Week Ending November 2, 2014

With my engagement weekend having gone the way I'd hoped, I had a whole week of work to look forward to (ugh). I was anticipating another Monday through Thursday of not being able to get outdoors since the sun is setting around 6 or 6:15 PM now. However, thanks to a 2:00 meeting at the City of Virginia Beach on Wednesday that got out at 3:00, I was able to book it home & change clothes, then head up to Pleasure House Point for a short walk. I arrived about 4:15 to Marlin Bay Drive and headed into the park, just excited that on a 75-80 degree day at the end of October I was still able to get out after work hours. The first bird I came across was a cackling Belted Kingfisher that I located far out over the creek. The ponds near the access trail were both empty for a change, typically I'll see Great Blue Herons, or at least some Yellow-crowned Night-Herons along the shorelines. This is the second outing in a row that no Night-Herons showed up, so I'm thinking that the last of them have now headed south and I won't see any in Hampton Roads until the 3rd week of March at the earliest when they migrate back. There was a discussion a while back as to why the Yellow-crowns leave us, but the Black-crowns remain, and it was mentioned that perhaps since the Yellow-crowns feed mainly on crabs, they leave as the crabs go into hibernation, while the Black-crowns, which tend to eat fish, are still able to catch enough prey to survive. I don't know if it's scientifically accurate, but it made logical sense to me at least. Regardless of the reasons for their departure, they will be missed through the next few months!

My first American Black Duck of the season, seen it Pleasure House Point!

While walking along the shoreline I caught up with Kathy Spencer and a gentleman named Randy who was visiting from Roanoke. Both were in search of the Nelson's Sparrows that have been being sighted around the park lately. I showed them a couple of spots where I'd been frequently seeing them, and we watches as a few unidentifiable sparrows moving through the marsh grasses. It was approached low tide so the birds could hide lower in the reeds, making them tough to get good looks at. While watching for them, we saw a Bald Eagle chasing an Osprey that held a fish, and as they flew towards the Lesner Bridge, all the gulls out on the mudflats lifted off at the same time, filling the sky for a few minutes, it was quite amazing to view. I headed off east towards the new pier, and right before I reached it, after a few circles, I got a good look and a photograph of a Saltmarsh Sparrow along the reedy shoreline. I walked back westward to the spot where the 3 of us had been looking for the Nelson's, and surprisingly spotted a Clapper Rail just across the near creek that was walking slowly along the water's edge. Kathy & Randy both walked back towards where I was at, but it disappeared just as Randy arrived. However, a few minutes later it came back out, and stayed in sight for quite a while. Then a second one swam across from right in front of us and ran into the marsh near the first one's location. I couldn't believe it. Under good lighting conditions, it would have made for great photography, but being that it was probably closing in on 5:45 PM, the sun was very low, and hidden by some clouds, making photographs tough, but seeing them clearly was something else! While standing there, a sparrow finally showed itself by walking along the mudflat, where we could finally get a good look. I confirmed this one as a Nelson's with a very orange chest and lacking black striping down the stomach like the Saltmarsh Sparrows have. Randy headed east, and Kathy and I headed back west, surprisingly finding a single Greater Yellowlegs out on the next stretch of low-tide-shown-mudflat. When she headed up to Marlin Bay Drive at the first cut-in, I had parked at the next one between the two large ponds so I kept going. On the final pond, a lone American Black Duck was swimming slowly right out in the middle. This is the first one I've seen in a while, and hopefully a glimpse of what's to come soon to the park, which will be full of waterfowl during the wintertime. It's just a matter of when they begin showing up!

A "murmuration" (large grouping of birds in the family Murmidae) seen on Halloween evening at Back Bay NWR!

On Friday, I made it out for probably my last friday evening outing before Daylight Savings Time officially ends here in Virginia late Saturday night, and the sun will begin setting at 5 PM (wahhhh!). I got out of work at 3 and did a little Halloween walk around Back Bay NWR to close out the season. After sunset, the East Dike road will now be closed to visitors until next summertime. The West Dike road will open up again on April 1, 2015. Until then, the only areas open to the public are the trails immediately around the parking area, the Loop Road up to the waterfowl observation blind, and the beachfront all the way to the North Carolina border. These areas are all open year-round. Anyways, I wanted to get one last walk in along the East Dike before it closed up for the winter. I first walked the close trails, seeing a few Yellow-rumped Warblers and a small (probably still 500 or more birds) murmuration taking flight around the visitor center. A continuous stream of Tree Swallows flew from south to north the entire 2 hours & 20 minutes I was there, probably number in the thousands.

