Week Ending February 28, 2016

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During the final week of February, temperatures rose to an average daily high of 61.6 degrees F (+2.0 degree shift from previous week), and the average lows also rose to 50.1 degrees F (an extreme +12.7 degrees F shift); 0.4 inches of precipitation accumulated through the week. We had one instance of severe weather, occurring on Wednesday as a major cold front moved across the core of the continent, spawning a rash of tornadoes along the Gulf Coast and in northeastern North Carolina and crossing into Virginia. An EF1 tornado touched down nearly Waverly, VA killing 3 individuals. A second tornado, an EF3 hit Tappahannock later in the evening, causing mass injuries. Fortunately, Virginia Beach just experienced strong winds and some driving rain, but no injuries or casualties resulted from the unseasonal February storm event. While Wednesday was mostly a wash for birders, there was still a good number of rarity sightings throughout the week here. The Eurasian Wigeon drake that has become a winter resident on Wishart Lake was observed again on Sunday (Cheryl Jacobson) though the views of this lake from the roadways often required multiple visits before it happens to be in the right spot to be viewable. The Lark Sparrow that has been at Back Bay NWR for three weeks now continued at the same location with several sightings on both Saturday and Sunday. On Friday morning, a pair of birders (Richard Korpi & Phil Lehman) observed and photographed a Cave Swallow at Pleasure House Point, which could possibly be the same bird that had been observed there in early January. A few of us made an attempt at re-finding this bird on Sunday morning, but no swallows were observed while we were at the park from 7-7:30 AM. Lastly, I was lucky enough to observe and photograph an adult Iceland Gull on the first island (South Thimble Island) of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel on Sunday morning while birding with Matt Anthony, Todd Day, James Fox, Geoff Giles & Jason Strickland. Karen & Keith Roberts also happened to be there shortly after, and at least one other individual (Vickie Bell) saw it before it must have flow off since later eBird reports didn’t have the bird being picked up. From the photographs I took, I can’t tell with certainty if this is the same individual that had been observed about 10 miles away at the oceanfront in late January (Jeff Byrd) / early February (Andrew Baldelli) but it is a possibility since adult Icelands are by no means common here. This week held better counts & diversity of waterfowl species, but the numbers still seem low. Red-necked Grebes and Razorbills were observed by several individuals and at several locations which is a positive sign. These species had previously been pretty tough to nail down so far this year. As always, all noteworthy observations have been added to the log Here.

Though we’re starting to see more light in the evenings snow, I didn’t get out birding until Friday when I did a quick trip to the first island, and then down to Rudee Inlet where Tracy Tate & Cathy Willimson got me on my first Razorbill in the county! I spent some time on Saturday birding locally at Back Bay, but Sunday was really my full day out this week. As mentioned above, on Sunday I was out birding with a group of stellar birders, and we took a boat ride through Rick Kellam’s Broadwater Bay Ecotours out onto the barrier island lagoon system of neighboring counties Northampton & Accomack on the Eastern Shore. Our intent was to put eyes on a small wintering population of Long-billed Curlews that had been observed back in December. Departing Willis Wharf just before 10 AM, we made our way through tidal creeks out towards Gull Marsh, a collection of low-lying grassy islands. After about 3 hours of intently searching for the birds, we finally came upon them, mixed in with some American Oystercatchers, and Dunlin. We observed them from a healthy distance, and then moved around a bit to get in a better spot to document with photographs. The length of the bills was certainly incredible to view, and it was easy to see the color difference in their cinnamon plumage that the similar Whimbrels we get here on the coast during migration lack. After everyone was satisfied, we headed back towards Willis Wharf and ended up being center stage for a Peregrine Falcon show. One individual chased multiple Buffleheads and Horned Grebes, at amazing speeds, circling around several times but never quite coming up with a meal. One Bufflehead must have hit the water at about 30 mph and instantly disappeared, with the falcon right on its tail. About 2 miles from Willis Wharf, and just after the falcon excitement, we almost ran headfirst into a Western Grebe! Several of us saw the bird from far out, but Todd was the one who shouted for the boat to stop when he realized what it was. The bird dove, but over the next half hour, we got great looks as it resurfaced over and over again. Our initial sightings of the bird was in Northampton County per the USGS quadrangle map of the area, but the bird also moved to the other side of the river in Accomack County. Given our intent was to see some curlews, it was nothing short of incredible that we got to see those, and a Western Grebe, which is a VARCOM reviewable bird in the state, and will only be the second record in each of the two counties! After the trip, I had almost forgotten about the Iceland Gull seen earlier in the day, which is absurd; on any other day that Iceland would have been the crown jewel, especially since it was in my home county, but this day was just one for the books (or the blog in this case). Todd, Matt, James & I went on to Chincoteague, and Saxis afterwards, adding an Eastern Screech-Owl that remained just out of sight, but continuously called to us for a half hour or so after dark. It was a 7 AM to 7 PM birding day, but boy did it turn up some great species!

