Week Ending October 19, 2014

/

This was the first week that I'm now settling down to just Friday evening & weekend outings due to the lack of sunlight after my normal Monday through Thursday working hours. On Monday, after a great weekend spent with my mother, I had to get her off to the airport and headed back to Indiana, hopefully she enjoyed her time, though I'm pretty certain she did. So through the week we had some good weather, definitely feeling moreso like Fall now in Hampton Roads. On Friday, I left work at 3 PM like usual, and decided that instead of going down to Back Bay NWR like I had initially planned, I went up to Pleasure House Point to try and maximize my outdoor time while the sun was still high enough to provide light for decent photography. From my office I can make it up there in about 20 minutes or less which makes it ideal for short duration outings like I can fit in on Friday evenings this time of year. With the sun setting slowly, I parked on Marlin Bay Drive and headed first eastwards to keep it out of my eyes. It was a beautifully sunny day with highs right in the lower 70s, which is my preferred temperature since I can walk and walk and not sweat like crazy. Throughout the week, a number of reports had showed up on eBird.org referencing Saltmarsh & Nelson's Sparrow sightings. Because of this, I was very excited and hoped I might be able to find both species for the first time.

My very first Nelson's Sparrow, seen at Pleasure House Point!

I had seen a Saltmarsh recently, but the Nelson's is still one missing from my life list. Well today I got my first one, and then several more in the same area, when a flock of 7-8 Nelson's Sparrows was working the shrubbery immediately adjacent to the tidal creeks around the park. I was amazed when one actually stood up between a pair of reeds, grasping each with a leg, and stayed relatively still for a few minutes, moving just a few times, and allowing me a lot of good quality photographs. In addition to the sparrows, the birds in general were pretty numerous tonight. The tide was about at high tide, and the mudflats to the east of the park were covered up, but the water was still shallow enough for large numbers of Black Skimmers, Laughing Gulls, Royal & Caspian Terns, and Herring Gulls to still be out standing on top of them, keeping their bodies just above the water line. Quite a few Osprey are still seen around the park, and last year a pair of them over-wintered, so I think I'll be seeing them all year here again. I didn't see any warblers today, and really the only songbirds that were seen was an Eastern Towhee, a few Carolina Chickadees, a Blue Jay, and several Northern Cardinals, all very common at the park. But, after getting good looks at the Nelson's Sparrows for the first time ever, it didn't matter to me if I was to not see another bird the remainder of the hike. Also, I got to meet Melinda Carr, along the trails, and later she posted a photograph to the Facebook group of a Nelson's Sparrow, I was wondering if she would get them! This weekend we're expecting beautiful sunny weather both days, with temps in the 70s again tomorrow, and then cooling into Sunday with highs in the upper 50s/lower 60s. Should be a great weekend down here!

Another shot of my first Nelson's Sparrow, showing off just how colorful these seemingly "brown" sparrows are when viewed up close!

Saturday was yet another beautiful day in Hampton Road, again with highs in the low 70s and very sunny, just like yesterday. I went down to Back Bay NWR and got there at about 8 this morning. At the gate there was a pair of White-tailed Deer feeding just off the road, a nice surprise since I don't see them very often in the park, and definitely not this close up. My first bird sighting was a group of 19 Pied-billed Grebes that were near the kayak launch area next to the parking lot. While watching them, an American Bittern flew out over the water as well, they're seen often in the park during fall & winter but, they usually stay hidden pretty well so seeing a flyover was very neat. I started off by walking the Bay Trail like I'll typically do when it's not yet crowded at the park. Right away, I ran into MC Miguez, who was also out early trying to get a photograph of a Merlin that had been seen along the Bay Trail this week. We ended up chatting and shooting a few photos side by side for the next half hour or so (a beautiful Northern Flicker posed pretty nicely, though a bit out of range for me, her shots turned out great). After parting, I headed down the East Dike trail down to False Cape State Park. I thought I mind find some ducks on the waterways that run adjacent to the False Cape/Back Bay boundary line but unfortunately did not. The only ducks I saw were a few very far out over the marshes to the west, and I couldn't properly ID them. Waders were around in good numbers as usual, with lots of Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, and a lone Snowy Egret as well. Shorebirds were almost nonexistent in the park, and I only saw one group of 7 Semipalmated Plovers. However, I did not walk the beachfront today so I can't speak as to what may have been out there. Raptors sightings were few and far between. Along the 8 or 9 miles I walked, I found one Peregrine Falcon perched in a dead tree west of the 90 degree bend on the East Dike, and my FOS Northern Harrier up near the parking area on the way back to the car. Driving out of the refuge though I did get to see a Cooper's Hawk fly in right overhead, and also a Red-tailed Hawk just after I'd left the park along Sandbridge Road. I did not see any other species of Warblers aside from the common Yellow-rumped Warblers that we see very often in fall & winter here. Though, I did hear a Common Yellowthroat calling from False Cape. It seems the migrants have moved through, or, I just happened to miss them today. 