A coastal storm (aka Nor'easter) sliding up the East Coast over the weekend seen at Back Bay NWR!

The wind was really whipping out of the northeast so the water in the bay was very very low as this direction of wind causes it to flow southward towards Currituck/Albemarle/Pamlico Sounds faster than the tide pushes it back in. With the north wind I walked out on to the beach thinking something might have blown in close to shore, and a few Northern Gannets (FOS) were seen but still pretty far out. Some Sanderlings were the only shorebirds present, and one of them was banded, so I'll be interested to see what information I get back on that one. After getting off the windblown beach I headed down the East Dike. Along the way I saw a number of Golden-crowned Kinglets and I also found a lone Clapper Rail next to a freshwater ditch about 3/4 mile south of the waterfowl blind. I've seen a number of King Rails in the park, due in part to the abundance of freshwater (though the bay is slightly saline), but this is the first Clapper I've seen here (since they seem to prefer saltmarsh and brackish habitats). Also got a look at an adult & immature Bald Eagle sitting out on one of the impoundments. Then to close out the walk I had a close encounter with a Great Blue Heron, and got to watch it capture a very large (~12 inch) Largemouth Bass before I headed back up to the parking area. It's been such a great year down at Back Bay for me, this was my 29th visit to the park in 2014 (annual pass to federal lands has become the best Christmas gift my fiance has ever gotten me!). I'm up to 121 species in the park this year and hopefully we'll be able to uncover a few more as we get into the final 2 months of 2014 tomorrow. I will greatly miss being able to take the long walks down to False Cape State Park until springtime, but when it comes around, I'll be excited to have my favorite area open again (the West Dike).

During the high winds on Friday evening, I found this beautiful little Golden-crowned Kinglet taking refuge in a closed off area of pine trees, well protected from the winds!

Over the weekend, we had a very strong coastal storm form offshore and brush by us on it's way northeastward along the East Coast. Saturday at about 7 PM, the tides hit a maximum level of 5.04 feet (above MLLW, mean-lower-low-water, which is the yearly average of the daily lowest tide). This is the highest tide we've had since October 10, 2013 when another strong nor'easter brushed us, caused moderate tidal flooding around the region. This very high tide, and the storm itself cause interesting effects on the local wildlife. For example, this weekend, with the very high tides, the Nelson's Sparrows at Pleasure House Point became very visible since they had to retreat to the highest portion of the reeds they like to feed on. Also, with the high winds, Parasitic Jaegers were sighted offshore be several people on eBird observing from the Virginia Beach Oceanfront at Rudee Inlet, and at Dam Neck Naval Annex as well. The weather could bring some interesting sightings in the next days as well, so I'll be keeping an eye out!

One last view of the impoundments in the interior of Back Bay NWR. The trails leading there will now be closed until April 1, 2015 in order to protect the wintering waterfowl.

Week Ending October 26, 2014

This week was a very quiet one for me being outdoors. Monday through Thursday I was unable to get outside for photography just because of the sun setting too early in the day now for a trip after working hours to be worth the effort. On Friday, my girlfriend Ruth & I were heading up to Charlottesville, Virginia to stay for the weekend and do some hiking...and also so that I could pull a surprise proposal at the top of Spy Rock just outside of Montebello in Nelson County (I'll try to hit the highlights since this is technically a nature blog). In the plans for quite a while, I had picked out an engagement ring two weeks prior while my mother was in town visiting, and Friday was the day I finally got to pick it up. Naturally, it wasn't there at Noon like it was supposed to be, but after a short panic, it did arrive at 2 PM, so I was able to grab the ring and get it home before Ruth got home so I could hide it in my backpack for the weekend trip. We headed up to Charlottesville around 6 PM or so on Friday evening, and thanks to some truly awful traffic on I-64 up between Newport News and Williamsburg, we didn't make it til close to 10 PM. We grabbed a quick dinner at Ruby Tuesday and settled into our Comfort Inn hotel just southeast of the city proper. On Saturday morning, we were up and out early, before 7 AM, and headed up I-64 westward towards the access at Rockfish Gap / Afton Mountain to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Still shrouded in darkness, we headed south on the Blue Ridge and got to see the sun just starting to rise over the eastern horizon from several of the overlooks. Plenty of people were already up there probably trying to photograph the sunrise as well. We drove past my favorite overlook, Twenty Minute Cliff, and then caught the road that heads eastward down and out of the mountains towards Montebello & Crabtree Falls. Along the way, now with light on our side, it was evident that a good amount of frost had piled up on the ground, and the temperatures must have still been in the 30s or 40s at the highest. We parked at the country store near the small trout fishing pond, and then started walking down the road towards the Virginia Station Fish Hatchery entrance road (the trailhead is just beyond the fishery parking lot but up a very poorly maintained mud road, hence why we walked from further out). Ruth was not very enthused with how cold it was, and for a few minutes I thought I was going to have to rethink my proposal plans.

