That’s a good point. I guess my head was stuck in warbler mode!
—
Lewis Barnett
blbarnett3@xxxxxxxxx
On Sep 17, 2017, at 12:15 AM, James Shelton <james_shelton32@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
You laughing gulls were migrants. Their breeding and winter grounds are
closer to the coast. They 'migrate' inland before going south on the coast.
Check out Sibley's.
James Shelton
Sent from my iPod Touch.
On Sep 16, 2017, at 8:17 PM, Lewis Barnett <blbarnett3@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
We had 12 birders come out today for the monthly Dutch Gap bird walk. It was
a clear day, pleasant in the shade, but high humidity made it bit brutal if
you were out in the sun.
There was nothing really unexpected today, but we had some cooperative birds
that made the walk interesting, and a few somewhat confusing birds that
sparked interesting ID discussions.
This time of year, the questions are what summer residents are still around,
and what migrants are passing through. Fall migration is in full swing, but
in this particular location, we couldn’t come up with any definitive
migrants, unless some of the Canada Geese weren’t from the local breeding
populations. We were “serenaded” by a group of three or four Killdeer that
seemed to be continuously airborne and calling through the entire duration
of the walk.
The marsh area was pretty quiet, with a few Wood Ducks and a Bald Eagle
flyover to keep us on our toes. There were a couple of Eastern Phoebes
calling, but the usual Red-winged Blackbirds weren’t present in their usual
numbers.
All of the birds over the river seemed to be Laughing Gulls today, and the
good bird out at the river overlook was a Green Heron perched in a bare snag
across the river - it was perched in a very upright posture, so that to the
naked eye, it just looked like another branch poking up, but scope views
revealed its true nature. A Summer Tanager provided some good views at this
spot as well.
On the trails behind the Visitor’s Center, we ran across a number of young
Blue Grosbeaks, but the chain-link fence line was curiously empty today. We
encountered another couple of Summer Tanagers down Sycamore Spur, one dining
somewhat cautiously on a wasp it had captured. We tracked down a couple of
Pine Warblers along the trail, and finally found a Belted Kingfisher at the
pond past the lagoon.
We had a bit of excitement on the walk back to the cars when we found a bird
that, because it was partly obscured or facing the wrong way, morphed during
an extending discussion and photography session from a Vireo sp., to a
Flycatcher sp., to a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (because we caught a flash of
yellow from its belly), to an unidentified Myiarchus Flycatcher, with a
brief foray into Western Kingbird territory because it seemed to have white
rectrices from a certain angle to an Ash-throated Flycatcher, because it had
no pronounced crest, and finally resolved into a very round-headed but
otherwise totally ordinary Great-crested Flycatcher. It was a fun ride.
It seems like construction has finally started on the new marsh boardwalk,
beginning between the second observation platform and the Visitor’s Center
parking lot - this is an exciting development for future walks.
Check out the Facebook page for a few pictures from the walk.
—
Lewis Barnett
blbarnett3@xxxxxxxxx
Henricus - Dutch Gap Conservation Area, Chesterfield, Virginia, US
Sep 16, 2017 7:32 AM - 12:15 PM
Protocol: Traveling
2.5 mile(s)
44 species
Canada Goose 67
Wood Duck 3
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Great Blue Heron 4
Great Egret 4
Green Heron 1
Black Vulture 70
Turkey Vulture 9
Osprey 1
Bald Eagle 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Killdeer 4
Laughing Gull 25
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 9
Mourning Dove 8
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 2
Pileated Woodpecker 1
American Kestrel 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee 5
Eastern Phoebe 3
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
White-eyed Vireo 1
Blue Jay 1
American Crow 1
Barn Swallow 1
Carolina Chickadee 6
Tufted Titmouse 5
Carolina Wren 5
Eastern Bluebird 3
American Robin 2
Gray Catbird 2
Brown Thrasher 1
Northern Mockingbird 7
European Starling 24
Pine Warbler 3
Chipping Sparrow 2
Summer Tanager 4
Scarlet Tanager 1
Northern Cardinal 7
Blue Grosbeak 4
Red-winged Blackbird 3
American Goldfinch 2
View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S39217249
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org/VA)
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