VA BIRDers,
Mid-October usually brings the first big seasonal changes to Northern
Virginia which I find interesting. This change often overlaps the last big
push of warblers and the first big push of sparrows; birders can find a mix
of species seldom seen any other time of the year. Yesterday, 10/15/02,
Linda Millington, Sonia Santa Ana and myself had a wonderful day
experiencing this mix. We started out at the Leeslyvania SP/Neabsco Creek
area and then moved to the Sky Meadows area. We ended the day with a last
minute visit to the Haymarket area. Highlights were White-eyed Vireo,
Hermit Thrush, American Pipit, Henslow's Sparrow, and Lincoln's Sparrows.
Also notable were Common Loon, a great Bald Eagle flight, numerous raptors,
No. Bobwhite, Red-headed Woodpeckers, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, E. Phoebes,
Blue-headed Vireo, Common Ravens, swallows, Brown Creeper, Winter Wren,
kinglets, Brown Thrasher, Cedar Waxwings, 10 species of warblers including
Cape Mays, 12 species of sparrow including Grasshopper Sparrows and
White-crowned Sparrows, Indigo Buntings and a Rusty Blackbird.
We started the morning experiencing the migrant flight in the Leeslyvania
area. Land birds were dominated by Chimney Swift, and Yellow-rumped
Warblers with good showings by E. Phoebes, both kinglets, and Northern
Parulas. Here we tallied at least 2 Cape May HY females. We noted a good
sparrow presence at the park with 6 species found including a couple of
Juncos. This, in part, motivated us to visit the Sky Meadows area.
In the Sky Meadows area, we started on a trail near a house and barn and
were soon greeted by an adult White-crowned Sparrow. This was quickly
followed by the appearance of a very cooperative Loggerhead Shrike eating an
insect that was probably impaled on a thorn tree in a weedy field. Our walk
through this weedy field yielded up the first 2 Lincoln Sparrows and a
Henslow's Sparrow, the latter showing itself on the bare branches at the top
of a bush in good light. Later, our walk along the trail resulted in a
couple of calling Northern Bobwhite, 2 more Lincoln's as well as the
sapsucker and Hermit Thrush (no mistaking this bird with the bright red
tail!). Back at the car we watched raptors move south along the ridge line
and noted a Common Loon and a couple of Canada Goose flocks pass by. Land
birds at this location were dominated by E. Starlings, Yellow-rumped
Warblers, Song Sparrows, White-throated Sparrows, and American Goldfinches.
As the sun moved close to the horizon, we drove to a big field in the
Haymarket area. Here we finished the day with some Greater Yellowlegs, a
few Grasshopper Sparrows, another Lincoln's Sparrow and a Rusty Blackbird.
Below are the tallies for the day's travels lumped together.
Kurt Gaskill
Common Loon 1
DC Cormorant 2
Great Blue Heron 3
Great Egret 3
Black Vulture 9
Turkey Vulture 16
Canada Goose 192
Mallard 8
Osprey 1
Bald Eagle 14
No. Harrier 4
Cooper's Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 6
Am. Kestrel 2
No. Bobwhite 2
Killdeer 12
Greater Yellowlegs 2
Laughing Gull 50
Ring-billed Gull 50
Herring Gull 2
Caspian Tern 2
Rock Dove 6 plus many interstate birds
Mourning Dove 70
Chimney Swift 75
Belted Kingfisher 2
Red-headed WP 2
Red-bellied WP 15
YB Sapsucker 1
Downy WP 12
Hairy WP 1
No.Flicker 16
Pileated WP 2
E. Phoebe 7
Loggerhead Shrike 1
White-eyed Vireo 1
Blue-headed Vireo 1
Blue Jay 21
Am Crow 13
Fish Crow 10
crow sp. 150
Common Raven 3
Tree Swallow 1
No. Rough-winged Sw 2
C. Chickadee 18
T. Titmouse 10
White-breasted Nuthatch 10
Brown Creeper 1
C. Wren 11
W. Wren 1
GC Kinglet 10
RC Kinglet 14
E. Bluebird 25
Hermit Thrush 1
Am Robin 2 (huh?)
Gray Catbird 1
No. Mockingbird 16
Brown Thrasher 1
E. Starling 406
Am. Pipit 1
Cedar Waxwing 36
Nashville Warbler 1
Northern Parula 6
Magnolia Warbler 1
Cape May Warbler 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler 120
Black-throated Green Warbler 1
Pine Warbler 2
Palm Warbler 7
Blackpoll Warbler 3
baypoll sp. 3
Common Yellowthroat 1
E. Towhee 7
Chipping Sparrow 4
Field Sparrow 8
Savannah Sparrow 16
Grasshopper Sparrow 3
Henslow's Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 103
Lincoln's Sparrow 5
Swamp Sparrow 14
White-throated Sparrow 35
White-crowned Sparrow 2
DE Junco 2
No. Cardinal 14
Indigo Bunting 2
Red-winged Blackbird 1
E. Meadowlark 7
Rusty Blackbird 1
Common Grackle 1
Brown-headed Cowbird 7
House Finch 12
Am Goldfinch 37
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