Inasmuch as we're in the midst of what is already the largest movement of
Common Redpolls *ever* noted in coastal Virginia, it would be marvelous if we
could track their numbers and locations *as the movement happens* using this
list
group. Here's what I have so far:
1 CBBT 4 [a flyover] 26 December Ned Brinkley
20+ Loch Haven Park, Va. Beach 28 December David West
4 Sunset Beach 28 December Ned Brinkley
4 CBBT 4 28 December Eric Dean
1 CBBT 3 28 December Eric Dean
5 Chincoteague ORV zone 28 December John Hubbell
?? Chincoteague CBC 29 December Teta Kain et al.
72+ False Cape SP and Back Bay 29 December 3 parties
15+ n. of Kiptopeke SP 29 December Paul Lehman, Marshall
Iliff
2 Cape Charles 29 December Tom Gwynn, Don Schwab
2 Cape Charles 30 December Paul Lehman
I believe that these numbers eclipse all previous coastal reports combined,
and we may be just at the start of the invasion. Usually, these finches
eventually find feeding stations (thistle feeders) by midwinter, and they
should
settle down relatively soon (it's possible they may just vanish, as do siskins
and Purple Finches after heavy flights in some years).
Counts between 100 and 200 Common Redpolls are relatively common just to our
north in Maryland and New Jersey (and even coastal North Carolina had a major
influx), and these birds from the north may be heading our way. In with these
Common Redpolls have been a few Hoary Redpolls, a rarer species whose
identification is covered pretty well in the newer field guides. Anyone who
finds a
Hoary in the mid-Atlantic should try to get a photograph of this species,
which has been documented only once in Virginia.
Ned Brinkley
Cape Charles, VA
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