Atop Spy Rock outside Montebello, Virginia where moments earlier me & Ruth got engaged!

I went to great lengths to conceal that I was going to propose up top of Spy Rock, so I was happy when as we headed up higher, it got warmer, and our blood started pumping from the vertical change. I can't say for sure whether the wildlife just wasn't there, or if I wasn't noticing it since my nerves were a bit anxious, but we didn't really see anything on the trip up. Well up at the top, my plan was to get ahead of Ruth enough so that when she climbed up the last little bit, I'd be there holding the ring, however, the hike was a lot more exhausting than I remembered and I couldn't get out too far ahead, so we were both at the top and I just decided to get the ring out of my bag then. It was inside it's box, wrapped up in a wool sock, inside of a plastic bag (to protect from condensation from the water bottles in the backpack). Ruth thought I was pulling out a snack of some sort, but instead I kneeled down & proposed. I honestly thought she was expecting it over the trip, but she was clearly caught completely offguard, and teared up for a moment before saying "Of Course". A couple of folks up top overheard and were nice enough to come over to take a photograph of us in our celebration. Having finished the proposal, my nerves went away finally and we go to enjoy the beautiful views from up top of Spy Rock. The leaves were well beyond peak, and most of the trees had already shed all their colors, so we missed it by a week or two unfortunately. Looking back in my logs, I was here about 6 days prior 2 years back and seen vivid colors, so just proof that every year is different. 

Looking north from Spy Rock after the 2.5 mile climb from Montebello's Country Store parking area. The leaves were a bit past peak but it was still a beautiful view!

We headed back down the mountain together, and I was trying to get used to the idea of referring to Ruth as my fiance instead of my girlfriend, which probably will take some time since I have over 4 years of the latter engrained in me at this point. The weather was now absolutely perfect out, feeling more like a summer day than a late fall one. On the way down I did finally get some looks at wildlife as many sparrows (White-throated, Chipping, and Song) were seen hopping around next to the trail. Also, a few American Goldfinches, and some warblers that I couldn't ID (potentially Palm or Orange-crowned but not sure) were also seen. Around the fish hatchery, plenty of Black & Turkey Vultures were set up in the trees and soaring overhead. When we finished the ~5 mile hike and got back to the car, we headed down the Crabtree Falls Highway back into the Rockfish Valley and had lunch at the Devil's Backbone Brewery & Restaurant. That was it for our outdoors adventures on Saturday as we were totally worn out from the mountain hike. Sunday, we made it back about 12:30 PM to Virginia Beach, and it was another absolutely gorgeous day, so we went up to Pleasure House Point and did our first hike here as engaged folk. There was a number of people there as always, some of whom were much to loud and obnoxious for my tastes (the only downside to city parks that are easily accessed). We heard a number of Clapper Rails, and I did spot some sparrows, which were either Nelson's or Saltmarsh though I didn't get clear photos to verify with certainty. We did have a Cooper's Hawk fly across from the marshy islands towards the beach and continue on into the interior of the park, and we saw one juvenile Bald Eagle soaring over the same area. Plenty of gulls and terns, and skimmers were out on the mudflats, with a few Oystercatchers, Willets, and what looked to be Greater Yellowlegs as well. We just did one quick loop of the park before heading home since we had a lot of chores to do, and I was just wore out from the weekend, so got to relax on the couch. It was a great week & I'm very proud to be able to announce our engagement!

One of very few photographs I got this past week of wildlife, this was a juvenile Cooper's Hawk that flew over Ruth & I while hiking at Pleasure House Point on Sunday!

