I spent the morning birding back roads in north and west Montgomery County
this morning. Mostly I just have notes on migration in general, but the subject
birds were the highlights so I'll get to those first.
I had a pair of Red Crossbills feeding quietly along Poverty Creek. They were
the quietest crossbills I have ever seen. They flew in without a sound, fed for
10+ minutes at the top of 2 pines, then flew off, again without a sound. I was
able to take out the scope and get a few digiscopes. Thanks to Bill Akers and
Jerry Via for the heads up to look for them in the area.
As far as I know, the Eurasian Collared-Doves I found today in McCoy, VA were
a new location. I saw 2 distinct pairs and another very vocal individual. Given
that there were 3 singing birds with 2 pairs, I am assuming they plan on
hanging around awhile. This is less than 2 miles as the dove flies from the
known population in Pulaski County. The "hotspot" was at the corner of
Centennial and Estates by the cemetary.
Migration notes:
Myrtle Warblers - only 2
Yellow Palm Warblers - 2 were a bit of a surprise, Brown Farm and Boley Fields
Louisiana Waterthrushes - a minimum of 8 between Pandapas Pond and Poverty
Creek
Blue-headed Vireos - "in"
Pine Warblers - "in"
Chipping Sparrows - "in" though they weren't on Thursday
Brown Thrashers - quite common
Ruby-crowned Kinglets - first of the spring for me, but in low numbers
Swamp Sparrows - in areas that I haven't seen them this winter
Brown Creepers - several were singing along Poverty Creek
Northern Rough-winged Swallow - my first of the year at Whitethorne
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - first of the year along Norris Run
Matt Hafner
Blacksburg, VA
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