FreeLists / va-bird / [va-bird] Poor showing in Shenandoah County

[Birdconsv@xxxxxxx]

We spent the weekend at our place on upper Cedar Creek in Shenandoah County, 
and I did a fair amount of looking and listening for birds. Despite those 
efforts over about a day and a half, we tallied only 36 species.  There were no 
vireos, thrushes, orioles, or grosbeaks. The only warblers were the two 
waterthrushes, and the only flycatchers the common Eastern Phoebe and a 
newly-arrived 
Great-crested.  A single male Indigo Bunting on Sunday was a rare returning 
neotropical migrant. The highlight was a single (solitary?) Solitary Sandpiper 
in our tiny wet meadow. It was the first ever real shorebird and number 155 on 
our cumulative list (over 25 years).  I'm posting this bleak report for 
contrast with the many exciting reports with long lists that I've seen. Whether 
it 
reflects a timing difference (perhaps birds arrive later in the cooler 
mountains of northwestern Virginia) or a migration pathway difference, I'm not 
sure.  
Fall is always our better migration season, particularly with regard to 
warblers, vireos, flycatchers, and thrushes--and many of the warblers are first 
fall 
birds.  We're generally lucky to get half a dozen warblers in spring, though 
some years are clearly better than others.  Perhaps this information will be 
of some interest to people thinking about trends and patterns.  (My data are 
all added to eBird.)
Dave Davis
Arlington


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