I had a really good day today at Back Bay NWR in Virginia Beach. Best
birds were a CLAY-COLORED SPARROW and 2 WESTERN KINGBIRDS. I started
off walking the trails around the refuge headquarters where I had 11
species of warbler including 2 CAPE MAY WARBLERS, BAY-BREASTED WARBLER,
TENNESSEE WARBLER and a WILSON'S WARBLER. Much of the action was on the
Bay Trail which is to the left of the headquarters. This is the trail
where I had the CLAY-COLORED SPARROW. It was about 3/4 of the way down
and gave great looks on the right side of the trail.
After that excitement, I walked down to False Cape State Park. Many
PALM WARBLERS were alongside the trail. There were also many shorebirds
throughout and I had 19 species. The best ones were 2 BUFF-BREASTED
SANDPIPERS, 2 AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVERS, a MARBLED GODWIT and 2
WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS. The buffies and plovers were located on a dry,
grassy area very near False Cape and with a large group of mostly
PECTORAL SANDPIPERS. Both BLUE-WINGED and GREEN-WINGED TEAL were in one
of the impoundments.
After coming back from the long walk, I decided to go back to the Bay
Trail and see if I could relocate and photograph the Clay-colored
Sparrow. I didn't get very far when I noticed an EASTERN KINGBIRD
flycatching from a dead snag. There were 2 other birds also doing the
same thing. These 2 birds turned out to be WESTERN KINGBIRDS. It was
quite a thrill. I got good photos of one of the W. Kingbirds, a
golden-plover and one of the buffies. Finally, on my way home, I saw
one of the Sandbridge EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES hanging out with a
Mourning Dove on a wire on Sandpiper Road. It was a memorable day.
Good birding.
Adam D'Onofrio
Dinwiddie Co.
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