Week Ending May 22, 2016

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For a third straight week, bird observations remained off the charts as the peak of spring migration was likely met and passed this week across the region. Back Bay NWR remained a warbler hotspot, and Princess Anne WMA’s Beasley Tract continued the trend of offering up great shorebirding; Rudee Inlet provided views of northbound species as well. WEEKLY WEATHER: Strong easterly winds, overcast skies, and precipitation seemed to dominate this third week of May. Temperatures from Monday-Sunday dropped considerably from the previous 7-day timeframe to a daily high of 69.9 degrees F (a 7.1 degree drop from last week’s average); the average daytime lows also dropped, to 56.6 degrees F (a 2.4 degree decrease). Overall, we hit a peak high on Tuesday (17 May) & Saturday (21 May) of 75 degrees F (9 degrees lower than last week), and a low daytime temperature of 48 degrees F, on Monday (16 May). We experienced precipitation on four of the seven days this week, with a total of 0.77 inches of rain. The continuance of winds out of the north and east provided another great week for birds in Virginia Beach, as migration efforts were somewhat stalled until conditions turn more favorable for migrants to continue northward. The passing of a low pressure system to our south on Friday provided a perfect setup of conditions for seawatching heading into the weekend as well, and many birders were able to capitalize on this weather pattern. There was some excellent RARITIES observed this week in the county, so we’ll get into those first! On Monday (16 May) evening while walking the dike system at Princess Anne WMA’s Beasley Tract, an adult PURPLE GALLINULE was observed & photographed (Rob Bielawski). This is the first seemingly-healthy individual of this species that has been observed in Virginia Beach since 1981 according to eBird (though there may be more recent observations just not reported into this database). Some further history on this species, in 2013, a window-strike victim of this species was picked up near Shore Drive by Karen Roberts, rehabilitated, and subsequently released in its typical range far south of here. Also, in Nov 2015, a deceased individual was found at the Oceanfront and identified by Mary Catherine Miguez and along with assistance from Karen Beatty, the specimen was donated to Old Dominion University. Given our past history with this species in Virginia Beach, observing one of these magnificently-colored birds alive & well made for one extremely exciting outing. The individual was observed again on Tuesday morning but then went hidden by Tuesday evening, with no additional re-sightings on Wednesday. However, on Thursday, it was again re-sighted in the early afternoon, and later observed in the evening hours. As of the close of the weekend, the gallinule was last seen early on Saturday morning and though many attempted over the next 36 hours, it could not be found through the rest of the weekend. While out searching for the Purple Gallinule on Tuesday (17 May) morning, a BLACK-NECKED STILT was also observed (James Marcum) and this individual stayed through Sunday, primarily on the northern of the two largest impoundments in the Beasley Tract but also having been observed occasionally to the south. Notably, this was the first of its species to be validated in 2016 for Virginia Beach through eBird though there was a report of one at Back Bay NWR a few weeks ago which sadly provided scant details and therefore was dismissed. Also on Tuesday, though in the evening hours, a trip to Beasley Tract didn’t yield the Purple Gallinule, but a COMMON GALLINULE was observed (Rob Bielawski / Tommy Maloney / Jason Schatti), making this the third rarity in two days to be found within a hundred yards of one another! A photograph submitted to the Hampton Roads Wildlife Enthusiasts Facebook Group yielded a SANDHILL CRANE identity to an individual that was observed (8 May / Ashville Park Boulevard / Suellen Stewart); this is the first of its kind to be reported from Virginia Beach since 1979, though again, there might be other reports out there but none with specific mentions of a date between then and now. This individual could also be the same crane that was observed in Suffolk and Chesapeake over the week or two prior. On Friday (20 May), after a week or so of persistent easterly winds, a first-of-season SOOTY SHEARWATER was observed along the beach at Back Bay NWR (Cathy Williamson & Family). Several more individuals were observed on Saturday (21 May) from Rudee Inlet & Back Bay NWR (Andrew Baldelli & Tracy Tate), and on Sunday a lingering individual was observed and photographed at Back Bay NWR (Andrew Baldelli, Rob Bielawski, Jason Strickland & Tracy Tate). This individual spent most of its time on the water, and could be an injured or weakened bird so it may be prone to be sighted again near shore. It did spend some time gliding, which is encouraging.

