Six members and guests met for a semi-official Cape Henry Audubon Society
outing at Back Bay NWR on Saturday morning, April 10. Our official field trip
will be in two weeks, but a newsletter misprint prompted a few of us to show up
early and we are glad we did. We were treated to a mild, overcast morning with
a light breeze and plenty of birds. Wintering species mixed with residents and
new Spring arrivals for an exciting list of 75 species.
As the subject line foretells, a highlight of the morning was a total of 5
singing and chattering Sedge Wrens. Three of them were within sight of the
refuge visitors center, along the boardwalk trails. Two more were farther down
the west dike, but still within about a mile of the office. Although we got
fleeting glimpses of the Sedge Wrens, none of them ever afforded us a good
look. Strangely, we did not see nor hear any Marsh Wrens all morning.
We didn't hike very far south into the impoundment areas since the birding was
so productive near the parking lot. As soon as we arrived, we were greeted by
the songs of White-eyed Vireo, Common Yellowthroats, Prairie Warbler, Field
Sparrows, Song Sparrows and Eastern Towhees. Boat-tailed Grackles were drowning
out the Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers. A single Purple Martin was joined by hundreds
of Tree Swallows. Along a muddy pond edge, bright rufous Swamp Sparrows were
feeding precariously close to a Cottonmouth coiled on a low limb. Chipping
Sparrows were mixed in with lingering White-throated Sparrows and Dark-eyed
Juncos. A Pileated Woodpecker perched strangely in the wax myrtles, far from
any significant woods. It called once, allowing a nice comparison to the
similar and more expected calls of the Northern Flicker, which were common over
the marshes.
Marsh bird highlights included an American Bittern, five Tri-colored Herons,
forty Snowy Egrets, five White Ibis, six Glossy Ibis, several King Rails and a
Sora. Over the ocean, hundreds of Gannets were joined by similar numbers of
Double-crested Cormorants, a few Common Loons in high plumage and a couple of
good looking Horned Grebes. Royal, Common and Forster's Terns were patrolling
the surf and an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull sat on the beach.
We'll bird Back Bay again on April 24th. It'll be fun to see what a difference
two weeks will make.
Good birding, everyone!
David L. Hughes
Portsmouth, VA
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