Yellow-rumped Warbler, our most common winter warbler, starting to show up in big numbers around the region. This one was seen at Back Bay NWR!

Beautiful weather continued for a 3rd straight day on Sunday in Hampton Roads, though a bit cooler out (50s this morning), and with strong 15-20 mph more-or-less continuous winds. When I woke up and saw how overcast it was in spots, and how the trees were whipping, I decided to try out Pleasure House Point again thinking that maybe something interesting would have been blown across the Chesapeake Bay and taken up refuge at the park from the winds. The mudflats (near high tide) were full of several hundred Laughing Gulls, a number of Herring & Great Black-backed Gulls, some Black Skimmers (though not as many as on Friday), a lone Willet, and one American Oystercatcher that I did not see in the field, but was able to uncover while looking at the photographs at home (see link below). Several Royal Terns, and a single Caspian Tern were also seen. I ran into a number of other birders out there today (probably close to 20 or so), and it was great to discuss what we were all seeing throughout the morning, and also just to meet a number of folks who post to eBird & use the VA-bird Listserver and be able to put a face to the names. Lynnhaven River NOW (a local environmental organization) was hosting a birding walk, which was led by Virginia Beach Audubon member Stephen Coari.

A beautiful adult Great Blue Heron seen along the East Dike Trail at Back Bay NWR on Saturday!

This was the first time we'd gotten to meet, though thanks to the internet we've been able to correspond in the past. Among the group also were Susan Compton, Jim Lowe, and Pam Monahan, so was very nice to finally meet each of them. It seemed many were looking for both the Nelson's Sparrows seen recently, and the Lapland Longspur that showed up in an eBird report this week. With all the wind, I was actually very surprised to find quite a few songbirds flitting about, including a flock of about 20 Yellow-rumped Warblers, and a lone Ruby-crowned Kinglet. The typical wading birds were all present with several Great Blue Herons, a number of Great Egrets, a lone Snowy Egret perched in a distant tree across the creek, and several Yellow-crowned Night-Heron immatures. Also had a flyover twice by a Bald Eagle, though moving with the wind it was about as fast as a falcon overhead. As with most outings, many Clapper Rails could be heard cackling from the outer marshes, and one very close in (within 100 feet or so), but could never put eyes on any unfortunately. A great outing, and a very nice way to end a week of beautiful weather. Next weekend I will be heading out to Charlottesville, Virginia, and the rest of the surrounding Blue Ridge Parkway and/or Skyline Drive, so not sure that I'll get many wildlife shots next week, but I should get some very pretty scenery shots along some of the trails that my girlfriend Ruth & I will be visiting. 

My first Ruby-crowned Kinglet of the season. If you look very closely at the very tip top of the head, you can see the Ruby colored feathers that give this bird it's name!