In addition to the aforementioned Purple Gallinule, Black-necked Stilt and Sooty Shearwater, Virginia Beach also saw FIRST-OF-SEASON ARRIVALS and FIRST-OF-YEAR FINDS this week which included: Willow Flycatcher (16 May / Princess Anne WMA / Andrew Baldelli) and a later-than-expected, though still first-of-year, report of an American Woodcock (17 May / Princess Anne WMA / Elisa Flanders). Review flags in eBird were also set off by a few LATE OCCURRENCES, species that have lingered beyond their expected departure dates, including: a single female Bufflehead (last observed 16 May / Princess Anne WMA / Rob Bielawski); a single Northern Shoveler drake (last observed 20 May / Princess Anne WMA / Rexanne Bruno); a Black-throated Green Warbler (last observed 21 May / Back Bay NWR / Rob Bielawski); ); and an individual Pied-billed Grebe (last observed 22 May / Princess Anne WMA / Tracy Tate). Continuing the effort of promoting the use of eBird for observation reporting & media (photo/audio/video) storage, there was a great number of WEEKLY RELEVANT SPECIES DOCUMENTED BY MEDIA submitted for Virginia Beach this week, which included: MONDAY (16 MAY) – Bay-breasted Warbler & Scarlet Tanager (Back Bay NWR / Bob McAlpine); Bay-breasted & Blackpoll Warbler (Back Bay NWR / Rob Bielawski); Mississippi Kite (Burroughs Road / Tracy Tate); Northern Shoveler & Purple Gallinule (Princess Anne WMA / Rob Bielawski);  TUESDAY (17 MAY) – Northern Shoveler, Purple Gallinule & Black-necked Stilt (Princess Anne WMA / Kim Harrell); Northern Shoveler, Purple Gallinule & Black-necked Stilt (Princess Anne WMA / Robert Ake); Common Gallinule & Black-necked Stilt (Princess Anne WMA / Rob Bielawski); WEDNESDAY (18 MAY) – Northern Shoveler & Black-necked Stilt (Princess Anne WMA / Jason Strickland); Northern Shoveler (Princess Anne WMA / David Gibson); Solitary Sandpiper & Yellow Warbler (Princess Anne WMA / David Gibson); THURSDAY (19 MAY) – Sora, Purple Gallinule & Black-necked Stilt (Princess Anne WMA / Todd Day); Sora, Purple Gallinule & Black-necked Stilt (Princess Anne WMA / Rob Bielawski); FRIDAY (20 MAY) – Red Knot, Gull-billed Tern & Black-throated Green Warbler (Back Bay NWR / Rob Bielawski); SATURDAY (21 MAY) – White-rumped Sandpiper (Princess Anne WMA / James Fox); Black-necked Stilt (Princess Anne WMA / Jason Strickland); Mississippi Kite (Burroughs Road / Rob & Ruth Bielawski); and SUNDAY (22 MAY) – Sooty Shearwater (Back Bay NWR / Rob Bielawski & Jason Strickland); Cattle Egret (Princess Anne WMA / Lisa Rose); Baltimore Oriole (Back Bay NWR / Steve Myers); Blackpoll Warbler (Back Bay NWR / Daniel Carlson). With the third week of May coming to a close, migration for songbirds should now be on the downswing, however, there are still plenty of great birds out there to observe. Shorebirds are still moving through in force, and depending on the wind directions, the next week could continue the very fruitful trend we have all enjoyed over the past three weeks!

