September 24-26. Eighteen members of the Augusta Bird Club participated in
the 2nd of 2 successive weekend retreats at Ft. Lewis Lodge in rural Bath
County. Unlike a few years ago when a Fork-tailed Flycatcher mysteriously
(and miraculously) landed in a tree in front of us at the Coursey Springs
fish hatchery, no unusual birds were seen this time.
In fact, many of the USUAL birds were NOT seen this time -- birds like
Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, House Finch! And we barely included
American Robin, chickadee, and Canada Goose on our list, which at last count
totaled 72 species. Harriers seemed much less common than in past years.
Only two were reported and most of the group, including me, never saw one.
"Water birds" were especially lacking, even though we had an canoe armada
float part of the Cowpasture River. The only ducks seen were Wood Duck and
Mallard. Bald Eagles and Osprey were not scarce, however, with at least a
dozen of each observed over the weekend, most at the fish hatchery.
There were many highlights. My favorite was seeing all 7 woodpeckers on
Saturday (Sept 25) morning, including a Pileated Woodpecker, Red-headed
Woodpecker and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker simultaneously on the same telephone
pole in the middle of the pasture. Saturday morning there was also quite a
flight of Blue Jays heading south. We counted 431, most flying through
between 8 and 9 a.m. Other species in great numbers included Eastern Phoebe
(40+), American Goldfinch (100+) and Eastern Bluebird (40+).
During an owling outing we heard only one Eastern Screech Owl, saw a striped
skunk and heard the howling of coyotes. Other mammals reported: bobcat,
gray and fox squirrels, chipmunk.
Some additional avian findings (not a comprehensive list):
No Kingbirds, but..
Least Flycatcher
"Trails" Flycatcher
Eastern Wood Pewee
Eastern Phoebe
White-eyed Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
No Loggerhead Shrike this year in spite of extensive and repeated scanning
of all the historical sites.
Magnolia Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Pine Warbler
Black and White Warbler
Black-throated Green (most common warbler)
Palm Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
American Redstart
Song Sparrow
Lincoln Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Thanks to all the participants for contributing to these sightings and
especially to Lisa Hamilton for co-leading this trip.
John Spahr
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