Week Ending October 12, 2014

/

After the whirlwind wedding weekend that I had this past weekend, I was ready to see some migrating birds when Monday finally arrived. I would like to stress that I did have a great time over the past few days with wedding get togethers, but it was killing me knowing how nice out it was, and not being about to get outdoors. So Monday I headed up to Pleasure House Point right after work, and got there about 4:15 PM. I arrived about midway between the low & high tide cycle, which will keep getting better positioned later in the week for me to see shorebirds after working hours (Wednesday namely). I parked off Marlin Bay's entrance so that I could walk eastward at first with the setting sun behind me. Even though it is plenty bright still between 4 and about 6, the angle of sun setting slowly makes it tough to get photographs, a lot of animals just get washed out due to the low angle. It also makes it very difficult to shoot photographs amongst any large number of trees, as the shadows are now everywhere. Additionally, walking eastward, your own personal shadow tends to be out 20 or more feet ahead of where you're walking, and tends to spook critters out of the way before you get close enough to even spot them. So really, a rough time of year for after work hours photography. Anyway, I headed eastward, and my first sighting was that of a Painted Lady (butterfly), and a nearby Yellow-crowned Night-Heron. The poor Night-Heron had an oyster shell clamped around one of it's toes, which happens quite often to wading birds around this area. There was a trickle of blood coming off it, but I couldn't get close enough to try to help the poor thing without it flying off. So I stopped trying, feeling that I was stressing it out even worse.

Flight of Black Skimmers over Pleasure House Point!

Hopefully the oyster either releases, or the toe just gets worn off and the rest of the leg can still function...nature can be very sad at times, but what a defensive mechanisms for an oyster to have over a 3 foot tall bird. I then took some of the less used trails through the woods hoping to find some warblers, but unfortunately came up empty handed. However, when I crossed out onto the large dusty plain nearby, I caught sight of an Osprey, some vultures, and then a Peregrine Falcon soaring in from the north very high up overhead! This is my first falcon in quite some time, and I assume it was one of several hundred that have been seen heading southbound at Kiptopeke State Park's Hawk Watch on the other side of the Chesapeake Bay. Continuing around through the small forest I ran into Kathy Spencer, who I'd met last week at the park, and her husband Ken. They were also looking for warblers and as we were talking, one flew past but all I caught was a yellow blur. I walked around the area I've been seeing sparrows and flushed one, but couldn't get it to land anywhere visible. Out over the water Kathy spotted a huge cyclone of what looked like Laughing Gulls. Nearby I could hear numbers of Clapper Rails cackling from the exterior marshy islands. When I reached the mudflats, there was a ton of gulls & terns out on them. Amongst the several gull species, were a large group of Black Skimmers, the most I've seen at the park this year. Also a pair of Willets were walking around.

An Obscure Birdwing Grasshopper seen at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge!

Hopefully its like this again on Wednesday when the tide is even lower. I ended up trekking back to the west side of the park with the sun in my eyes, and had another (or the same) Peregrine Falcon come screaming out of the light heading eastward. It was moving very fast and I couldn't focus on it during the split second I had. I immediately ran back eastward to a point overlooking the water and snapped some poor long distance shots of it, but unfortunately it headed off southwestward towards Town Center and I never did get another chance. I made a second trip eastward, now with the sun behind me, hoping that would help again. I didn't pick up any new sightings, though the same poor oyster-clamped Night-Heron showed up again. I reached the mudflats again, and the tide had come in quite a bit. I stayed and watched as it rose higher and higher, causing the shorter birds to begin their exodus first. The Black Skimmers all took off and swirled around into a big flock on the water before heading towards the Lesner Bridge. The Laughing Gulls were next to leave, then the few Ring-billeds, then the Herrings & Black-backed took off as the water submerged their former perch. It was a very cool process to view firsthand, and made perfect sense as to why they left the way they did. I headed back west towards the car, and managed to flush a Clapper Rail, of which I got a nice shot of the marsh as my camera couldn't focus fast enough. That was it for my evening, 6:30 sunset and getting earlier each day.

A beautiful Eastern Phoebe seen at Kiptopeke State Park on the Eastern Shore on Friday morning!

