Virginia birders,
The earliest birdwatcher who arrived at Observatory
Hill today (Wed, 2 May) found a nice flock of migrants
at the summit at 6:15 am, but these birds quickly
moved on. Those of us who were somewhat slower to
arrive, myself included, found the birding
dead-as-a-hammer not long thereafter, at 06:40 am. It
was astonishingly slow. Very little was visible; very
little was singing. And it stayed this way,
dead-as-a-hammer, until approx 07:40 am, when a
migrant wave (mercifully) visited O Hill. From this
time until work forced me to depart at 08:20 am, there
was continuous interesting bird activity, which I
summarize below.
The warblers recorded, at least as of my departure:
BLACK-THROATED GREEN, BLACK-THROATED BLUE, BLACK AND
WHITE, OVENBIRD, NORTHERN PARULA, PRAIRIE, AMERICAN
REDSTART, YELLOW-RUMPED, BLACKPOLL, and (my personal
favorite) a beautifully-marked male MAGNOLIA WARBLER
that was the last bird I saw before getting into my
car. Always end on a high note!
A SUMMER TANAGER, an unusual O Hill species, called at
least twice, and was seen by several birders. SCARLET
TANAGERS were downright common: we had at least 6
males, and a couple females; and at least 2
ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAKS. Plus the year's first EASTERN
WOOD PEWEE. Also fine views of a YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO
and several BALTIMORE ORIOLES and INDIGO BUNTINGS.
BLUE-HEADED & RED-EYED VIREOS. HOUSE WREN. At least a
couple GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHERS, GRAY CATBIRDS,
multiple EASTERN KINGBIRDS. And a heron/egret fly-over
that puzzled those who watched it.
It was a delightful spring morning on O Hill (esp once
the birds returned), with many excellent local birders
in attendance.
Mark Adams
Charlottesville
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.
