[va-richmond-general] Re: Bewick's Wrens at Henricus

Hi, Adam-
    If you are walking back towards the main road (Coxendale?) from the swamp, 
with the swamp on your right, you will come to a trail on the right. Follow 
that trail down about 3/4 of the way or so (I have no idea of exact distance. 
We stopped so many times along the way). You will see an area on the left of 
tall grasses, a few standing trees and many downed trees. There is a downed log 
that is perpendicular to a standing tree. The log has a "knot" in the middle 
where a branch once might have been. There is a "dent" there now and the tree 
bends off from there in a slightly different direction. The downed tree is 
MAYBE 10 feet from the path. There is also a lot of tall brown grass on the 
ground (rather than still growing) covering some stumps and other fallen trees 
(I don't remember many branches on the ground, and there seemed to be quite a 
bit of space between the few trees that were standing. It was a very open 
area). There are a few snags around, too, with dead vines on them. These snags 
are off the path as you face left. Irene says that there is a marsh behind the 
area, though I didn't notice. It might be one of the bomb craters. The 
vine-covered snags are to the left of the downed tree I first mentioned. One is 
behind two downed trees where one is directly under another one. Perpendicular 
to the two parallel downed trees is big downed tree, roots and all. This one is 
parallel to the path. None of these snags/fallen trees are more than about 20 
feet or so off the path.
    Both wrens were seen in this area. They (or one of them, anyway) perched on 
that fallen tree I first mentioned. That particular fallen tree is no more than 
6 - 10 inches around, dark brown, and has smooth bark. If I remember correctly, 
the area BEHIND us had more trees and the trees had quite a bit of green in 
them (some were coniferous trees and some just had vines on them). Those trees 
were much taller than the ones where the wrens were. There were Carolina's 
around in that area, as well. You might want to verify all this with Irene - 
see what she remembers and how well it matches what I remember. A lot of this 
may not help with snow on the ground. We watched the wrens form about 11 - 
11:30am. Good luck and let me know how you make out, if you go.
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Adam D'Onofrio 
  To: va-richmond-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Monday, December 20, 2004 5:36 PM
  Subject: [va-richmond-general] Re: Bewick's Wrens at Henricus

  Hey Michael.  Good job on spotting the Bewick's Wrens.  I would like to g=
  o look for them but am not quite sure the location of where they were see=
  n.  I've been to Henricus a few times but I don't know the area fully.  I=
  f you wouldn't mind sending me directions to the spot, I'd appreciate it.=
    Thanks in advance and wish me luck.  I'll let you know if I have succes=
  s.

  Adam D'Onofrio
  Dinwiddie Co.

  Michael Shapiro wrote:

  >     For those who have not already heard, two Bewick's Wrens were spott=
  ed at Henricus Park this morning by Irene Ries, Art Baker, and myself. Th=
  is is what happened:
  >     We were behind the swamp in an area known as the "moon craters" bec=
  ause of the number of impressions in the ground (filled with water) that =
  resemble craters (I have since been told that the area was a bombing rang=
  e during WWII). The habitat is tall grass with some dead tress and some l=
  ive trees. We were about 3/4 of the way down the trial, before it dead en=
  ds. A wren popped up with a white throat. We discussed how it seemed to f=
  it the description of a Bewick's Wren and a decision was made to try and =
  get the bird to pop up again (this was around 11am). After some pishing a=
  nd skulking on our part, the bird reappeared. It was skulking under and a=
  round some fallen trees and some live trees (around the base). the closes=
  t we got to it was about 10 feet. As Art and I were watching it, Irene sa=
  w another one in the open. She noticed the bill looked different than a C=
  arolina's and there were markings on the cheek (A Carolina has plain whit=
  e cheeks). She also noticed gray flanks and
  >   no buff-coloring of any kind on the underside of the bird. The bird d=
  isappeared again and as we were consulting field guides (three different =
  ones - Kaufman, Sibley, and the ABC), it reappeared on the same fallen lo=
  g. This time, the bird turned, bent over, and "mooned" us :-) - it flippe=
  d up its tail and showed its bottom. There was no buff/rufous coloring an=
  ywhere on the tail or on the bottom - only black and white. The back and =
  white was also noticed on the edges of the tail and the bird was marked d=
  ifferently on the side than a Carolina is. The eye stripe was very promin=
  ent. Some twittering sounds were heard that didn't resemble those of a Ca=
  rolina Wren, though to my knowledge, none of us actually witnessed either=
   of the birds singing. I listened to tapes afterwards. I did hear some so=
  unds that were similar to some of the sounds on the Stokes recordings of =
  a Bewick's Wren. I also listened to recordings of other wrens. Most of th=
  e sounds I remembered were not like those o
  >  f any other wren, except for some call sounds that sound like the reco=
  rdings of both a Bewick's Wren and a Carolina Wren.
  >     A detailed report/documentation has been filled out and will be mai=
  led to the Regional Editor for the CBC by the end of the week. Unfortunat=
  ely, none of us has a camera, but we studied the birds for about 1/2 an h=
  our, consulting each other and the field guides while looking for and at =
  the birds (they seem to respond well to pishing). Anyone wishing more inf=
  ormation, please contact me OFF THE LISTSERV. Unless I don't have to work=
   tomorrow/Monday, I will be unable to go out and try to find the birds ag=
  ain until January, as I'm going away for Winter Break. I can give a prett=
  y good description of the area, however. If anyone goes out looking for t=
  he birds, please e-mail me if you see one or both.
  > Michael Shapiro
  > Short Pump
  > sc.tanager@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  >
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