On Tuesday, I brought my gear to work and promptly left at 4 to head out to Back Bay NWR. Earlier in the day, several posts on Listserver showed a lot of warbler species being spotted right near the visitor center. Of course, I didn't find a single warbler in the evening. So either all the warblers are only active during the mornings and afternoons, or people are exaggerating their sightings. I hope it's the former. But unfortunately that cripples my weekday attempts at finding the little songbirds. While walking the Bayside Trail, I got to see a pair of Eastern Cottonmouths up very close, though they appeared to be stationary, as I'd see them at the end of the walk as well. I'm guessing the lack of heat outside this time of year makes them less mobile since they're coldblooded animals. I walked the Bay Trail westward and had a Cooper's Hawk fly overhead for a brief moment before disappearing towards the southeast. The birds it seems, were out to hide from me. I did see a young Praying Mantis in the brush, and got some photographs of another nymph Katydid which was very colorful. Heading back east towards the Loop Road I came across some neat spiders & webs, but no birds at all, though I heard a catbird. Out over the pond to the southeast of the contact station, Tree Swallows were forming large groups and diving down to drink from the water's surface, it was very neat to see them still in breeding colors & in large groups. I walked toward the Dune Trail, seeing the same (probably) Cooper's Hawk again, flying right into the sun though. I went up and over the dunes onto the beach, but the wind was so intense that it seemed not many birds were out there so I opted to go back inland. I walked back and did the Bay Trail once more, again not finding any birds though, but photographing an Obsure Birdwing Grasshopper, thinking at first it was a Green Treefrog but realizing quickly that it wasn't. I walked very slow back on the Bay Trail eastward hoping to spot something, but again, just not my night. I did a quick jaunt down the Seaside Trail as well and only got a few shots of gulls & some Royal & Forster's Terns out over the water before heading back up to the car about 6 o'clock. This will be my last week heading out photographing after work, its just getting too frustrating with the lack of light, and the time it takes to get places. I'm giving it one last evening shot tomorrow at Pleasure House Point when the low tides lines up with my release from work time. 

A Swamp Sparrow seen at Kiptopeke State Park!

Wednesday I got another beautiful evening to walk around Pleasure House Point. The tides were just right and I think probably lower than any other time I've been out in the park. Because of this, I expected to see a lot of birds that I normally miss out on. I walked in from Marlin Bay Drive again so the sun would be at my back as I walked eastward towards the mudflats. On the way, my first bird sighting was that of a Caspian Tern flying out over the creek. I ran into Caroline Morse along the trails and she had said she hadn't found any birds yet. Along the large interior bay, the water was extremely low and several Yellow-crowned Night-Herons and Great Egrets were wading around in the now-shallows. Along the same stretch where I've been seeing sparrows, I saw another one, presumably a Seaside but unable to tell since they're so quick to hide, and with the low tide, they have more places to hide up under the banks. Out on the mudflats, large numbers of Black Skimmers and gulls, same as Monday, were all present again. I ran into Caroline again on the way back westward and she pointed out a Bald Eagle hovering out over the marshy islands.

One of the most beautiful of our Fall warbler species, the very yellow Palm Warbler, seen here at Kiptopeke State Park!

An Osprey flew by as well, and at the same time a Cooper's Hawk swooped in overhead. I was able to get a few shots of it, but with the sun already low in the sky, its tough to get them without a shadowed underside. With a couple more passes across the park and back, I didn't get to add any new warblers or songbirds, just the typical stuff was present, though I did get one more shot at the Cooper's Hawk when I crossed the dirt plain in the interior and it circled briefly overhead before disappearing. With the sun now setting about 6:30, and really the light being pretty poor starting at about 5 or 5:30, this is going to be the end of my week night photography walks unfortunately until probably March (I can still get out Friday evenings since I can leave work a bit earlier, but even that will end by November). On my way home from the park as I was driving past Kings Grant Lake, I saw Ron Furnish out with his binoculars so I pulled over. He introduced me to his girlfriend Marie Mullins who is also a well known birder in the area for those who use eBird. They were watching some American Redstarts, and a Northern Parula high up in the trees of the park and have had good success the last week or so in this spot, though it was much too dark out already to get quality photographs, I could at least ID properly what we were seeing of the small birds in the treetops. I left about 7 PM, now pretty much dark and made it home for dinner. On Thursday my mother is flying into town to spend the weekend out on the Blue Ridge Parkway with my girlfriend Ruth & I so no hiking Thursday.

I spent the weekend traveling the Blue Ridge Parkway of North Carolina to see the fall foliage, this one was taken from Grandfather Mountain near Blowing Rock, NC.