Week Ending October 19, 2014

This was the first week that I'm now settling down to just Friday evening & weekend outings due to the lack of sunlight after my normal Monday through Thursday working hours. On Monday, after a great weekend spent with my mother, I had to get her off to the airport and headed back to Indiana, hopefully she enjoyed her time, though I'm pretty certain she did. So through the week we had some good weather, definitely feeling moreso like Fall now in Hampton Roads. On Friday, I left work at 3 PM like usual, and decided that instead of going down to Back Bay NWR like I had initially planned, I went up to Pleasure House Point to try and maximize my outdoor time while the sun was still high enough to provide light for decent photography. From my office I can make it up there in about 20 minutes or less which makes it ideal for short duration outings like I can fit in on Friday evenings this time of year. With the sun setting slowly, I parked on Marlin Bay Drive and headed first eastwards to keep it out of my eyes. It was a beautifully sunny day with highs right in the lower 70s, which is my preferred temperature since I can walk and walk and not sweat like crazy. Throughout the week, a number of reports had showed up on eBird.org referencing Saltmarsh & Nelson's Sparrow sightings. Because of this, I was very excited and hoped I might be able to find both species for the first time.

My very first Nelson's Sparrow, seen at Pleasure House Point!

I had seen a Saltmarsh recently, but the Nelson's is still one missing from my life list. Well today I got my first one, and then several more in the same area, when a flock of 7-8 Nelson's Sparrows was working the shrubbery immediately adjacent to the tidal creeks around the park. I was amazed when one actually stood up between a pair of reeds, grasping each with a leg, and stayed relatively still for a few minutes, moving just a few times, and allowing me a lot of good quality photographs. In addition to the sparrows, the birds in general were pretty numerous tonight. The tide was about at high tide, and the mudflats to the east of the park were covered up, but the water was still shallow enough for large numbers of Black Skimmers, Laughing Gulls, Royal & Caspian Terns, and Herring Gulls to still be out standing on top of them, keeping their bodies just above the water line. Quite a few Osprey are still seen around the park, and last year a pair of them over-wintered, so I think I'll be seeing them all year here again. I didn't see any warblers today, and really the only songbirds that were seen was an Eastern Towhee, a few Carolina Chickadees, a Blue Jay, and several Northern Cardinals, all very common at the park. But, after getting good looks at the Nelson's Sparrows for the first time ever, it didn't matter to me if I was to not see another bird the remainder of the hike. Also, I got to meet Melinda Carr, along the trails, and later she posted a photograph to the Facebook group of a Nelson's Sparrow, I was wondering if she would get them! This weekend we're expecting beautiful sunny weather both days, with temps in the 70s again tomorrow, and then cooling into Sunday with highs in the upper 50s/lower 60s. Should be a great weekend down here!

Another shot of my first Nelson's Sparrow, showing off just how colorful these seemingly "brown" sparrows are when viewed up close!

Saturday was yet another beautiful day in Hampton Road, again with highs in the low 70s and very sunny, just like yesterday. I went down to Back Bay NWR and got there at about 8 this morning. At the gate there was a pair of White-tailed Deer feeding just off the road, a nice surprise since I don't see them very often in the park, and definitely not this close up. My first bird sighting was a group of 19 Pied-billed Grebes that were near the kayak launch area next to the parking lot. While watching them, an American Bittern flew out over the water as well, they're seen often in the park during fall & winter but, they usually stay hidden pretty well so seeing a flyover was very neat. I started off by walking the Bay Trail like I'll typically do when it's not yet crowded at the park. Right away, I ran into MC Miguez, who was also out early trying to get a photograph of a Merlin that had been seen along the Bay Trail this week. We ended up chatting and shooting a few photos side by side for the next half hour or so (a beautiful Northern Flicker posed pretty nicely, though a bit out of range for me, her shots turned out great). After parting, I headed down the East Dike trail down to False Cape State Park. I thought I mind find some ducks on the waterways that run adjacent to the False Cape/Back Bay boundary line but unfortunately did not. The only ducks I saw were a few very far out over the marshes to the west, and I couldn't properly ID them. Waders were around in good numbers as usual, with lots of Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, and a lone Snowy Egret as well. Shorebirds were almost nonexistent in the park, and I only saw one group of 7 Semipalmated Plovers. However, I did not walk the beachfront today so I can't speak as to what may have been out there. Raptors sightings were few and far between. Along the 8 or 9 miles I walked, I found one Peregrine Falcon perched in a dead tree west of the 90 degree bend on the East Dike, and my FOS Northern Harrier up near the parking area on the way back to the car. Driving out of the refuge though I did get to see a Cooper's Hawk fly in right overhead, and also a Red-tailed Hawk just after I'd left the park along Sandbridge Road. I did not see any other species of Warblers aside from the common Yellow-rumped Warblers that we see very often in fall & winter here. Though, I did hear a Common Yellowthroat calling from False Cape. It seems the migrants have moved through, or, I just happened to miss them today. 