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Week Ending February 21, 2016

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Perhaps a bit of a slowdown in the quantity of rarity finds occurred over the last week, but, the quality of bird sightings remained high! On Monday morning, we were treated to another 2” of snow on the ground as it had fallen overnight while most of us slept. The snow did not seem to detour the Cape May Warbler that has been visiting the feeders of one Loretta Silvia, having been present now since 20 Jan according to eBird. On Tuesday, the snow had all melted away, but it left behind one incredible bird just outside Virginia Beach, over in the Pughsville/Shoulders Hill area of Suffolk. For the first time since 1975, a Lazuli Bunting was observed, and photographed by a homeowner (Brooke Gordon) as it fed in her backyard throughout the day. When the eBird report popped up, showing beautiful photographs, it wasn’t long before the whole trove of state birders knew about it. Many birders made a trip to the house on Wednesday in an attempt to observe this highly rare species within state borders, but it never made a return, even though it was being watched for from sun up to sun down. This is only the third record of the species for the state, so hopefully it will submitted to VARCOM by the observer, as it is a reviewable bird by the committee’s standards. Back in Virginia Beach, the Rose-breasted Grosbeak continued to be seen by Tommy Maloney through Saturday, and the Lark Sparrow at Back Bay NWR stayed all the way through the week as well, giving some nice views to some folks who had seen it prior, and some who hadn’t yet made the attempt; it has now been present for two full weeks in the same area. On Saturday, I was excited to finally put eyes on the Eurasian Wigeon drake that has been a winter resident of Wishart Lake, and was reported to our local newspaper (The Virginian Pilot) by homeowner, Keith Sutton in early February. Quite a few individuals were able to view the bird from Battle Royal Court, and from Kings Way Drive to the northeast. For this particular individual, it is a matter of timing, given that the lake is surrounded by private residences, one must have a little luck that the bird will be in the proper place to be in view from the public roadways in the neighborhood. A last spot to attempt from is the sidewalk on the south side of Wishart Road, just east of the historic Lynnhaven House which provides a narrow view northward onto the lake.

Also worth noting, the Dickcissel that was found last Sunday at Princess Anne WMA’s Whitehurst Tract (Andrew Baldelli & Tracy Tate) was not seen again this Sunday during the only open day of the week for the park. Several observers, myself included, made the attempt but no one was able to come up with this first-year individual. There was also some sightings of Razorbills this week, with one being photographed nicely by Jeff Byrd off the Little Island Pier on Saturday. Some other good birds seen around the city were Horned Grebes, White-winged Scoters, Orange-crowned Warblers and lots of Snow Geese in the air. After Monday’s snow, the weather reached 70 degrees F by Sunday, so perhaps our short-lived winter has already come to a close. We’ll see what this warmup does to the birds over the next week. More information on this week’s noteworthy observations can be found Here. Please note that I am trying out a new format on this blog due the amount of time I have available to dedicate to it. I likely will spend more time discussing the weather & general Virginia Beach birding observations (as above) than my hyper-specific, personal outing details (which probably don’t need to be broadcast online all the time). The photo above is actually a slideshow of my favorite photographs that I took during the week, just click to advance to the next one. In the past, I’ve included one photo per 4-500 words of text, but some weeks, I have more information to write, and some I have more photographs to share. So moving forward, I’ll just have the one paragraph about weather & bird observations around the city, with the photo slideshow beneath. This will allow me to still post my favorite photographs, but without having to write thousands of words to justify the # of photographs, as I’ve been doing each week. I hope this format is enjoyed by readers, it should keep things a bit cleaner, and certainly easier for me timewise!

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Week Ending February 14, 2016

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The second week of February continued the hot streak for rarities across Virginia Beach and southeastern Virginia. On Monday (8 Feb), the adult Iceland Gull seen a week prior was picked up again by Andrew Baldelli up at 40th Street Beach. Also that same day, Eric Alton & Jonathon Snyder posted up a nice photograph into the HRWE Facebook Group that they had taken of the Western Tanager previous observed at Pleasure House Point Natural Area. The bird hadn’t been seen for over a week so it was nice to see that it had indeed stuck around. Karen & Tom Beatty also picked up a Black-legged Kittiwake at Little Island, though this one appears to still be under review by eBird. While neither of these three birds were seen again throughout the remainder of the week, Tuesday (9 Feb) brought another great surprise. While doing a seawatch off the Little Island Park Pier, Andrew Badelli picked up another noteworthy sighting, this time a Pacific Loon which he was able to photograph for documentation. This was unfortunately a one-and-done observation, and it flew off shortly after he sighted it, never to be seen again locally. Somehow, Wednesday kept up the streak, when a Black-headed Gull was reported to eBird by Bob Swiader at Pleasure House Point and shortly after Chip Allen posted up a long-range photograph of the bird that Bob had pointed out to him just after observing it feeding among a group of Bonaparte’s Gulls over the creek. On Friday, the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), a worldwide activity in which birders & non-birders alike tally the counts of each species they observe, and enter them into eBird. The GBBC can be a bit trying from an eBird standpoint, as a lot of unusual records will show up due to influx of a massive number of newer, less experienced birders. Fortunately for me, I was in a position to help change the acceptance of records in Virginia Beach since I joined the eBird team in November. During the Friday to Monday period, some extra checks were put in place to ensure some common misidentifications didn’t end up getting into the database without review. I think it worked quite well, and really, the reports from Virginia Beach seemed better to me than in year’s past, but of course I am a bit biased. On Saturday morning, a Lark Sparrow that was first observed late last week (7 Feb) was re-found by Matt Anthony & James Fox while at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The bird had stayed in the same place as it had been reported 6 days prior, something not all rarities are willing to do. As such, several other individuals (myself included) were able to get on the bird. Given the major successes of the week in finding rarities across the city, it was no surprise that Sunday closed out the week with yet another major surprise. While at Princess Anne Wildlife Management Area’s Whitehurst Tract, Andrew Baldelli & Tracy Tate were able to observe and photograph a first winter Dickcissel, a species for which eBird only had one prior Virginia Beach record. So, if that wasn’t a successful week (especially for Andrew), I don’t know what is!