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The above listing of observations has been compiled using publicly displayed information submitted to www.eBird.org. This Weekly Birding Blog runs on a schedule of Monday through Sunday year-round. If you would like your photographs or sightings to be included in the Blog, please ensure your observation is reported to eBird by the end of day Sunday. During the spring months (Mar/Apr/May), ‘relevant media’ typically refers to rarities and transients, and first arrivals of breeding species. For more information on these types of species, please visit the Distribution section of the website, which can be accessed on the black toolbar above this blog & just below the page banner. Also, any rarities mentioned will also be added to the Noteworthy Observations listed, which can also be found under the Distribution heading above.

Week Ending May 15, 2016

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For a second straight week, bird observations remained off the charts as the peak of spring migration hit the region. For the weekly weather, temperatures rose considerably this week to an average daily high of 77.0 degrees F (a 5.1 degree increase from last week’s average); the average daytime lows also rose, to 59.0 degrees F (a minimal 0.6 degree increase). Overall, we hit a peak high on Monday (14 May) of 86 degrees F, and a low daytime temperature of 53 degrees F, on Monday (9 May). We experienced precipitation on four of the seven days this week, with a total of 0.57 inches of rain. Continuing with last week’s excellent flow of spring migrants, this week kept up the trend with a ton of great sightings across Virginia Beach. FIRST-OF-SEASON ARRIVALS this week included: Wilson’s Phalarope (11 May / Princess Anne WMA / Andrew Baldelli); Warbling Vireo (12 May / Back Bay NWR / Karen & Tom Beatty); Black-billed Cuckoo (12 May / Back Bay NWR / Karen & Tom Beatty); Wilson’s Warbler (12 May / Back Bay NWR / Betty Sue Cohen); Common Gallinule (14 May / Back Bay NWR / Andrew Baldelli & Tracy Tate); Swallow-tailed Kite (14 May / Red Wing Park / Karen & Tom Beatty); Grasshopper Sparrow (14 May / Ashville Park / Andrew Baldelli & Tracy Tate). In addition to all the first-of-season sightings, there was some great RARITIES observed this week as well! These included a Western Tanager (11 May / Back Bay NWR / Michelle Payne) which represents the latest observation for this species in the state of Virginia according to the Gold Book and eBird’s data! Later in the day, the same location also provided a Lincoln’s Sparrow (Rob Bielawski) which is only the second observation of this species in Virginia Beach for the year. Back Bay NWR continued to provide rarities throughout the week, including the Black-billed Cuckoo, Warbling Vireo & Common Gallinule mentioned above in the first-of-season sightings. Princess Anne WMA also followed the trend with the first Wilson’s Phalarope report that eBird has ever received for Virginia Beach and also a Long-billed Dowitcher report (15 May / James Fox & Jason Strickland). The final rarity of the week was the Swallow-tailed Kite mentioned above, which was observed at Red Wing Park. While there was no EARLY ARRIVALS this week, we did have a few LATE OCCURRENCES noted including: Blue-headed Vireo (11 May / Back Bay NWR / Karen & Tom Beatty) and again (14 May / Red Wing Park); Ruby-crowned Kinglet (11 May / Back Bay NWR / James Marcum); White-crowned Sparrow (12 May / Back Bay NWR / Karen & Tom Beatty and Robin Brumfield); Bufflehead (14 May / Back Bay NWR & Princess Anne WMA / Andrew Baldelli & Tracy Tate)