Yellow-rumped Warbler, our most common winter warbler, starting to show up in big numbers around the region. This one was seen at Back Bay NWR!

Beautiful weather continued for a 3rd straight day on Sunday in Hampton Roads, though a bit cooler out (50s this morning), and with strong 15-20 mph more-or-less continuous winds. When I woke up and saw how overcast it was in spots, and how the trees were whipping, I decided to try out Pleasure House Point again thinking that maybe something interesting would have been blown across the Chesapeake Bay and taken up refuge at the park from the winds. The mudflats (near high tide) were full of several hundred Laughing Gulls, a number of Herring & Great Black-backed Gulls, some Black Skimmers (though not as many as on Friday), a lone Willet, and one American Oystercatcher that I did not see in the field, but was able to uncover while looking at the photographs at home (see link below). Several Royal Terns, and a single Caspian Tern were also seen. I ran into a number of other birders out there today (probably close to 20 or so), and it was great to discuss what we were all seeing throughout the morning, and also just to meet a number of folks who post to eBird & use the VA-bird Listserver and be able to put a face to the names. Lynnhaven River NOW (a local environmental organization) was hosting a birding walk, which was led by Virginia Beach Audubon member Stephen Coari.

A beautiful adult Great Blue Heron seen along the East Dike Trail at Back Bay NWR on Saturday!

This was the first time we'd gotten to meet, though thanks to the internet we've been able to correspond in the past. Among the group also were Susan Compton, Jim Lowe, and Pam Monahan, so was very nice to finally meet each of them. It seemed many were looking for both the Nelson's Sparrows seen recently, and the Lapland Longspur that showed up in an eBird report this week. With all the wind, I was actually very surprised to find quite a few songbirds flitting about, including a flock of about 20 Yellow-rumped Warblers, and a lone Ruby-crowned Kinglet. The typical wading birds were all present with several Great Blue Herons, a number of Great Egrets, a lone Snowy Egret perched in a distant tree across the creek, and several Yellow-crowned Night-Heron immatures. Also had a flyover twice by a Bald Eagle, though moving with the wind it was about as fast as a falcon overhead. As with most outings, many Clapper Rails could be heard cackling from the outer marshes, and one very close in (within 100 feet or so), but could never put eyes on any unfortunately. A great outing, and a very nice way to end a week of beautiful weather. Next weekend I will be heading out to Charlottesville, Virginia, and the rest of the surrounding Blue Ridge Parkway and/or Skyline Drive, so not sure that I'll get many wildlife shots next week, but I should get some very pretty scenery shots along some of the trails that my girlfriend Ruth & I will be visiting. 

My first Ruby-crowned Kinglet of the season. If you look very closely at the very tip top of the head, you can see the Ruby colored feathers that give this bird it's name!

Week Ending October 12, 2014

After the whirlwind wedding weekend that I had this past weekend, I was ready to see some migrating birds when Monday finally arrived. I would like to stress that I did have a great time over the past few days with wedding get togethers, but it was killing me knowing how nice out it was, and not being about to get outdoors. So Monday I headed up to Pleasure House Point right after work, and got there about 4:15 PM. I arrived about midway between the low & high tide cycle, which will keep getting better positioned later in the week for me to see shorebirds after working hours (Wednesday namely). I parked off Marlin Bay's entrance so that I could walk eastward at first with the setting sun behind me. Even though it is plenty bright still between 4 and about 6, the angle of sun setting slowly makes it tough to get photographs, a lot of animals just get washed out due to the low angle. It also makes it very difficult to shoot photographs amongst any large number of trees, as the shadows are now everywhere. Additionally, walking eastward, your own personal shadow tends to be out 20 or more feet ahead of where you're walking, and tends to spook critters out of the way before you get close enough to even spot them. So really, a rough time of year for after work hours photography. Anyway, I headed eastward, and my first sighting was that of a Painted Lady (butterfly), and a nearby Yellow-crowned Night-Heron. The poor Night-Heron had an oyster shell clamped around one of it's toes, which happens quite often to wading birds around this area. There was a trickle of blood coming off it, but I couldn't get close enough to try to help the poor thing without it flying off. So I stopped trying, feeling that I was stressing it out even worse.