The interior dunes of Back Bay NWR were blanketed by snow from Friday evening through Saturday afternoon!

As I was furiously working to update filters in eBird ahead of the GBBC timeframe, I didn’t make it out birding at all until Saturday morning. Sometimes it is just nice to revel in the observations of others, and relax at home in the evening, though our daylight is sticking around later each day, and it is only a few more weeks before I’ll again be able to get out for after-work hikes. On Saturday morning, I set my sights on Little Island Park, hoping to spot something flying past like a Razorbill or White-winged Scoters that have so far eluded me in 2016. On Friday, we had gotten about 1-2” of snow across Virginia Beach, with higher amounts in the southeast and lesser amounts in the northwest. So I woke up a bit earlier than usual, at 5:40 AM and headed out, expecting the road conditions to force some extra time in getting to Little Island. When I arrived around 7 AM, I was amazed to find another vehicle already in the parking lot. I hopped out, and put on my warmer gear for what I expected to be incredibly cold weather for Virginia Beach. It was only in the 20s, with a northwesterly wind whipping at 25 mph. The nice thing about the northwest wind is that it wouldn’t be hitting me face on while on the pier, but, it also tends to blow birds farther offshore given our coastal alignment. When I got all my gear on, I saw two people walking back from the pier, and I should have guessed when I saw the car that it was another pair of crazy birders, probably even crazier than me: Matt Anthony from Williamsburg, and James Fox from Front Royal. Immediately they said it wasn’t worth going out to the pier since all the birds were blown so far out, my binoculars would be no use. Since James always carries a scope, it was fair to take that statement as truth. The three of us checked the area across the street near the kayak launch, hoping for a Bittern or something else unusual. We spooked a Wilson’s Snipe from the ditch that flows to Back Bay’s Little Cove to the west, and we got good looks at a Fox Sparrow in a short tree. There was only a few ducks, mainly Gadwalls but also some American Black Ducks out on Little Cove, and so we didn’t stick around long. An overhead flyover of a Killdeer, and the sounds of a Gray Catbird was about it, no bittern sadly, even though this has been a pretty reliable spot to see them for me over the last couple of years, at or above the reliability of Back Bay NWR in fact.

My first rarity of the year, a Lark Sparrow that was seen at Back Bay NWR on Saturday morning!

Matt & James were both heading down to Back Bay as well, since it would be crazy to come this far southeast and not continue into the best birding park in the city. I drove on ahead, figuring we’d run into each other again and I didn’t want to get in their way. But, when I arrived and realized I was the first one at the park, I didn’t want to spook off birds that they would then miss, so I waited til they arrived and walked with them. Three Northern Harriers were the first sightings, with a pair of them doing a reversal attack in mid-air, pretty neat to watch. There was a good group of Tundra Swans in close to the kayak launch near the parking area, sticking right up against the northern shore to block the wild winds. Among the swans were some Mallards, Gadwalls, American Black Ducks, and a few American Wigeons. Surprisingly this has been about the best diversity I have seen this winter at the park, which is a bit upsetting given how it has been in past winters as far as large, variety-filled rafts of waterfowl go. We checked the Kuralt Trail and around the parking lot, but with snow on the ground, the typical birds like sparrows and wrens were not seen here. A single Northern Flicker was observed on a power line, and we had some Northern Cardinals, Song Sparrows and Yellow-rumped Warblers moving through the thick vegetation around the parking lot. No Orange-crowned Warblers here though. We all walked over the small pond, and I opted to continue going down the Bay Trail while they splintered off and headed down the East Dike in hopes of finding the Lark Sparrow that had been reported by Sue Garvin and report to Listserv last Sunday. While walking the Bay Trail, I was enjoying myself knowing full well no one else had been down it as no footprints were visible in the snow. Birds were pretty quiet with the high winds whipping the low trees around, and again with snow on the ground there was no surface to stand on for the smaller species. Red-winged Blackbirds and Yellow-rumped Warbler was basically it as I walked out and back on the trail. So I tried the beach next, walking out on the Seaside Trail but spending very little time on the beach. The winds were pushing snow all along the beach, which while beautiful, was not the environment to see birds among. A pretty good sized group of Northern Gannets was viewable offshore, but just a few gulls and no shorebirds were observed, so I headed back over to the parking area. I ran into Erica, one of the rangers at the park, and she mentioned there was a winter waterfowl walk coming up at 9 AM, but so far no one had showed up for it. Matt & James both arrived back a minute or so later from the East Dike and reported that they had found the Lark Sparrow just northwest of the East Dike gate on the field near the waterfowl blind. With that information, I headed southward towards it, not looking forward to the walk back knowing the wind would be right in my face; something that Matt & James had just endured.