WEEKLY RELEVANT SPECIES DOCUMENTED BY MEDIA were submitted to eBird this week, including: Wednesday (11 May) – Blackpoll Warbler & Bobolink (Princess Anne WMA / Andrew Baldelli), Chestnut-sided Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler & Scarlet Tanager (Back Bay NWR / Karen & Tom Beatty), Black-throated Green Warbler & Scarlet Tanager (Back Bay NWR / Rob Bielawski); Thursday (12 May) – Black-throated Blue Warbler & Black-throated Green Warbler (Back Bay NWR / Karen & Tom Beatty and Robin Brumfield), White-crowned Sparrow (Back Bay NWR / Lisa Rose); Friday (13 May) – Black-throated Green Warbler & White-crowned Sparrow (Back Bay NWR / Andrew Baldelli), White-crowned Sparrow (Back Bay NWR / Kim Harrell), Blackpoll Warbler (Mount Trashmore Park / Teresa Byrne); Saturday (14 May) – Yellow Warbler (Munden Point Park / David Clark), Least Bittern (Back Bay NWR / Andrew Baldelli & Tracy Tate), Mississippi Kite (Burroughs Road / James Fox & Jason Strickland), Least Sandpiper (Pleasure House Point NA / Daniel Carlson); Sunday (15 May) – Stilt Sandpiper (Princess Anne WMA / James Fox & Jason Strickland). In addition to all these great, documented sightings, there was also a number of Bay-breasted Warbler and Blackburnian Warbler reports from Back Bay NWR. Outside Virginia Beach, but of note was a Swallow-tailed Kite was observed at Eastern Shore of Virginia NWR in Northampton County. Additionally, a group of 6 Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks were discovered in Northampton County at the Cheriton Landfill! A pair was later seen along the Seaside Road and was likely part of this original group. All these observations added up to one utterly crazy week of springtime birding in southeastern Virginia!

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Week Ending May 8, 2016

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Right from the get-go, when Karen Beatty reported a Scarlet Tanager in her neighbor’s yard within the Hampton Roads Wildlife Enthusiasts Facebook group to kick off Monday morning, we all should have known what a tremendous week of birding it was going to be in Virginia Beach. With weather conditions providing a truly ‘perfect storm’ for birders, the first week of May was one of (if not) the most active birding weeks I have ever been aware of in Virginia Beach. The number of interesting observations was simply staggering, so please keep reading for all that information below. As to the weather, temperatures tapered back down this week to an average daily high of 71.9 degrees F (a 5.8 degree drop from last week’s average); the average daytime lows also rose, to 58.6 degrees F (a 5.3 degree increase). Overall, we hit a peak high on Monday (2 May) of 90 degrees F, our hottest day so far in 2016, and a low daytime temperature of 53 degrees F, both on Thursday & Friday. We experienced precipitation every day this week except Sunday, but, this precipitation was tied to the reason we also enjoyed our best birding of the year. A total of 1.41 inches of rain fell this week, though the maximum daily amount was only 0.65 inches on Friday. This meant that it was a dreary week, but we were never truly rained out of our birding activities. The reason for all of this, was that a major cold front passed through our region, and seemed to stall over top of us from early Monday morning through late Friday evening. Faced with strong northerly winds during this timeframe, northbound songbirds opted instead of fighting the winds, to “fallout”, descending on every available forested area across Virginia Beach. The winds were so strong in fact, that the daily average was 18 mph for sustained winds, with a maximum gust of 45 mph on Monday! Thanks to this spell of unfavorable weather to the forward momentum of migrant species, birders across Virginia Beach enjoyed one of the best weeks of birding in recent memory! As mentioned, there was an incredible number of reports, with a wide range of species, and it is impossible to capture them all in this weekly report, but, here goes nothing! FIRST-OF-SEASON ARRIVALS this week included: Black-throated Green Warbler (2 May / Waterford Apartments / Andrew Baldelli); Scarlet Tanager (2 May / Glenmore Hunt Trail / Karen & Tom Beatty); Blackpoll Warbler (2 May / White House Lane / Tracy Tate); Magnolia Warbler (2 May / Back Bay NWR / James Marcum); Hooded Warbler (2 May / First Landing State Park / Karen & Tom Beatty); Rose-breasted Grosbeak (2 May / Lake Lawson & Lake Smith NA / Maggee Smith); Swainson’s Thrush (2 May / Red Wing Park / David Clark); Acadian Flycatcher (2 May / Stumpy Lake NA / Rob Bielawski); Yellow-throated Vireo (3 May / Pleasure House Point NA / Cheryl J Jacobson); Blackburnian Warbler (3 May / Back Bay NWR / Lauren Shaffer); Chestnut-sided Warbler (4 May / Back Bay NWR / Tommy Maloney); Bank Swallow (4 May / Back Bay NWR / Andrew Baldelli & Tracy Tate); Common Nighthawk (4 May / Ferry Plantation Road / Andrew Baldelli & Tracy Tate); Gray-cheeked Thrush (6 May / Lake Lawson & Lake Smith NA / Kathy Spencer); Bobolink (7 May / Back Bay NWR / Rob Bielawski); White-crowned Sparrow (7 May / Davenport Lane / Tommy Maloney), though this last one would be considered more a first-of-year (FOY) bird than a FOS encounter since this species winters around the area but probably just went unnoticed until this individual showed up during their northward movement. Lastly, a female Bay-breasted Warbler (8 May / Back Bay NWR / Christine & Scott Peters) was well documented to close out the week!

