Hello, birders.
I briefly birded Stumpy Lake and the Oceanfront on
Saturday after coming from Dismal Swamp (see earlier
post). On Sunday I went to Back Bay NWR and False
Cape SP, hiking as far south as the intersection of
False Cape Landing Trail with the False Cape Interior
Trail. I love hiking this area. It's always fun
whether the birds are good or not. The remoteness of
these parks and their scenery make a visit worthwhile.
Highlights are White-winged Scoters, loons,
Red-breasted Mergansers, Am. Bittern, Bald Eagle,
Marsh Wren, Summer Tanager, Yel.-breasted Chat and
Lesser Black-backed Gull.
On Saturday I went to Stumpy Lake, which is on the
Virginia Beach line. I visited both ends of the lake.
There were many swallows catching insects over the
lake, mostly Barn with some Tree. Prothonotroy
Warblers called and Yellow-rumped Warblers fed along
the entrance road. These 3 Yellow-rumps were the only
ones I saw all weekend. I heard a couple of B.h.
Nuthatches. Chipping Sparrows, D.c. Cormorants,
blackbirds and Robins were about. A Spotted Sandpiper
teetered along the lake margin.
Later, I quickly checked out the lakes near the
oceanfront, which were dead. The ocean and beach held
common birds, except for a White-winged Scoter, which
was swimming in the rough waters. After watching it
for a few minutes, it flew north.
Back Bay and False Cape were pretty quiet on Sunday,
although in the afternoon when the sun came out there
was a little more activity. A brisk wind blew out of
the NE, which must have kept the songbirds quiet. The
beach near the Visitor's Center of BBNWR held 5
species of gull, incl. at least 5 Lesser Black-backed
of all ages. Flocks of Sanderlings flew north,
stopping to feed. A Dunlin was mixed in with them.
The only other shorebirds I saw today were Gr.
Yellowlegs and Killdeer.
The Bay Trail near the Visitor's Center held 3 singing
Marsh Wrens. I saw both species of loons in the ocean
or flying. The Commons were in breeding plumage but I
don't think the Red-throateds were. Some waterfowl
must migrate north over Back Bay, before cutting
across the impoundments and then turning north again
at the ocean. I saw Common Loons and a Red-breasted
Merganser do this. A White-winged Scoter was in the
ocean at BBNWR. A Yellow-breasted Chat sang close to
me in some bushes but I couldn't locate the bird. I
watched an American Bittern fly into BBNWR from False
Cape and land in the marsh. It was a beautiful site.
At False Cape, songbirds were scattered about. Pine
Warblers sang in the trees, a pair of Summer Tanagers
fed on the ground and higher up, and a B.h. Nuthatch
called. A saw an Adult Bald Eagle flying carrying a
fish in its talons.
The only butterfly that I saw all weekend was a Gemmed
Satyr, bouncing just above the ground before coming to
a rest along the South Inlet Trail at FCSP.
S. Baron
Fairfax, Va.
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo.
http://search.yahoo.com
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.
