For some reason my first submission was truncated. Let's see how this one does.
This morning I was joined by Don Jeffries and Renee Hudgins. There was
almost no breeze and the temperature was about 40F at 7:15. Many birds were
vocalizing as I got out of the car including a White-eyed Vireo, my first
spring migrant. We also heard a lustily singing Eastern Phoebe which I count
as a first, although reports of migrant phoebes in the western part of the
state were coming in a week ago. Along the path north on Jericho we also had a
Common Yellowthroat, which was a first for the swamp this year. Other singers
included Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Yellow-rumped and Pine Warblers, and Winter Wren
plus the usual calls, chips, and notes from the usual suspects. We also saw a
very large number of very impressive bear paw prints along the way. The mud
made them easy to see. There appeared to be several sets from more than one
bear probably laid down on more than one day. We saw no butterflies, although
in Suffolk on the way home, I saw a sulfur butterfly of some sort. A few Dwarf
Trilliums had emerged from the leaf litter, but they were not close to
blooming. The bird list follows: Carolina Wren (6), Northern Cardinal (1),
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (6), Carolina Chickadee (2), Wood Duck (8), Fox Sparrow
(2), Dark-eyed Junco (12), Eastern Phoebe (1), White-eyed Vireo (1), Pileated
Woodpecker (4), Northern Flicker (2), Eastern Towhee (2), Gray Catbird (6),
Common Grackle (42), Red-bellied Woodpecker (4), Blue Jay (4), Hairy Woodpecker
(2), Downy Woodpecker (8), Yellow-rumped Warbler (4), Pine Warbler (2),
White-breasted Nuthatch (3), Common Yellowthroat (1), Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
(2), Turkey Vulture (3), Brown-headed Cowbird (1), Black Vulture (4), Winter
Wren (3), White-throated Sparrow (8), Swamp Sparrow (2), Song Sparrow (9),
Belted Kingfisher (1), American Robin (3), Brown Creeper (1).
The sparrows were frustrating to count. We heard many scratching in the
leaves, out of sight, so their numbers are clearly low.
My next walk will be Tuesday morning, March 29. We'll start out at 7:00 am
from the Washington Ditch parking lot. No advanced arrangements are necessary,
just show up.
Cheers,
Bob
Robert L. Ake
6603 Catherine Street
Norfolk VA 23505
You are subscribed to VA-BIRD. To post to this mailing list, simply send email
to va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx. To unsubscribe, send email to
va-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