Flight of Black Skimmers over Pleasure House Point!

Hopefully the oyster either releases, or the toe just gets worn off and the rest of the leg can still function...nature can be very sad at times, but what a defensive mechanisms for an oyster to have over a 3 foot tall bird. I then took some of the less used trails through the woods hoping to find some warblers, but unfortunately came up empty handed. However, when I crossed out onto the large dusty plain nearby, I caught sight of an Osprey, some vultures, and then a Peregrine Falcon soaring in from the north very high up overhead! This is my first falcon in quite some time, and I assume it was one of several hundred that have been seen heading southbound at Kiptopeke State Park's Hawk Watch on the other side of the Chesapeake Bay. Continuing around through the small forest I ran into Kathy Spencer, who I'd met last week at the park, and her husband Ken. They were also looking for warblers and as we were talking, one flew past but all I caught was a yellow blur. I walked around the area I've been seeing sparrows and flushed one, but couldn't get it to land anywhere visible. Out over the water Kathy spotted a huge cyclone of what looked like Laughing Gulls. Nearby I could hear numbers of Clapper Rails cackling from the exterior marshy islands. When I reached the mudflats, there was a ton of gulls & terns out on them. Amongst the several gull species, were a large group of Black Skimmers, the most I've seen at the park this year. Also a pair of Willets were walking around.

An Obscure Birdwing Grasshopper seen at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge!

Hopefully its like this again on Wednesday when the tide is even lower. I ended up trekking back to the west side of the park with the sun in my eyes, and had another (or the same) Peregrine Falcon come screaming out of the light heading eastward. It was moving very fast and I couldn't focus on it during the split second I had. I immediately ran back eastward to a point overlooking the water and snapped some poor long distance shots of it, but unfortunately it headed off southwestward towards Town Center and I never did get another chance. I made a second trip eastward, now with the sun behind me, hoping that would help again. I didn't pick up any new sightings, though the same poor oyster-clamped Night-Heron showed up again. I reached the mudflats again, and the tide had come in quite a bit. I stayed and watched as it rose higher and higher, causing the shorter birds to begin their exodus first. The Black Skimmers all took off and swirled around into a big flock on the water before heading towards the Lesner Bridge. The Laughing Gulls were next to leave, then the few Ring-billeds, then the Herrings & Black-backed took off as the water submerged their former perch. It was a very cool process to view firsthand, and made perfect sense as to why they left the way they did. I headed back west towards the car, and managed to flush a Clapper Rail, of which I got a nice shot of the marsh as my camera couldn't focus fast enough. That was it for my evening, 6:30 sunset and getting earlier each day.

A beautiful Eastern Phoebe seen at Kiptopeke State Park on the Eastern Shore on Friday morning!

On Tuesday, I brought my gear to work and promptly left at 4 to head out to Back Bay NWR. Earlier in the day, several posts on Listserver showed a lot of warbler species being spotted right near the visitor center. Of course, I didn't find a single warbler in the evening. So either all the warblers are only active during the mornings and afternoons, or people are exaggerating their sightings. I hope it's the former. But unfortunately that cripples my weekday attempts at finding the little songbirds. While walking the Bayside Trail, I got to see a pair of Eastern Cottonmouths up very close, though they appeared to be stationary, as I'd see them at the end of the walk as well. I'm guessing the lack of heat outside this time of year makes them less mobile since they're coldblooded animals. I walked the Bay Trail westward and had a Cooper's Hawk fly overhead for a brief moment before disappearing towards the southeast. The birds it seems, were out to hide from me. I did see a young Praying Mantis in the brush, and got some photographs of another nymph Katydid which was very colorful. Heading back east towards the Loop Road I came across some neat spiders & webs, but no birds at all, though I heard a catbird. Out over the pond to the southeast of the contact station, Tree Swallows were forming large groups and diving down to drink from the water's surface, it was very neat to see them still in breeding colors & in large groups. I walked toward the Dune Trail, seeing the same (probably) Cooper's Hawk again, flying right into the sun though. I went up and over the dunes onto the beach, but the wind was so intense that it seemed not many birds were out there so I opted to go back inland. I walked back and did the Bay Trail once more, again not finding any birds though, but photographing an Obsure Birdwing Grasshopper, thinking at first it was a Green Treefrog but realizing quickly that it wasn't. I walked very slow back on the Bay Trail eastward hoping to spot something, but again, just not my night. I did a quick jaunt down the Seaside Trail as well and only got a few shots of gulls & some Royal & Forster's Terns out over the water before heading back up to the car about 6 o'clock. This will be my last week heading out photographing after work, its just getting too frustrating with the lack of light, and the time it takes to get places. I'm giving it one last evening shot tomorrow at Pleasure House Point when the low tides lines up with my release from work time. 