Sparrows were easiest seen during the snow since they needed to find exposed ground to feed on, helping to concentrate species like this White-throated Sparrow near roadways!

Since I had a mission in mind, I took the east side of the Loop Road south, heading directly towards the spot where the sparrow had been observed. If it had stayed 6 days afterall, hopefully another few minutes wouldn’t matter. There was an all around lack of birds en route to that spot, but a Bald Eagle did fly over, and shortly after a crow flew out and dropped a fish carcass right on the road. My thought was that it likely had picked up the eagle’s remnant meal. When I arrived at the spot, it wasn’t long before a couple of Song Sparrows flew out of the vegetation and landed on spot on the gravel road where they dug through the snow already. Moments later, the Lark Sparrow appeared, with its beautiful chestnut colored face patches, and very clean chest. I spent about 15-20 minutes taking photographs and watching the sparrow group as they repeatedly fled to the vegetation, then came back out to sift around the exposed ground for food. It is actually pretty amazing that this individual stuck around all week, even through the snowstorm that arrived on Friday afternoon/evening. I walked back north, not noticing the cold winds so much given I was excited to have gotten such a great observation of only my second Lark Sparrow. The winter waterfowl walk did have a few people show up, so I passed on the information that the sparrow was still there, and from eBird reports, at least two of the individuals went south and also photographed the bird. As I was leaving the park, I got a call from Jason Strickland, who was, amusingly, also on his way to see the bird since Matt & James had sent out a text message in the VA Rare Bird Alert text group after they’d re-found the bird. Jason probably drove right past me while I was entering my eBird list on the side of the road, but I never noticed him or I’d have back to walk with him to see the bird. He did eventually get the bird though it took a while before it came out. It was also observed by one other individual Saturday, and one more (Jason Schatti) on Sunday, so who knows if it ended up staying into the weekdays. With the success of adding a new bird to my year (#124 in VA, #121 in Virginia Beach), I excitedly headed off towards Pungo, with the hope of seeing some field birds and more sparrows that might be pushed to the roadway shoulders in search of exposed ground to feed on.

One of a pair of Horned Larks seen off Back Bay Landing Road, once again, the snows makes them much more visible!

In driving down New Bridge Road, the detour was finally closed down, and so Muddy Creek Road was passable all the way to Charity Neck Road. Driving Charity Neck Road I got a call from Andrew Baldelli asking for some information on the Lark Sparrow, but saying he was also driving around in southern Virginia Beach looking for birds just as I was. I found patches of Killdeer active in fields along Charity Neck, and as I got to Nanney’s Creek Road to the south, spotted a huge flock of Snow Geese out in the farmfield on the northwest quadrant of the intersection. I pulled over into a neighborhood street nearby hoping to pick something different out of the flock like a Ross’s Goose or a Greater White-fronted Goose, but without success due to the distance even in binoculars. A few darker birds mixed in all proved to be Blue morph Snow Geese, so not a different species, but with a different plumage, sort of how Ruffed Grouse or Screech-Owl have a red & a gray morph. Further south I drove down MorrisNeck Road, and then down Fitztown Road to Princess Anne Road. The amount of snow on the fields here was higher than what I’d encountered further north so I didn’t see a whole lot on the ground. When I turned east on Back Bay Landing Road though, a pair of birds were sitting right up on the shoulder of the road, and with binoculars turned out to be a pair of Horned Larks! I had seen one earlier this year on Munden Road, but at an extreme distance, so seeing this pair closer was great. I did get some photographs before they took to flight and headed off south on the wind. Further down the road, I encountered a group of birds that all landed on the snowy field, and immediately knew they had to be American Pipits. A quick scan into the sun with binoculars proved my hope correct, and I got a photograph to document before the flock of a dozen or so took off eastward. I texted Andrew & Jason both to let them know the birds were around, and they’d eventually get on them, though Jason missed the Pipits. A pair of American Kestrels was busily hunting this area as well. I left Back Bay Landing Road and went back north down Morris Neck & Charity Neck, eventually running into Jason on his way southbound. We had at least 3 Palm Warblers on the road between our cars when we met up, which is the most I have seen at one time in the winter here. He headed south towards the lark & pipits, and I headed back home for the day. So even though Saturday was the only day I got out during the week to go birding, it was a fruitful outing for sure, the Pipits were #125 in VA on the year (#122 in Virginia Beach), a number I didn’t achieve last year until March 30, so I still have high hopes for the year in terms of numbers with migration still a few weeks away. I am just trying to see all the winter species I can while they’re here, and though the Lark Sparrow is my first official rarity on the season, there is still time to find some of the others, hopefully next weekend!

The intense sunlight on south facing areas melted first on Saturday, and attracted sparrows like this Song Sparrow on Back Bay Landing Road!

