Hi Va-bird,
I've been down in the Virginia Beach area for the last week and discovered a
few things that may be of interest. Nothing particularly rare was found,
but there were quite a few winterers or migrants still lingering. I'm not
going to post a complete account (anyone who wants one let me know) but here
are some highlights:
Common Loon - 6/18; I picked this bird up as a flyover in eastern Sussex
County while searhing for Bachman's Sparrows. One of the stranger sightings
of the trip.
Northern Gannet - 6/17; One 2nd year bird right off the beach at Back Bay
NWR near where the Dune Trail ends. A Masked Booby would have been nicer...
Ruddy Duck - 6/16 and 6/20; 2 alternate males at Back Bay NWR at the south
end of the first impoundment.
White-rumped Sandpiper - 6/16; A flock of 20 birds were noted first flying
above the second impoundment and then on the ground in the first
impoundment.
Lesser Black-backed Gull - all week; I gather these are not uncommon in
winter at Back Bay NWR, but the counts seemed awfully high for summer. I
had a peak of 7 on 6/17, but I wasn't trying very hard and someone who does
bird surveys there had a count of 17 (I think that's what it was) less than
2 weeks before. When did these birds begin summering in such large numbers?
The following birds were also recorded and may be of general interest from
the perspective of people who don't get down to the coast or the southern
part of the state that often.
Anhinga - 6/19; A nice male at Stumpy Lake.
King Rail - 6/16; 2 birds at Back Bay NWR.
Gull-billed Tern - 6/19; 10 birds at Craney Island.
Chuck-will's-widow - 6/15, 6/16, and 6/17; Not unexpectedly, these birds are
quite common at Back Bay NWR, but they are also easy to view. Right around
dusk the birds begin flying around the maintenance building and can be seen
well.
Swainson's Warbler - 6/18; One bird was still singing at mid-day along
Jericho Ditch in the Great Dismal Swamp NWR.
Take it easy,
Alex
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alex Merritt
Oak Hill, VA
cerulean182@xxxxxxxxxxx
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