Friday, with my mother now in town, I decided to take her up to the Eastern Shore for the day, coincidentally at the same time as the Eastern Shore Birding & Wildlife Festival was beginning. We had a beautiful view of the sun coming up over the horizon along the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, but then it got mostly overcast. We stopped in at Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge first, and were only able to locate one bird, a Cooper's Hawk that flew past us with great speed on the Butterfly Trail. After the ESNWR we went up the Seaside Road and cut across to Kiptopeke State Park. This time I paid properly, and didn't get the $25 fine I got on my first visit to the park. We walked towards the Taylor Pond, seeing a couple more Cooper's on the way, and then did the Raptor & Songbird Trails to the east. Most of what we saw to that point was large spiders blocking our path with their large overhead webs. Not exactly a great start to the morning, however, the sun did suddenly come out and we had a flurry of activity on the Raptor Trail, where we saw many Carolina Chickadees, a Palm Warbler that continuously moved from shrub to shrub as I tried to photograph it, and several Northern Cardinals and Brown Thrashers. We also saw a White-tailed Deer rush off the trail, then later my mother pointed out another one. We hit the Peregrine Boardwalk, and had the pleasure of watching as 7 American Kestrels circled overhead, the most I've ever seen at one time before. From there we did the Wood Warbler Boardwalk, and got some nice views of a Common Buckeye (butterfly), and some Turkey Vultures feeding on the beachfront. We headed back up as the clouds came back in, and skipped by the Hawkwatch site just because there was a number of folks already up there. I later heard that a Swainson's Hawk was sighted that day nearby, but I probably wouldn't be able to ID one if I did see it since it's one I'm not familiar with at all. On Friday evening, my mother, Ruth & I all headed down to Hickory, North Carolina where we'd be staying for the weekend, and got in pretty late around 11 PM. 

One of my better Wild Turkey shots, this one was spotted by my mother along the parkway in North Carolina!

Saturday, we were up and ready to go early, taking advantage of the continental breakfast and then heading out on the road before the sun was up. As we drove northwest from Hickory towards Blowing Rock (our access to the Blue Ridge Parkway for the day), the sun began to rise and burn off the intense fog that we'd encountered in the foothills. It was absolutely beautiful seeing the sunrise and the fog and clouds filling the valleys as we got higher up the mountains. We zoomed down the Blue Ridge Parkway southwestward towards Grandfather Mountain, our primary destination for the trip, and a place I had been at just a few weeks ago while at a bachelor party out of Boone. We passed Lake Julian Price, and the leaf colors surrounding were very vibrant, very near peak I would guess. We stopped at a couple of overlooks very quickly, but wanted to be at Grandfather Mountain right at 8 when they opened so we could get to the top without other people around. When we arrived at about 8:05, the park was closed, and we found out that they didn't open til 9, thanks to a rude worker... last year they opened at 8 and we actually got up into the park about 7:45 so I don't know why they made a change like this.

The view from the Blue Ridge Parkway just east of Mount Mitchell State Park.

Anyway, we had to kill an hour so we just drove back on the same portion of the parkway, stopping at a couple more overlooks and then heading back to the park. The view of Lynn Cove Viaduct was extremely impressive this year, much more than last year. When we finally got into the park, we drove straight up to the top, listening to the audio CD this time on the way. We parked and walked up the stairs to where the Mile High Bridge is located, and my mother made it across though she was clearly not enjoying the high winds, which were probably 30-40 mph. Ruth & I walked out on the rock outcropping and I saw a Common Raven, an Eastern Towhee, and a Dark-eyed Junco though didn't get any solid photographs of either species. We walked back across the bridge, now full of tourists, as I was trying to avoid by being early, and then headed down through the gift shop. When we came out, we were completely enshrouded in clouds and it was raining and windy, so I'm glad we got to see the sun while we were on the bridge. We drove down the mountain, out of the clouds, and stopped to see the animals at the zoo, though I'd much rather see these animals in the wild. We ate at Mildred's Grill and then waited til the fudge shop opened at 11 since that can't be missed, then we embarked from the park. Grandfather Mountain is truly a beautiful state park, but the $20/person fee seems a bit high to me, given that all it does is give you access to the park, if food was somehow included, then it'd be fair. However, the views are incredible, and I could spend $20 in much worse ways so its alright.