Week Ending February 7, 2016

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Last week set the bar high for rarities in Virginia Beach with the American White Pelicans, Iceland Gull and Western Tanager being seen over the weekend, and the nearby Snowy Owl in the East Beach neighborhood of Norfolk. This week started off with a bang on Monday, as John A. observed and photographed a Prairie Warbler at the campground area of First Landing State Park and sent the images in to me. Prairie Warblers are common summer residents in Virginia Beach but there has never been a February record that I was able to find. The only other record for the entire state of Virginia in February was an individual seen 6 Feb 2008 at Eyre Hall in Northampton County, so a very interesting unseasonal occurrence for the species. This year’s winter weather has been so mild that wood warblers seem to be surviving it locally in some cases. Throughout the remainder of the weekdays, the reports remained pretty standard for winter time, but that changed for the better when the weekend arrived. On Friday evening, the Snowy Owl was reported again in Norfolk, this time at the airport by Andrew Baldelli, and it was close to the road that wraps around the airport. I went up before sunset with hopes of finding the bird this time, but the trip ended unsuccessfully. On Saturday morning, there was a boat trip up to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel hosted by the Williamsburg Bird Club. Matt Anthony & James Fox did a little pre-trip birding down at Rudee Inlet and managed to pick up a first cycle Iceland Gull. That made at least 2 confirmed Icelands hanging around the oceanfront area this week. The boat trip itself proved a monumental success for the 60 passengers as well, with a highlight Black-legged Kittiwake being spotted on Island #3 (South Chesapeake Island) across the border in Northampton County, and also likely the same set of three Harlequin Ducks that have reported on the island since December. On the return trip to Lynnhaven Inlet, another Iceland Gull, also a first cycle but stated to be darker than the Rudee Inlet bird, was observed behind the boat in the chum slick. A group of about twenty Razorbills was also spotted on the water within Virginia Beach! On Sunday, the Northern Virginia Bird Club also hosted a trip to the islands, though no rarities were turned up by the land-based trip. The Harlequins were again spotted, and a single Common Goldeneye was observed on Island 3 (perhaps the same female from the early January HRWE outing?). A field trip at Grandview Beach turned up the area’s first Black-headed Gull on Sunday morning, mixed in with a flock of Bonaparte’s Gulls and well documented by photographs from several individuals. A few other noteworthy sightings were the area’s first Red-necked Grebe on Saturday off Oceanview in Norfolk and a Eurasian Wigeon was posted in the Virginian Pilot newspaper as having taken up residency on Lake Wishart in Virginia Beach, but there is little public land to view from, with just two small pieces of road with slim views of the lake. A Common Goldeneye was also seen at Lake Trashmore (David Clark), and the leucistic Yellow-rumped Warbler at Back Bay NWR continues to appear in reports from around the visitor center. More information on noteworthy observations within Virginia Beach can be found in this detailed table!

Not an Iceland Gull, but a beautiful, Lesser Black-backed Gull nonetheless!

Given that the adult Iceland Gull had been seen on Sunday afternoon at the oceanfront, I made an attempt at chasing it on Monday on my lunchbreak. I parked down at 6th Street and walked out to the beach where the dredge pipe outfalls from Rudee Inlet. It was again running, of which I had been notified earlier by Karen Beatty, so my hopes were high. I spent 40 minutes around the pipe outfall, watching as plenty of gulls, primarily Ring-billeds, rooted around in the soil being dredged and picking out food. A good number of Lesser Black-backeds and a few Greats, as well as Herring Gulls were in the mix as well, but, no Iceland Gull was seen. Timothy Barry also arrived, hoping for the same bird, so at least I wasn’t alone in the endeavor. We did see a Bald Eagle, and some Bonaparte’s Gulls as well, with some scoters flying past out on the ocean, and even a few Red-breasted Mergansers. So while we didn’t get to see the Iceland, we did get a good number of species. On Wednesday, there was an article in the Virginia Pilot that mentioned a Eurasian Wigeon having been seen over in the Saw Pen Point area of Virginia Beach east of Independence Boulevard. After work, I drove over, hoping to find a spot to view the lake where it was seen, with only two very short sections of road providing sightlines. I didn’t find the wigeon, and so I searched the lake to the south of Lynnhaven House (an historic property owned by the city). Viewing through the woods as far as I could get before no trespassing signs were posted, I scanned the large pond, finding my first of year American Coot & Ruddy Ducks. Up until now I’ve put a pretty heavy emphasis on my Virginia Beach list, but I think it is time I bump up to the level of my Virginia state list instead. Those species were #120 & #121 for Virginia, since I’d seen Horned Grebes, Harlequin Ducks, and a Common Goldeneye in Northampton County during January. Those 3 species I’m still missing in Virginia Beach, so my state and county lists are 3 species apart from one another right now. The tough part about county lists, is there just isn’t a lot of habitat to seek out birds, whereas the concept of state lists opens it up somewhat, and more people readily compare their state lists with one another. I was pleased to add the two species to my yearly lists, so this chase came out just fine, though of course, I didn’t find the target rarity in the Eurasian Wigeon. After this, there was a screening at 7:15 PM at the Naro theatre in Norfolk of an environmental film called “The Messenger” that I, and many other birders went to, including noteworthy folks like Bob Ake & Ned Brinkley. It was an eye-opening film about how populations of many species of birds have utterly crashed over the last half century, so while the footage of birds was enjoyable, it was hard to leave with a smile realizing that much work is to be done to help return these populations to even fractions of their former numbers. There was a question & answer session hosted after the film by a few members of the birding community, including a professor from William & Mary, Bob Ake, who has birded the world, and has an ABA (American Birdign Association) area count of near 800 species I believe. Also, Lisa Barlow of Wildlife Rehabilitators, Inc. was there to answer questions about rehabbing of birds. So while the film definitely left some sadness in my eyes, it was still a good experience, and I highly enjoy the Naro since it is an old style theatre, one of the last in our area.

