Hey Michael. Good job on spotting the Bewick's Wrens. I would like to g= o look for them but am not quite sure the location of where they were see= n. I've been to Henricus a few times but I don't know the area fully. I= f you wouldn't mind sending me directions to the spot, I'd appreciate it.= Thanks in advance and wish me luck. I'll let you know if I have succes= s. Adam D'Onofrio Dinwiddie Co. Michael Shapiro wrote: > For those who have not already heard, two Bewick's Wrens were spott= ed at Henricus Park this morning by Irene Ries, Art Baker, and myself. Th= is is what happened: > We were behind the swamp in an area known as the "moon craters" bec= ause of the number of impressions in the ground (filled with water) that = resemble craters (I have since been told that the area was a bombing rang= e during WWII). The habitat is tall grass with some dead tress and some l= ive trees. We were about 3/4 of the way down the trial, before it dead en= ds. A wren popped up with a white throat. We discussed how it seemed to f= it the description of a Bewick's Wren and a decision was made to try and = get the bird to pop up again (this was around 11am). After some pishing a= nd skulking on our part, the bird reappeared. It was skulking under and a= round some fallen trees and some live trees (around the base). the closes= t we got to it was about 10 feet. As Art and I were watching it, Irene sa= w another one in the open. She noticed the bill looked different than a C= arolina's and there were markings on the cheek (A Carolina has plain whit= e cheeks). She also noticed gray flanks and > no buff-coloring of any kind on the underside of the bird. The bird d= isappeared again and as we were consulting field guides (three different = ones - Kaufman, Sibley, and the ABC), it reappeared on the same fallen lo= g. This time, the bird turned, bent over, and "mooned" us :-) - it flippe= d up its tail and showed its bottom. There was no buff/rufous coloring an= ywhere on the tail or on the bottom - only black and white. The back and = white was also noticed on the edges of the tail and the bird was marked d= ifferently on the side than a Carolina is. The eye stripe was very promin= ent. Some twittering sounds were heard that didn't resemble those of a Ca= rolina Wren, though to my knowledge, none of us actually witnessed either= of the birds singing. I listened to tapes afterwards. I did hear some so= unds that were similar to some of the sounds on the Stokes recordings of = a Bewick's Wren. I also listened to recordings of other wrens. Most of th= e sounds I remembered were not like those o > f any other wren, except for some call sounds that sound like the reco= rdings of both a Bewick's Wren and a Carolina Wren. > A detailed report/documentation has been filled out and will be mai= led to the Regional Editor for the CBC by the end of the week. Unfortunat= ely, none of us has a camera, but we studied the birds for about 1/2 an h= our, consulting each other and the field guides while looking for and at = the birds (they seem to respond well to pishing). Anyone wishing more inf= ormation, please contact me OFF THE LISTSERV. Unless I don't have to work= tomorrow/Monday, I will be unable to go out and try to find the birds ag= ain until January, as I'm going away for Winter Break. I can give a prett= y good description of the area, however. If anyone goes out looking for t= he birds, please e-mail me if you see one or both. > Michael Shapiro > Short Pump > sc.tanager@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx > > You are subscribed to VA-Richmond-General. To unsubscribe, send email t= o > va-richmond-general-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Sub= ject field. To adjust other settings (vacation, digest, etc.) please visi= t, //www.freelists.org/list/va-richmond-general. You are subscribed to VA-Richmond-General. To unsubscribe, send email to va-richmond-general-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. To adjust other settings (vacation, digest, etc.) please visit, //www.freelists.org/list/va-richmond-general.