The vivid colors of changing maple trees along the Blue Ridge Parkway east of Mount Mitchell State Park in North Carolina.

After leaving the park we drove south on the parkway and then stopped up at Linville Falls. The color here was very pretty as well, and we walked the couple of miles of trails to the two highest viewpoints of the falls. Here the weather alternated between sunny, and downpour. We got very soaked on the way out and then had to dry off in the car over the next hour or so. We kept on heading south and west on the parkway, and the colors kept getting more and more vivid as we went. Our final stop on the day was at Mount Mitchell State Park, the highest peak east of the Mississippi River at about 6600 elevation as I recall. The top of the mountain is all pine trees, no deciduous seem to reach the last few hundred feet of it, and we were again enshrouded in clouds along the peak trail, which is just a short quarter mile or so hike from the refreshment cafe at the parking area. On a clear day, you can see something like 70 miles from the peak, however our visibility was just a few hundred feet or so being that we were inside of a cloud. I still got some neat photographs though and now my mom can say she's been to the highest peak in the Eastern half of the continent. We drove out along the parkway south and west again, and stopping at the last few overlooks, headed down the mountain into Asheville, where we picked up I-40 and drove off towards Hickory, and towards a good dinner at Texas Roadhouse after a long day of driving and walking. I think everyone loved it, and we really hit the colors at full peak. I'll be heading up to the Blue Ridge Parkway of Virginia in 2 weekends, hopefully seeing similar vivid colors outside of Charlottesville. On Sunday we just made the drive back, and relaxed at home...I think I fell asleep about 8:30 after all the excitement of the weekend. 

Looking through the cloud cover into the pine forests at the top of Mount Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi River!

Week Ending October 5, 2014

/

This week was one of the craziest I've had this year in terms of trying to get a lot done on schedule. Thursday I had a wedding rehearsal & dinner, Friday I had an all day wedding that I was part of as a groomsman for my buddy Chris, and Saturday I had another wedding to attend for some friends from college. Because of all of this I was only able to get out hiking in the after-work hours of Tuesday & Wednesday this week. We've had absolutely amazing weather all week long, and it was killing me that I couldn't get out more often to enjoy it. Folks are also seeing crazy amounts of migrating birds now, and over 200 Peregrine Falcons were seen over the weekend at Kiptopeke's Hawk Watch, an incredible number, I think I've seen like 5 in my entire lifetime. Merlins and Kestrels were also present so it appears the bulk of the falcons have now made their big move heading southward. Songbird migrations are also ongoing and some of the neatest sightings that were posted to Facebook was a Black-throated Blue Warbler by Donald Freeman at Pleasure House Point, an Orange-crowned Warbler at Back Bay NWR by Barbara Houston, a Magnolia Warbler up on the Eastern Shore by Keith Roberts, and just so many more I don't have time to discuss.

A Great Egret catching the last rays of the sun at Pleasure House Point on Tuesday evening!

I even got emails and texts from people outdoors telling me what they were seeing since it was so rare! Ron Furnish, who lives in the same neighborhood area as me, and actually did a Big Year last year and got just under 700 species, said he located a mixed flock of warblers right at Kings Grant Park, and I saw numerous other reports on eBird of folks spotting warblers. This is really the first Fall that I've been a die-hard birder, so its great to now have a huge network of individuals helping me out in locating the birds. I just need to get the time available to follow through on the reports! As I mentioned, I did get out walking on Tuesday after work and I went to Pleasure House Point. I caught the tide while it was on the way down, though still fairly high at first. But after walking several passes through the park it did go down enough that gulls and pelicans starting flocking in to the mudflats offshore to roost. The sun is really setting earlier and earlier everyday and I'm running out of time now for after work birding trips. I might have a week or two left and then it won't be able to occur for a few months. 

A Lesser Black-backed Gull cruising along the coastline at Back Bay NWR on Wednesday evening!