A first of year bird, and a tough one to spot in winter, the Hermit Thrush!

I opted not to go out on Thursday or Friday since the chasing just wasn’t working. However, as mentioned above, when Friday came around, there was a sighting of the Snowy Owl in Norfolk, and I was basically forced to make chase, again coming up empty handed! After that, I pretty much decided that chasing after rare bird sightings is not good for me, I drop everything I’m doing only to race to a location with heart thumping, but most often unable to find the target bird. So, with that in mind, I was looking forward to the weekend when I could spend more time just enjoying the outdoors, and hoping to come across something on my own. So, on Saturday morning, I took a trip down to Back Bay NWR with hopes of finding a few species I’ve yet to see in 2016. Targets included Orange-crowned Warbler, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Canvasback, White-winged Scoter, and Horned Grebe. Also, whatever other species might pop up along the beach, like any of the white winged gulls. My first sighting of the day was of a striking male Common Yellowthroat, a species I don’t often come upon during the winter, and when I do, it has always been female birds so this was a colorful surprise. In walking the Bay Trail out and back, the birds seemed pretty quiet, though there was good numbers of Tundra Swans on the near bay, and plenty of Snow Geese flying northward above me as well. A surprising lack of other waterfowl though, with Gadwall, American Wigeons and a few Canada Geese interspersed among the Tundra Swans. I had one Marsh Wren making some noise off to the side of the trail, but really the smaller species didn’t want to come out. On the way back towards the Bayside Trail, I caught sight of the leucistic Yellow-rumped Warbler that so many folks have observed through the winter in that vicinity. I didn’t get much of a photograph, but, it was neat to see this mostly white (not albino) bird. Walking the Bayside Trail, I spooked a very close White-tailed Deer, which basically gave me a heart attack as it moved quickly into the phragmites next to the boardwalk and disappeared. Scanning the shoreline didn’t yield any American Bitterns, and to my surprise, no Northern Harriers were out soaring above the marshes. In fact, I can’t recall the last time I saw them here, which is highly unusual in winter when they’re typically seen every outing. Around the parking area, Northern Mockingbirds, Northern Cardinals, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Field Sparrows, and Song Sparrows were all seen, with the sparrows favoring the eastern side of the lot just across the wooden fence. No unusual birds were seen on the Kuralt Trail, just some overhead Cedar Waxwings. With the relative lack of birds, I opted to try something I hadn’t fully planned on doing: I decided to walk the beach all the way to False Cape State Park and back.

A more colorful relative of the Hermit Thrush, this one is an Eastern Bluebird!

It had been a while since I’d done the 3.5 mile beach walk to the False Cape boundary, but Saturday felt like the right time to try it out. All week I’d been doing quick, short duration trips to multiple sites to bird, and frankly, it is nice just get absorbed within a single location, seeking out all the birds it has to offer. So Saturday felt right for the beach. My hope was that perhaps some of the shorebirds I haven’t yet seen (Willet, Black-bellied Plover, Red Knot) this year might be hiding out further south where most people just don’t venture. On the way southbound, I had a couple folks ahead of me the whole time (always a bummer since they often scare birds off first), and the gator (large amphibiousesque vehicle) passed me while transporting a tour group of some sort to False Cape. I scanned the ocean’s horizon as I walked, noting good numbers of Red-throated and Common Loons in flight & on the water, but no grebes were observed. It just hasn’t been a good year for Horned Grebes thus far, perhaps we just aren’t quite far enough into the winter yet? The walk actually went by pretty quickly, and before I knew it, I’d arrived at the boundary line, having spotted 37 Sanderlings and a single Killdeer to round out the shorebirds. No Willets, Plovers, or Red Knots sadly. I turned back northward and kept up the pace while looking in all directions. I passed the same Killdeer again, though it flew off over the dunes this time. Gulls were only out in small numbers, with the standard 5 species (Ring-billed, Herring, Lesser & Great Black-backed, and Bonaparte’s) all present, and also a solid number of Forster’s Terns flying offshore. Northern Gannets, Double-crested Cormorants & Brown Pelicans were also all observed; no American White Pelicans this week though, drat. A few small groups of Scoters were moving along the horizon at maximum binocular range, and some Red-breasted Mergansers could also be seen. The good thing with this is that I’m now confident in picking out these distant groups of ducks in flight, which has been helped greatly my ‘Peterson Reference Guide to Seawatching’ Christmas gift. Being able to pick out minor details of distant birds in flight is truly an art, something that is often lost on most folks that just want a pretty picture, so I’m happy to be learning these skills as I progress slowly from a photographer to a true birder. I took the Dune Trail back to the Loop Road and then headed to the car, having walked about 8 miles on the outing in total, and I got one final sightings, a beautiful White-tailed Deer that stayed in view long enough for me to take in the sight before hopping into the thick brush. After Back Bay, I decided to just head back home since my legs were essentially beaten down from the walk, and frankly, I’d been hitting the outings really hard the last few weekends so calling it a day in early afternoon was a nice change of pace.