May is the peak of migration along the East Coast, and so while the above is staggering, it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that we added so many great birds to the yearly Virginia Beach list this week. While transient species (those that do not winter or summer here, and pass through in spring & fall between wintering & breeding grounds) were the starts of the show this week, there was also a report of something unusual. RARITIES this week included a report of a Black-chinned Hummingbird that was submitted late on Sunday evening. If this report makes it through the eBird review process it will be added to the Noteworthy Observations listing on this website (more on this one next week though when its fate is determined). While there was no EARLY ARRIVALS this week, we did have a few LATE OCCURRENCES noted including: Greater Scaup (5 May / Back Bay NWR / Robert Ake); Hermit Thrush (6 May / White House Lane / Tracy Tate & 8 May / Red Wing Park / Rob Bielawski); Nelson’s Sparrow (7 May / Pleasure House Point NA / James Marcum), and Western Sandpiper (8 May / Princess Anne WMA / Andrew Baldelli). In addition to all the above reports, some great WEEKLY RELEVANT SPECIES DOCUMENTED BY MEDIA were submitted to eBird this week, including: Monday (2 May) - Scarlet Tanager (Back Bay NWR / James Marcum), (Stumpy Lake NA / Jonathan Snyder); Black-throated Green Warbler (Back Bay NWR / Bob McAlpine); Veery, Worm-eating Warbler & Scarlet Tanager (Stumpy Lake NA / Rob Bielawski). Tuesday (3 May) – Veery, Swainson’s Thrush, Black-throated Blue Warbler & Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Red Wing Park / Rob Bielawski); Wednesday (4 May) – Baltimore Oriole (Back Bay NWR / Karen & Tom Beatty); Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Prince Phillip Drive / Ron Furnish & Marie Mullins); Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Glenmore Hunt Trail / Karen & Tom Beatty); Yellow-throated Vireo, Veery, Black-and-white Warbler, Magnolia Warbler & Blackpoll Warbler (Back Bay NWR / Rob Bielawski & Jason Schatti). Friday (6 May) – Veery (Back Bay NWR / Bob McAlpine). Saturday (7 May) – Yellow Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler (Back Bay NWR / Rob Bielawski); American Redstart & Black-and-white Warbler (Dam Neck Naval Annex / Karen & Tom Beatty); Gull-billed Tern (Pleasure House Point NA / Rob Bielawski); Sunday (8 May) – Black-and-white & Black-throated Blue Warbler (Lake Lawson & Lake Smith NA / Rob Bielawski); Stilt, White-rumped & Pectoral Sandpipers (Princess Anne WMA / Andrew Baldellli); Magnolia Warbler (Red Wing Park / Rob Bielawski) and lastly, an audio of a Chuck-will’s-widow (Camp Pendleton / Karen & Tom Beatty). Outside of Virginia Beach, but still local to us here and worth mentioning, there was a Canada Warbler & a Black-billed Cuckoo observed and photographed (8 May / Norfolk Botanical Gardens / Jane Norris). Neither species is annually observed in Virginia Beach unfortunately, though they certainly pass through & just go undetected. Please note that the above “weekly relevant species” will focus on species that are transients during the months of March, April & May. There were certainly other photographs submitted to eBird this week, but if they were of species that spend the whole summer here, or species that are permanent residents, they were not listed. Summering birds (like Blue Grosbeak for example) will again take precedence during June & July when transients will have completed their sweep of Virginia Beach. If you have documentation on a relevant species, make sure to get it input to eBird before Monday morning if you’d like to see it listed here! If you have further questions, or wish to learn more about why & how this blog is set up, please visit the Blog Explanation page which can be found by hovering over the “Blog” header just below the top cover photo of the website.