That should yield me some time to spend on the website here, as the hustle and bustle of migration season starts to wind down towards the end of the month, and my outings are cut to only weekends, weather permitting. Anyways, I got to see all the usual birds at Pleasure House Point, Laughing/Ring-billed/Herring/Great Black-backed Gulls, Royal Terns, Brown Pelicans, Double-crested Cormorants, Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron. But, I also got to see some that I really wasn't expecting, like a flyover of an American Bittern, my first of the season & first at the park ever, and also a Yellow Warbler, another first at the park for me. Additionally, a number of Clapper Rails were really cackling up a storm from the tidal marshes surrounding the park. On two instances, I couldn't have been more than 50 feet away from them, but just could not locate them in the marsh grasses. They are absolute masters of camouflage and hiding. Even with as loud as they cackle, you still just can't spot them unless they run out into the open to catch food suddenly. I only caught a brief long-distance glimpse of one flushing and landing quickly after a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron happend to have landed too close to it, spooking it into the air. No picture on that one though as it was visible for roughly one second and at a hundred yards out or so. I saw another pair of sparrows near the same spot where I'd seen the Seaside & Saltmarsh Sparrows a couple weeks ago, but these ones turned out to be Song Sparrows, which are very common around the area. As the sun started to set, hundreds of gulls (mostly Laughing) arrived out on the mudflats, I'd never seen anything quite like it. With the numbers of birds now migrating through the area, I'm hoping to keep getting out everyday I can after work.

One of only two Semipalmated Plovers that were seen on Wednesday evening. The sunlight this time of year after work provides some interesting angles on the beach!

Wednesday, I was able to make it down to Back Bay NWR after work as well. After a quick visit from Liza Eckhardt, Caroline Morse, & Erica Locher, who were nice enough to point out a Chinese Praying Mantis and a Squirrel Treefrog that were hanging out near the contact station, I went and walked the Bay Trail, only to find that the sun was streaming right into my face while heading westward on the trail. So I ended up coming back and just getting out onto the beachfront since the sun was behind me and I could shoot birds out over the water and along the beachline without issue. I walked probably a mile or so south on the beaches, seeing good numbers of Sanderlings, Royal Terns, and the usual gull species, pelicans, and cormorants. A few Caspian Terns were present this time, which I don't see as much as the Royals usually. Willets were also seen, but only a single pair of Semipalmated Plover, and Black-bellied Plover showed up along that stretch of beach this time, and no Ruddy Turnstones were there so perhaps they're all further south already. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, and I was fortunate enough to be there as the sun was setting out over the bay itself, extremely beautiful sunset! I did a quick walk around the loop road just before this and found a Great Egret & the same Great Blue Heron that always hangs out around the loop. After this, I got a very nice surprise when a rabbit came walking out onto the gravel roadway. It got spooked though when it was me and ran across, only to then swim across the adjacent ditch. Normal cottontails don't swim, but the rabbits at Back Bay (Marsh Rabbits) love the water. This is the first time I've ever gotten to observe their swimming habit though; it was a wonderful sighting. Ironically, it was in just about the same exact spot as a White-tailed Deer I'd seen swimming a few months ago with Ruth, while we were watching a King Rail on the roadway. The wildlife seems to enjoy this part of the park! As I mentioned int he top part of my blog, the remainder of my week was spent doing structured activities and didn't leave me any chance to get outdoors to take photographs. Hopefully next week I get the chance to really step it up, with all the wedding chaos over with for the year, my weekends will be mine to do whatever I choose to with from here on out into 2015!

One of the two Black-bellied Plovers seen along the beaches at Back Bay NWR on Wednesday evening!

Week Ending September 28, 2014

/

This week was quite an intense one for me. On Monday evening after work, my girlfriend Ruth & I went down to the oceanfront in Virginia Beach and walked from 88th Street down the beach around Fort Story. It was a gorgeous night out on the beach, with the sun slowly setting while we walked along. This is one of my favorite stretches of beach in the area since not a whole lot of people like to venture out onto it, since it isn't very accessible the further north you go. Along the beach we saw plenty of Sanderlings, and a few Willets as well. Brown Pelicans is large numbers were flying offshore, probably heading back towards Lynnhaven Inlet for the night to roost. All the typical gulls were seen (Laughing/Ring-billed/Herring/Lesser & Great Black-backed), and a few Royal Terns flew by as well, though I haven't seen any other tern species recently in the area so they may have all moved southward at this point in the season. Up around the large rock jetties that protect the beach we spotted a Least Sandpiper mixed in with a flock of Sanderlings, and shortly after, found a Spotted Sandpiper bobbing its tail up and down on the rocks. Both were the first ones I've seen at this particular location, though neither is anything rare around here. They just usually prefer mudflats more than open beachfront in my experience.

