FreeLists / va-bird / [va-bird] Cave Swallow, Goshawk -- VA Beach area (Nov 28-Dec 1)

["Spahr MD, John" <Jspahr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

During a four-day Thanksgiving weekend at Sandbridge I did some coastal
birding each day.  Friday morning (Nov 29) I went to First Landing State
Park, where I spent 4 or more hours hiking much of the trail network, in
part as penance for fully participating in the prior day's traditional
caloric debauch.   Along the Osprey Trail I quietly approached the marsh
edge of White Pond, hoping to pish up a Marsh Wren without success.  Instead
I spotted a single swallow in a repetitive feeding flight.  It was
flockless, so I assumed it most likely to be a straggler Northern
Rough-winged Swallow.  To my surprise, it had a buffy rump and I immediately
thought "Cave Swallow."  The bird's routine consisted of flying up level
with the tops of the standing snags and gradually spiraled down to the marsh
grasses and rushes, affording multiple good views from several angles for at
least 5 minutes.  I was able to clearly see the light buffy throat and
reddish-brown forehead, enough to convince me it was not a Cliff Swallow but
indeed a Cave Swallow, a life bird.  I thus atoned for missing this species
during a recent Eastern Shore trip where Ned Brinkley helped several of our
group see them. 

It's fun to note the birds that can be seen incidentally during a prolonged
visual tracking of one swallow through binoculars.  One adult Bald Eagle,
two Great Blue Herons, three Green-winged Teal, a kingfisher, several
Eastern Bluebirds and a small flock of robins all flew through my field of
view, offering brief distractions as I followed these just long enough to
identify them.  After each fortuitous encounter the Cliff Swallow was
quickly refound.  I returned on Saturday, when the air temperature was in
the mid fifties and a few mosquitoes were out.  The swallow, however, was
gone.  In fact, I did not see any other swallows here or in Back Bay NWR,
which I visited daily.  The colder weather must have pushed the large swarms
of Tree Swallows south.

Shortly after the Cave Swallow sighting a juvenile Northern Goshawk cruised
by just above treetop level--my second such sighting this year.  Upon
returning home, I checked this list server to see if such a bird might have
flown over Kiptopeke, and to my pleasant surprise Zack Smith recorded a
juvenile goshawk earlier that very day?  "My" bird flew over at ~1300 and I
assume it was the same bird seen by Mr. Smith.  

For me to have several days of coastal birding was a rare opportunity and I
was actually searching for unusual and rare species, birds such as Western
Kingbird, Orange-crowned Warbler, Snow Bunting, Brewer's Blackbird and the
like, none of which I encountered.  Northern Goshawk and Cave Swallow were
not even on my anticipatory list, oddly enough.  

The limited number of woodpeckers at First Landing SP surprised me.  I found
only Red-bellied, Pileated, Downy Woodpecker and Northern Flickers.  I would
expect all seven eastern woodpeckers here this time of year.  I also
expected to see or hear a Barred Owl in this northernmost vestige of
southern Cypress swamps, but I didn't't.  I suspect that local birders who
frequent this place know where these owls roost and can easily find them.
What about Brown-headed Nuthatches, are they not here?   Some of the special
birds that I did find here included Blue-headed Vireo (parking lot), Brown
Creeper, several Hermit Thrushes (one was singing on Saturday), Winter Wren
(skulking under the board walk on the Bald Cypress trail), and several Swamp
Sparrows.

Early Saturday morning at Back Bay NWR I promptly pished up a sharp-tailed
sparrow from the marsh grass onto the boardwalk.  It was quite close and
stayed just long enough to be recognized but not long enough to allow me to
put binoculars to eyes and identify the species.  Drat, I hate that!
Continuing to the small fresh water pond, where I flushed a pair of Wood
Duck Thanksgiving morning, I approached it cautiously and was rewarded by an
American Bittern stealthily hunting the far edge.  A nutria (strange beast)
was wallowing at the near edge.  The dike trails are closed this time of
year so waterfowl observation was limited and all I saw was a few Gadwall,
Black Duck, Bufflehead and several skeins of Canada Geese.  Two Northern
Harriers were cruising the seaside dunes and two catbirds were heard in the
thicket.  One adult Lesser Black-backed Gull was seen flying north along the
beach. Yellow-rumped Warblers, of course, were thick.

The beach by our rental house had the usual suspects: Sanderlings,
Boat-tailed Grackles, the common gulls and tern.  A Lesser Black-backed Gull
was seen all four days on the beach in the 3200 block of Sandbridge.  Over
the ocean an occasional group of Bonaparte' Gulls winged by.   Strings of
pelicans and distant scoters (mostly Surf Scoters, I think) streaked across,
and an occasional Common Loon and loose groups of cormorants floated on the
surface.  Northern Gannets were soaring or plunge diving farther out.
Sunday morning (Dec 1) there must have been lots of baitfish and predator
fish near the surface, because thousands of gulls, along with scattered
terns, pelicans, cormorants and loons were actively feeding within several
hundred meters of shore.  Quite a spectacle.  Then something must have
happened, maybe the predator school left, because the gulls flew off or
stopped feeding while the gannets, estimated at 700 to 800, concentrated
into a dense cloud and kept diving.  Simultaneously several pods of dolphins
swam back and forth and three Red-throated Loons were spotted at the
periphery of the gannet fray.  

I totaled about 75 species; less than I might have expected, but when you
get a life bird here in the east one can hardly be disappointed.  I was
surprised though that I did not see a single Osprey, Red-shouldered Hawk,
Eastern Phoebe, any of the nuthatches, Eastern Towhee, or at least one
warbler other than the myriads of myrtles.  I'm sure those who participate
this coming weekend in the VSO field trips will tally many more species and
some very good birds, especially with the tram ride into False Cape SP and
Brian Patteson's Pelagic offering.  I wish I could return and join in.

John Spahr
Waynesboro, VA
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