First, does anyone know the name of the yellow flower that is blooming along
the edges of the hike/bike trail on the backside of Huntley Meadows? The
flowers are about 2 feet tall and yellow, and they look similar to Black Eyed
Susans, except these have yellow "eyes" and yellow petals. They're everywhere
back there and they look great. Thanks!
Now, on to the report.......
Ben Jesup and I did another dawn run out to the boardwalk on the backside of
Huntley on Sunday. Highlights on the marsh include:
American Bittern - 1 flying
Greater Yellowlegs - 1 flying and calling. It seemed to be looking for a place
to land as it circled the marsh a number of times down near the water
Canada Geese - 254 - all of which were gone by 7:06 am
We then walked the open area near the platform and then the woodcock meadow.
The birding was fairly quiet puncuated with pockets of intense activity, giving
us another great morning of migrants.
Some of the highlights were:
Tennessee - 2
Hooded - 1 (closer to the parking area)
Cape May - 1
Nashville - 1
Black and White - 2
Magnolia -5
Black Throated Blue - 1 F
Common Yellowthroat -20
Blackburnian - possible (briefly seen by Ben)
Red Eyed Vireo - 2
YB Cuckoo
Gr. Crested Flycatcher
Sc. Tanager
Indigo Bunting - 10
I'm sure I'm forgetting some birds as I'm doing this from memory, but one
striking difference from last week was the lack of flycatchers.
Last week we had a couple Great Crested's, a Phoebe, and 6 or 8 Pewees. This
week we only had one Great Creasted and no other flycatchers. Also, last week
we had a couple of singing WE Vireos. This week we had none (seen or heard).
Bart Hutchinson
Alex, VA
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