A Swamp Sparrow seen at Kiptopeke State Park!

Wednesday I got another beautiful evening to walk around Pleasure House Point. The tides were just right and I think probably lower than any other time I've been out in the park. Because of this, I expected to see a lot of birds that I normally miss out on. I walked in from Marlin Bay Drive again so the sun would be at my back as I walked eastward towards the mudflats. On the way, my first bird sighting was that of a Caspian Tern flying out over the creek. I ran into Caroline Morse along the trails and she had said she hadn't found any birds yet. Along the large interior bay, the water was extremely low and several Yellow-crowned Night-Herons and Great Egrets were wading around in the now-shallows. Along the same stretch where I've been seeing sparrows, I saw another one, presumably a Seaside but unable to tell since they're so quick to hide, and with the low tide, they have more places to hide up under the banks. Out on the mudflats, large numbers of Black Skimmers and gulls, same as Monday, were all present again. I ran into Caroline again on the way back westward and she pointed out a Bald Eagle hovering out over the marshy islands.

One of the most beautiful of our Fall warbler species, the very yellow Palm Warbler, seen here at Kiptopeke State Park!

An Osprey flew by as well, and at the same time a Cooper's Hawk swooped in overhead. I was able to get a few shots of it, but with the sun already low in the sky, its tough to get them without a shadowed underside. With a couple more passes across the park and back, I didn't get to add any new warblers or songbirds, just the typical stuff was present, though I did get one more shot at the Cooper's Hawk when I crossed the dirt plain in the interior and it circled briefly overhead before disappearing. With the sun now setting about 6:30, and really the light being pretty poor starting at about 5 or 5:30, this is going to be the end of my week night photography walks unfortunately until probably March (I can still get out Friday evenings since I can leave work a bit earlier, but even that will end by November). On my way home from the park as I was driving past Kings Grant Lake, I saw Ron Furnish out with his binoculars so I pulled over. He introduced me to his girlfriend Marie Mullins who is also a well known birder in the area for those who use eBird. They were watching some American Redstarts, and a Northern Parula high up in the trees of the park and have had good success the last week or so in this spot, though it was much too dark out already to get quality photographs, I could at least ID properly what we were seeing of the small birds in the treetops. I left about 7 PM, now pretty much dark and made it home for dinner. On Thursday my mother is flying into town to spend the weekend out on the Blue Ridge Parkway with my girlfriend Ruth & I so no hiking Thursday.

I spent the weekend traveling the Blue Ridge Parkway of North Carolina to see the fall foliage, this one was taken from Grandfather Mountain near Blowing Rock, NC.

Friday, with my mother now in town, I decided to take her up to the Eastern Shore for the day, coincidentally at the same time as the Eastern Shore Birding & Wildlife Festival was beginning. We had a beautiful view of the sun coming up over the horizon along the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, but then it got mostly overcast. We stopped in at Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge first, and were only able to locate one bird, a Cooper's Hawk that flew past us with great speed on the Butterfly Trail. After the ESNWR we went up the Seaside Road and cut across to Kiptopeke State Park. This time I paid properly, and didn't get the $25 fine I got on my first visit to the park. We walked towards the Taylor Pond, seeing a couple more Cooper's on the way, and then did the Raptor & Songbird Trails to the east. Most of what we saw to that point was large spiders blocking our path with their large overhead webs. Not exactly a great start to the morning, however, the sun did suddenly come out and we had a flurry of activity on the Raptor Trail, where we saw many Carolina Chickadees, a Palm Warbler that continuously moved from shrub to shrub as I tried to photograph it, and several Northern Cardinals and Brown Thrashers. We also saw a White-tailed Deer rush off the trail, then later my mother pointed out another one. We hit the Peregrine Boardwalk, and had the pleasure of watching as 7 American Kestrels circled overhead, the most I've ever seen at one time before. From there we did the Wood Warbler Boardwalk, and got some nice views of a Common Buckeye (butterfly), and some Turkey Vultures feeding on the beachfront. We headed back up as the clouds came back in, and skipped by the Hawkwatch site just because there was a number of folks already up there. I later heard that a Swainson's Hawk was sighted that day nearby, but I probably wouldn't be able to ID one if I did see it since it's one I'm not familiar with at all. On Friday evening, my mother, Ruth & I all headed down to Hickory, North Carolina where we'd be staying for the weekend, and got in pretty late around 11 PM. 