Since I was on a roll with the thrushes, I figured posting this American Robin, also from First Landing made a perfect fit!

Sunday arrived, and cloudy and cold weather was the headliner. With the Iceland Gull having been seen by James Fox & Matt Anthony on Saturday, I opted to do a quick check at Rudee Inlet, hoping the bird might still be hanging around. Though I spent only about 10 minutes at the inlet due to the intense wind, blowing about 25 mph out of the northeast, I did pick up plenty of gulls, but, surprise surprise, no Iceland. A Common Loon provided nice views in the harbor, and scoters and Red-throated Loons provided distant binocular views over the ocean. From Rudee, I quickly headed up to First Landing State Park’s 64th Street entrance, parked, and headed into the park. This weekend, my brain was apparently working backwards, since I’ll usually doing the northern half of Virginia Beach on Saturday, followed by the southern half on Sunday. Since Whitehurst Tract hasn’t been all that great at this point in the season though, I decided I could skip it, so my schedule could be flipped since it typically is the determining factor, being open only on Sundays to birding. This weekend, I didn’t have my good luck charm (my wife) with me, so I didn’t expect much out of First Landing. In walking the Cape Henry and Osprey Trails to White Hill, I was very excited to pick up my first Hermit Thrush of the year (VA #122!). During winter when the Hermits aren’t singing, they are much tougher to spot, but when spring comes around, it is impossible not to hear them. This individual was barely moving through a thicket when I spotted it, and I did grab some nice photographs of it given the overcast skies and utter lack of light. Along with this thrush, two other family members were seen in great numbers, those being Eastern Bluebirds & American Robins. The robins specifically were foraging throughout the park in huge flocks, and several hundred birds were likely seen, though there was no way to count them as they weaved incessantly through the forest canopy, grabbing red berries off Holly (?) trees. Earlier in the hike I picked up a few more Fox Sparrows as well, and spent time listening to their calls to hopefully imprint them into my memory. These birds are likely present much more than they are observed since they favor thick vegetation, and are hard to notice even when putting in the effort to do so. At First Landing, aside from the Hermit Thrush, I was still hoping for my first Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Red-headed Woodpecker, and maybe a Pine Siskin like I’d seen back in December here. Though none of those species materialized, I know they’re around, and with some luck, I hope to find them. Walking from White Hill back along the Long Creek Trail, I did also get to see some White-breasted Nuthatches, and a single Brown Creeper that were all moving along with a feeding flock of Carolina Chickadees and Tufted Titmice. Red-winged Blackbirds had joined up with some of the American Robin flocks, and I tried hard to turn some of them into Rusty Blackbirds, but that skillset is just outside my capabilities; I can’t see what isn’t there.

Sometimes difficult to spot on the rocks of the CBBT islands, here is one of several Purple Sandpipers enjoying the heavy surf!

 Having knocked out a nice 5 mile walk to kick off the morning, I headed over to the first island of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel next. Now, I had plans to visit Pleasure House Point, but I wanted to do at low tide since shorebirds were my hope there. With high tide having been at 7:50 AM, I figured heading up to the first island would be good for killing an hour or so, giving the water levels a bit longer to drop so the mudflats and sandbars were more open real estate to birds. Heading up to the island, there was plenty of scoters just off the beach, though I couldn’t pick out any White-wingeds while driving 55 mph. At the island itself, I assume my typical parking spot at the extreme southeast corner and then walked the full perimeter out and back, including the pier. While walking with the strong winds in my face, a fast moving Great Cormorant buzzed right past me before I could get my camera on it, the second time in a row this has happened! From then on, I held fast to the camera. The loyal flock of Ring-billed Gulls held tight to the rocks at the northeast corner of the island, which was surprising to me since that was the side taking the full force of the winds. Another interesting realization hit me at that time; nearly all of the Ring-billeds are full adult birds, and I’m surprised I’ve never really taken note of it before. I’m not sure why, perhaps the 1st or 2nd cycle birds just don’t have the strength to handle winters on the island? Off the northern point were four Long-tailed Ducks (3 male, 1 female), a few Buffleheads, and a single Surf Scoter. Some Red-breasted Mergansers and Red-throated Loons were observed on flybys as well. The Northern Gannets were putting on a show with the high winds taking them across the skies with ease, so I went out to the end of the pier where I could get closest to them. The overcast conditions and high speed movements made it tough for photographs, but it was fun to watch as they whizzed by in my binoculars.

Finally, a clear shot of a Great Cormorant, seen here from Island #1!

