species of duck now seems to be Black Scoters. There was probably a hundred or more of them on the east side of the island. Further out in the water, there was also a ton of Horned Grebes, probably in the dozens all around the island in deeper water. I guess I've always just been looking in the wrong spots for these birds, they appear to be extremely common offshore in the bay, quite a week for observing this species. Walking out on the pier I saw a Common Loon in almost full breeding plumage. It was really nice to see, as I've only ever seen winter/nonbreeding plumage on the loons around here before they exit the area in spring. We scanned the rocky northern point for seals but didn't find any. A pair of Herring Gulls & a Great Black-backed Gull were out there though.

Ruddy Turnstones were all over South Thimble Island out in the Chesapeake Bay.

Back on the east side of the a never-ending stream of Northern Gannets was funneling past the island to the north. I got several photographs of groups of Gannets flying in formation just like I'd usually see of Brown Pelicans. Some Ruddy Turnstones and a few Purple Sandpipers had taken refuge on the rocks on the east of the island also. I didn't see them at first, until a group of about a dozen Turnstones came flying in and landed with the ones that were already there. This is probably the most sandpipers I've ever seen on the island. Strangely absent were the Ring-billed Gulls. There'd been times in January & February where they numbered in the thousands on the island, I didn't notice a single one today. Just as we were about to head off from the island, a Common Loon in FULL breeding plumage popped up about 20 feet offshore, directly in front of the car. I had to put my camera back together on the spot and then got out just as it went down. I ran a couple hundred feet in the direction of the current around the island hoping it would come up there, and for once it actually came up right where I was holding my camera waiting for it to pop up. After getting my shots, we did finally take off from the island. We drove north to the Eastern Shore and turned around just before the toll gates.

Common Loon showing off it's full breeding plumage under a cloudy sky in Chesapeake Bay.