One of my better Wild Turkey shots, this one was spotted by my mother along the parkway in North Carolina!

Saturday, we were up and ready to go early, taking advantage of the continental breakfast and then heading out on the road before the sun was up. As we drove northwest from Hickory towards Blowing Rock (our access to the Blue Ridge Parkway for the day), the sun began to rise and burn off the intense fog that we'd encountered in the foothills. It was absolutely beautiful seeing the sunrise and the fog and clouds filling the valleys as we got higher up the mountains. We zoomed down the Blue Ridge Parkway southwestward towards Grandfather Mountain, our primary destination for the trip, and a place I had been at just a few weeks ago while at a bachelor party out of Boone. We passed Lake Julian Price, and the leaf colors surrounding were very vibrant, very near peak I would guess. We stopped at a couple of overlooks very quickly, but wanted to be at Grandfather Mountain right at 8 when they opened so we could get to the top without other people around. When we arrived at about 8:05, the park was closed, and we found out that they didn't open til 9, thanks to a rude worker... last year they opened at 8 and we actually got up into the park about 7:45 so I don't know why they made a change like this.

The view from the Blue Ridge Parkway just east of Mount Mitchell State Park.

Anyway, we had to kill an hour so we just drove back on the same portion of the parkway, stopping at a couple more overlooks and then heading back to the park. The view of Lynn Cove Viaduct was extremely impressive this year, much more than last year. When we finally got into the park, we drove straight up to the top, listening to the audio CD this time on the way. We parked and walked up the stairs to where the Mile High Bridge is located, and my mother made it across though she was clearly not enjoying the high winds, which were probably 30-40 mph. Ruth & I walked out on the rock outcropping and I saw a Common Raven, an Eastern Towhee, and a Dark-eyed Junco though didn't get any solid photographs of either species. We walked back across the bridge, now full of tourists, as I was trying to avoid by being early, and then headed down through the gift shop. When we came out, we were completely enshrouded in clouds and it was raining and windy, so I'm glad we got to see the sun while we were on the bridge. We drove down the mountain, out of the clouds, and stopped to see the animals at the zoo, though I'd much rather see these animals in the wild. We ate at Mildred's Grill and then waited til the fudge shop opened at 11 since that can't be missed, then we embarked from the park. Grandfather Mountain is truly a beautiful state park, but the $20/person fee seems a bit high to me, given that all it does is give you access to the park, if food was somehow included, then it'd be fair. However, the views are incredible, and I could spend $20 in much worse ways so its alright.

The vivid colors of changing maple trees along the Blue Ridge Parkway east of Mount Mitchell State Park in North Carolina.

After leaving the park we drove south on the parkway and then stopped up at Linville Falls. The color here was very pretty as well, and we walked the couple of miles of trails to the two highest viewpoints of the falls. Here the weather alternated between sunny, and downpour. We got very soaked on the way out and then had to dry off in the car over the next hour or so. We kept on heading south and west on the parkway, and the colors kept getting more and more vivid as we went. Our final stop on the day was at Mount Mitchell State Park, the highest peak east of the Mississippi River at about 6600 elevation as I recall. The top of the mountain is all pine trees, no deciduous seem to reach the last few hundred feet of it, and we were again enshrouded in clouds along the peak trail, which is just a short quarter mile or so hike from the refreshment cafe at the parking area. On a clear day, you can see something like 70 miles from the peak, however our visibility was just a few hundred feet or so being that we were inside of a cloud. I still got some neat photographs though and now my mom can say she's been to the highest peak in the Eastern half of the continent. We drove out along the parkway south and west again, and stopping at the last few overlooks, headed down the mountain into Asheville, where we picked up I-40 and drove off towards Hickory, and towards a good dinner at Texas Roadhouse after a long day of driving and walking. I think everyone loved it, and we really hit the colors at full peak. I'll be heading up to the Blue Ridge Parkway of Virginia in 2 weekends, hopefully seeing similar vivid colors outside of Charlottesville. On Sunday we just made the drive back, and relaxed at home...I think I fell asleep about 8:30 after all the excitement of the weekend. 

Looking through the cloud cover into the pine forests at the top of Mount Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi River!