August 2026
/Here in coastal Virginia, August tends to be the month where we start feeling the beginnings of passerine (songbird) migration. Coupled with growing numbers and diversity of shorebirds, which began their southward migration through the region in July, August can be an interesting month. Virginia Beach tends to suffer a bit from its geographic location, situated somewhat in a blind spot with the Chesapeake Bay situated immediately to its north blocking nocturnal migrants from reaching us. The Eastern Shore however, is situated perfectly to funnel southbound migrants to lower Northampton County where I made a concerted effort to spend more time birding this month. Our loyal summer residents and breeding species largely ceased singing on territories during July, and so August tends to be a quieter month as a result. Visual observations start to dominate once again, though hearing chips and flight calls certainly helps to put eyes on birds as well. The weather this month was dominated by heat domes which brought excessive humidity, though no extreme events like tropical cyclones occurred. This was my first full month shooting with my Nikon D850 SLR, and I am so far very enthusiastic about the results. My favorite photographs taken along my birding ventures throughout southeastern Virginia during the month of August are included below. Please note that descriptions apply to the photograph above the description and photographs load into full screen when clicked (click the ‘X’ at top right of the image to return from full screen view). Please enjoy!