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Week Ending May 1, 2016

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With last week’s steep rise in temperatures, it was not surprising that we saw a bit of a drop with average daily high temperatures of 73.4 degrees F (a 4.3 degree drop) this week; additionally the average daytime lows rose slightly to 56.1 degrees F (a 2.8 degree increase). With decreasing highs and increasing lows, this week was a bit more consistent than last week, though the overall range was 46 degrees F to 89 degrees F from Monday morning to Tuesday afternoon, which was quite an incredible transition. Rainfall was scattered on four of the seven days throughout the week, but only amounted to an overall total of 0.72 inches. Conditions were favorable for songbird movements during the midweek and by Friday a number of species began moving through as a result. The average daily maximum sustained windspeed was 16 mph, with maximum sustained winds of 23 mph occurring on Tuesday. Despite the winds though, Virginia Beach saw several first-of-season (FOS) arrivals this week, which included: Veery (25 Apr / Mary Catherine Miguez / West Neck Creek Natural Area) & photographed again (26 Apr / Karen & Tom Beatty), staying at this site through at least 27 Apr; Blue Grosbeak (25 Apr / Robert Ake / Back Bay NWR Colechester Parcel); Blue-winged Warbler, a rare transient through our area (26 Apr / Tracy Tate / White House Lane); Black-throated Blue Warbler (26 Apr / David Clark / Munden Point Park); Rose-breasted Grosbeak (30 Apr / Kristin Swanbeck / Cypress Point Golf Course) via Facebook; Mississippi Kite (30 Apr / Tracy Tate / Thoroughgood), which have nested in the neighborhood the past two summers, and arrived a few days earlier this year; Yellow-breasted Chat (30 Apr / James Marcum / Princess Anne Wildlife Management Area Whitehurst Tract).

In addition to the list of First-of-season arrivals, other noteworthy observations including Piping Plover and Whimbrel continue to be seen along the beach at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge (25 Apr / Robert Ake) and a single Sora was also picked up there this week as well (25 Apr / Rebecca Walawender). Summer Tanagers were observed at both Stumpy Lake & West Neck Creek Natural Areas. Waterfowl continue to become more scarce across the county, with Blue-winged & Green-winged Teal some of the only non-summering species remaining at places like Back Bay and Whitehurst Tract. One very interesting checklist (29 Apr / Ellison Orcutt / Rudee Inlet) with observations of Clapper Rail, Marsh Wren, Saltmarsh Sparrow and Seaside Sparrow, seemingly out of place in the armored shoreline habitat of the inlet provided some very nice photographs. I swung by Rudee on Sunday morning during a light drizzle and was excited to still catch a couple of Seaside Sparrows, which can be tough to find in Virginia Beach, with Pleasure House Point Natural Area the typical location they’re observed, as well as at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge. While spring is usually dominated by the songbird migration as far as birders are concerned, shorebird variety increased this week also, with several Solitary Sandpiper reports showing up, as well as peeps (Least & Semipalmated Sandpipers). The only true rarity this week though was a Lincoln’s Sparrow (30 Apr / James Marcum / Princess Anne Wildlife Management Area Whitehurst Tract), which is being evaluated still in eBird, but would be the first of its species to be observed in Virginia Beach since October when one was documented out on South Thimble Island of the CBBT complex (Arun Bose & Ellison Orcutt). If this report does go through, it’ll be added to the Noteworthy Observations list under the Distribution section of the website. Some lingering winter resident species were picked up this week as well, with Ruby-crowned Kinglets (30 Apr / Richard Korpi & Phil Lehman / Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge), and Hooded Merganser (29 Apr / Ellison Orcutt & Arun Bose / Pleasure House Point Natural Area) being observed. 

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