From the furthest point on the pier, I walked back to the island then turned southward. After passing around the restaurant, I found a group of Purple Sandpipers feeding on the rocks, with Ruddy Turnstones also nearby. A single, stoic looking Great Black-backed Gull was sitting on the large concrete platform here, with no other gulls nearby. At the far southwest corner of the island, I decided to scan the nearest bridge abutment south of the island about 100 yards or so. Maybe it was my inexperience in the past, or maybe they just aren’t usually there, but I was able to pick out two Great Cormorants on the abutment, mixed in a larger group of Double-crested Cormorants. Their larger heads, and white on the face helped set them apart from the group, and I took some extremely cropped photographs of the birds, enough to show that there were at least 2 in view of the island simultaneously, the most I’ve ever seen here. Usually they are found in higher numbers on islands 2, 3, and 4, but those are not accessible to the public without a paid police escort, therefore typically only used by tour groups that help break the per person price up a bit. I walked the perimeter of the island again back towards the car, seeing the same birds again, but this time, I spotted a Great Comorant flying towards me in time to get the camera on it! Finally, some nice shots of one in flight as it cruised on by me, though of course some sunlight would have gone a long way, but, still the best shots I’ve ever gotten of one, so something to be excited about. I scanned pretty hard to the eastern horizon, but no Horned or Red-necked Grebes were seen on the water. Interestingly, David Clark had seen a Red-necked over at Oceanview in Norfolk, which was the first one seen around the bay for the year. Perhaps they will start to show up now, though, the Great Lakes are now only at 4% frozen surface area, which doesn’t bode well for these birds being forced to the coasts. I think this is a good part of why the waterfowl numbers have seemed severely down in Virginia Beach this winter. Last year, the ice reached values of 90% or so, as it did the year prior, so we had two great winters in a row of waterfowl, leading to this year’s slow down. Of course, it is still early February, and there is a couple more weeks of winter here before March’s typical warmup. I do enjoy the winter, but I look forward each February to the beginning of March because of the extra hour of evening sunlight brought to us by Daylight Savings Time. Once that hits, I’m once again able to get out for walks in the evening after work, and it usually helps me drop some of my winter weight acquired from all my less athletic winter birding outings. At least this weekend though, I did get 16 miles of walking in. Back to the island though, after seeing the Great, I drove off towards Pleasure House Point.

Uncharacteristic of Belted Kingfishers, this male actually held a pose with me not too far away!

Arriving at Dinwiddie Drive, some Gadwall and a Snowy Egret were observed from the car on the storm water pond, but no American Bittern was present. Walking out to the main point, I looked around the sandbar, surprised to not see any Black Skimmers, which have hung around this far into winter so far. Gulls, and a good number of Sanderlings surprised me, and I’m not even sure I’ve seen them at the park before. But, there was good number of them out there, likely 25+. I didn’t see any Oystercatchers either, or Pelicans, so I walked the main shoreline trail west to the end of the park and then back eastward. I found the pair of Little Blue Herons still present in the same vicinity as they have been ever since December when I’d first seen one of them on the 12th. A collection of Red-breasted Mergansers were feeding in the creek, and interestingly a group of Bonaparte’s Gulls, and a single Forster’s Tern were feeding right above them, landing on the water and/or diving into it in the case of the tern. There must have been a school of small fish present to attract these three species. In walking the trails, I actually got some really nice photographs of a male Belted Kingfisher that held still and allowed me to get reasonably close. Typically kingfishers are the exact opposite of this behavior, flying off quickly, and cackling as they go as if mocking you for even trying to photograph them. On my way eastward, I ran into Ellison Orcutt, who is the eBird reviewer for the Richmond metro and surrounding counties. He was there with his girlfriend, Beth, and like me, they were hoping to see the Western Tanager that had been sighted the previous weekend, though not-resighted by anyone since. They mentioned that some Yellowlegs were around the next bend and we actually heard them call while talking, so I could have counted them there, but I still wanted to see them. Fortunately, I rounded the next bend just as some free-running dogs scared the yellowlegs into flight (#123). Yet again, beaten by dogs at this park, one reason it is often frustrating to try to birdwatch here. Now that Pleasure House Point is a city park, it is illegal to have dogs off-leash, but no one seems to enforce the regulations, and therefore no one follows them. How unusual. After catching back up with the yellowlegs, a birding group walked past me, and I heard the familiar ‘hello’ of one Matt Anthony. Matt was up at Grandview earlier in the morning, and had spotted a Black-headed Gull there. I had seen it reported in the Virginia Rare Bird text alert, so I was surprised to see him suddenly down in Virginia Beach. In a few weeks, we’re going out on a boat trip in via a private charter, so it was good to catch up with him before then, and be able to thank him for putting that trip together for the few of us going. More on that in a future post hopefully. From then on, the sightings were basically done, and though I did make a quick stop off at 88th Street Beach, hoping for my first of year White-winged Scoters, but unfortunately I didn't add anything new to my lists so I headed home. exhausted, but excited to have added 2 species on the day to my yearly lists. Until next week, 123 in Virginia, and 120 in Virginia Beach is where the numbers stand. 

The second new bird on the weekend, one of five Greater Yellowlegs observed near low tide at Pleasure House Point!