VA BIRDers,
Skies threatning rain and a southern breeze did not deter a group of us to
find a few migrants at Dyke Marsh last Sunday. The sky did yield a few drops
intermittently as the morning wore on, but we found one neotrop flock along
Haul Road. Most pleasant was the ID challenge of a HY female Hooded Warbler
but fortunately she swished her fanned tail and the white inner webs helped
give away her identity. The river yielded up a single No. Pintail mixed in
with the 50 or so Northern Shovelers. Blue-winged Teal numbers dropped well
below 100 this week. Two Little Blue Herons were found in the little gut. A
first year Bald Eagle was spotted sitting on a stump on the riverside
mudflats. The surprise of the day was not one but two Warbling Vireos
vigorously singing in the picnic area - it almost sounded like Spring!
Earlier in the morning, a large Common Grackle flock was noted over the
marsh.
I was unable to check on shorebirds or gulls until Monday, and so I include
those numbers (rough as they are) into the totals recorded here.
Its interesting to note that the for the Julian Calendar week ending today
Black Terns were not recorded. Black Terns had been observed nearly
continuously this year since the end of July over the SAV mats but numbers
have been limited to just a few birds at any one time.
Kurt Gaskill
Pied-billed Grebe 20
DC Cormorant 112
Great Blue Heron 15
Great Egret 74
Snowy Egret 1
Little Blue Heron 2
Black-crowned Night-Heron 1
Canada Goose 115
Wood Duck 4
Mallard 210
Blue-winged Teal 30
No. Shoveler 50
No. Pintail 1
Ring-necked Duck 1, "Firestone"
Osprey 3
Bald Eagle 1
Killdeer 15
Greater Yellowlegs 10
Lesser Yellowlegs 185
Semipalmated Sandpiper ca. 30
Least Sandpiper ca. 60
White-rumped Sandpiper 2
Pectoral Sandpiper 10
Stilt Sandpiper 3
Short-billed Dowitcher 17, lots of HY
Laughing Gull ca. 1400
Ring-billed Gull ca. 500
Herring Gull 2
Great Black-backed Gull 1
Caspian Tern 17
Forster's Tern 43
Rock Dove 6
Mourning Dove 3
Chimney Swift 250
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 2
Belted Kingfisher 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 3
Downy Woodpecker 3
No. Flicker 1
E. Wood Pewee 2
Warbling Vireo 2
Red-eyed Vireo 2
Blue Jay 5
Am Crow 6
Fish Crow 1
C. Chickadee 12
T. Titmouse 5
C. Wren 10
H. Wren 3
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
Am. Robin 1
Gray Catbird 10
E. Starling 200
No. Parula 6
Magnolia 4
Bay-breasted 1
Black & White 1
Am Redstart 2
Prothonotary 1 (thanks to Bob Beard for this one!)
No. Waterthrush 2
Com. Yellowthroat 3
Hooded 1
Song Sparrow 1
No. Cardinal 15
Red-winged Blackbird 15
Com. Grackle 500
House Finch 3
Am. Goldfinch 4
House Sparrow 2
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