[va-bird] And down the stretch they come...

Greetings,

With less than two weeks remaining in the year, I thought it was a good time 
to update the progress of The Day List, and another opportunity to make a 
plea for a few good birds.  With the Christmas Counts in full swing, I also 
think there is a good opportunity for something rare to show up.  

I'm currently at 341, and Ned's mark from 1996 is 345.  There are still a few 
"easy" birds left to get, but for whatever reason I've not found them.  

The "easy" ones:

Long-eared Owl.  Certainly they are in the state, and I've flirted with them 
in a couple locations, but not been able to see one yet.  This would be a 
tough miss to swallow.  If anyone finds one, I would absolutely love to hear 
about it.  

Parasitic Jaeger.  This bird should be findable from Ft. Story, but I'm 
starting to worry.  

Painted Bunting.  They are being seen at some feeders in Virginia Beach, but 
so far I've not been able to get access to see them.  I would absolutely love 
to hear about a Painted Bunting coming to a feeder somewhere.  Anywhere.  As 
long as it's still in VA.  

Little Gull.  Ft. Story, First Landing State Park, CBBT, all good 
possibilities, but if anyone finds one, please call.  

Thayer's Gull.  Logging hours in landfills, maybe the CBBT.  I'd love to hear 
about this bird too.  

Black-headed Gull.  Another bird I'd love to hear about.

Northern Shrike.  A possible CBC bird, but could also show up just about 
anywhere.  This is most likely a bird that will be found by someone else, and 
I'll probably have to drive to Kentucky to see it.  Bring it on I say.  

Red Crossbill.  I dipped several times in the mountains for it, and as one 
friend suggests, finding it in Highland County might be akin to getting a 
winning lottery ticket.  I had a plan to hit Whitetop/Mt. Rogers area 
tomorrow, but right now that is kaput.  A possible feeder bird, a possible 
CBC bird, but with none observed at Hawk Mountain PA during migration, and 
none that I know of from the hawkwatch at Cape May or Kiptopeke, I get the 
feeling these birds didn't move much this year.  Also the almost complete 
lack of Purple Finches and Red-breasted Nuthatches suggest a good source of 
food still up north.  Still not written off, somewhat possible.  

Now the less than easy stuff.  

Western or Clark's Grebe, or Aechmophorus sp.  Perhaps annual in the 
mid-Atlantic and missed, or maybe not that regular, I still think there's a 
shot at one.  

Pacific Loon.  Probably annual, and probably overlooked or missed.  
Reasonable to find, but a bit on the unlikely side.  

Dovekie.  Still possible, but without a planned boat trip at this point, 
unlikely.  

Vagrant feeder bird, such as Black-headed Grosbeak (one in PA right now), 
Green-tailed Towhee (been one in PA recently), Western Tanager, or maybe 
White-winged Crossbill.  Other things could slip into this category like 
Hoary Redpoll, Pine Grosbeak, Lark Bunting.  I'd be tickled if any of these 
birds was seen during a CBC or found at a feeder.  Again, please call.  

Vagrant Hummingbird.  Who knows what might show up, but let's hope it is 
something that can be identified in the field.  

White-winged Dove.  At a feeder maybe. 

Tufted Duck.  I'm not altogether enamored with the idea of vagrant waterfowl, 
but this species certainly has a pattern of natural vagrancy and seems safe 
enough to presume wild.  Nice bridge to have to cross should I get there.  

Franklin's Gull.  Seems unlikely at this point, but still holding out hope.  

Common or Thick-billed Murre.  This would be a clean-up for me, as I am 
currently holding murre sp.  Getting both would be even better. 

Black-tailed Gull.  Not seen for a couple years, so who knows what's up with 
this species.  

Yellow Rail.  Been seen on Back Bay CBC a couple times, so I suppose it could 

happen.  

Long-billed Curlew.  One still hanging out in NJ, or was recently.  Could be 
one in VA right now somewhere that we're not looking.  

A vagrant flycatcher.  There are a lot to fit this category, but most have 
passed their times of likelihood.  Vermillion Flycatcher, Ash-throated 
Flycatcher, "Western" Flycatcher, Say's Phoebe, Gray Kingbird, Fork-tailed 
Flycatcher.  Some still possible, others long gone.

Rock Wren.  

Yellow-legged Gull.  Hard to find, hard to identify.  

Barrow's Goldeneye.  Why not?  Look carefully at all the goldeneye, and maybe 
there's one hiding out.  

Any other vagrant passerine that is probably less likely to show up at a 
feeder, such as Townsend's Warbler, Bohemian Waxwing, Black-throated Gray 
Warbler, Sprague's Pipit, a longspur, whatever.  Any and all are welcome.  

Any godwit that's not Hudsonian or Marbled.  A true longshot.

Beyond that, we really get dreamy, or maybe I overlooked something unlikely, 
but not quite dreamy.  

I'm well aware that doing a big year with the information that is shared on 
the internet is an advantage that those in the past didn't have, including 
Ned.  Also, the number of people with cell phones is higher than any time in 
the past and that is also an edge.  To that I say "tough luck folks."  No, 
I'm just kidding.  Clearly the exchange of information on this listserv has 
been the single biggest factor to the success I've enjoyed with many birds 
thus far.  Several birds that I've seen may well have been gone if the 
information was to travel via phoneline and word of mouth.  A good example of 
this was the Swallow-tailed Kite in Fauquier, right under my nose.  This bird 
didn't make the internet, and lingered out there a week before it finally 
did.  I jumped on a few other birds immediately, such as David Clark's 
Heermann's Gull (easily the best example of the internet and cell phones as 
an asset), Fred Atwood's White Pelican, Ned Brinkley's White-winged Tern (a 
cell phone call and a mad dash to Chincoteague, only to run out of daylight 
before getting it two days later), Allen Larner's Sandhill Crane, Kurt 
Gaskill's Black Rail and Red-necked Grebe, the Craney Island Snowy Owl (I 
actually don't recall who discovered this bird), the Hough's Augusta County 
Harris's Sparrow, and the Richmond Common Redpoll at the Coe's feeder.  A 
couple of those birds I later found others elsewhere, and many stuck around 
long enough that without the internet and cell phones, I would most likely 
have heard about them in time to see them.  Still, at the time of going after 
them, I could not know they wouldn't be gone and not seen again.

Wish me luck, and hopefully lots of time on the beach and the Christmas 
Counts will push me over the top.

Cheers...

Todd

Cell (703-209-8463)
Home (540-349-9094)
Work (800-947-2251, if after hours they can page me)

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Todd Day
Jeffersonton, VA
Culpeper County
Blkvulture@xxxxxxx
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