A beautiful Willet along the shores of Cape Henry in Virginia Beach!

We ended up walking to the very end of the publicly accessible beach, which gets you very close to the pair of lighthouses known as the Cape Henrys. Heading back, we saw the same birds again, but we also got some great looks at a pod of Bottlenose Dolphins that were swimming just offshore. There was probably a dozen of them or so, and some were very close in the shallows probably chasing a school of fish of some type. The sun had pretty much set by the time we got back down to 88th Street, an unfortunate reminder that this time of year, each day is shorter than the one before it, and it gets tougher and tougher to get outdoors after normal working hours. Photography also becomes much harder as the light is less and less at the same time each consecutive evening, so its just a matter of time before my photography gets cut to just Friday afternoons & weekends. Which, is fine with me since it gives me more time to work on the website finally as the outings calm down a bit. However, it puts a lot of emphasis on what the weather is doing on the weekends, and unfortunately if we get rain both days, it basically kills my outdoors outings for the week. Hopefully we get a beautiful Fall & Winter though, and I don't lose too much time to rain.

A Least Sandpiper appearing to be floating over the sand thanks to some tricky light from the setting sun!

Tuesday, a very overcast day, I just did a 6 mile walk around my neighborhood. On days where I can't take good photographs, I tend to just walk close to home & leave the camera out of it. The same went for Thursday, another day of dreary weather where I did the same 6 mile walk around Kings Grant/Little Neck. Friday though, was a beautiful, beautiful day, and I left work at 3 PM like I typically do so I can get some extra walking in. I couldn't decide where to go, but, since Ruth & I were leaving later in the evening to head up to Fairfax for a wedding in adjacent Maryland, I decided on First Landing State Park just to stay closer to home. Parking at 64th Street as usual and walking into the park, I was surprised to see not a single person for actually 4.5 of my 5 mile walk. And there was an obvious reason why. The mosquitoes were pretty horrendous, especially for around here. With all the rain we had gotten the previous 3 days or so, there was standing pools of water scattered all through the forest. Each of these pools is a perfect breeding ground for the mosquitoes this time of year, and they surely took advantage of it. Even with spray on from head to toe, every surface they could find on me to bite, got tore up, especially along my tshirt line around the back of my neck. The bugs made it difficult to stop for any photographs as I was instantly mobbed, however, as I got closer to the water at Broad Bay, the wind off the bay was enough to stop them for that mile stretch or so, a good relief. On the way to the bay, I did see a large flock of songbirds (most of them American Robins) moving in unison through the trees feeding.

My first Ovenbird sighting in Virginia Beach, Teacher Teacher Teacher!

There was also a lone Ovenbird, which was my first sighting of one this year in Virginia Beach, and I didn't manage a couple pictures while enduring the bites, because they don't usually show themselves in the open. Along the bay, I spooked a Spotted Sandpiper that was walking along the shoreline, and then just a minute later as I reached the first tidal creek, I spooked something even more rarely seen. I was just thinking in my head how 3 years ago I'd seen my very first Clapper Rail at this spot, and not a minute later did a Clapper Rail flush from the marsh about 5 feet away from me, then dive back down about 20 feet away. Try as I did, I still could not get a photograph of this shy marsh bird as it ran through the reeds back and forth for about 15 minutes. They're incredibly beautiful, but incredibly hard to spot, this was the 2nd one I've now seen in the park after over a hundred times hiking here the last 9 years. In fact, the only one I've ever photographed was just down the river at Pleasure House Point, and it wasn't even that clear of a shot, but enough to prove what I saw. I ended up walking to the second tidal creek's bridge and then turning around again. A Belted Kingfisher cruised by and cackled at me for a while, probably the same one that always manages to do this. On the way back down the Osprey Trail eastward, I got a good view of a large juvenile Bald Eagle flying into Osprey territory and taking up a perch in a tall tree. This was met by a lone Osprey continually dive bombing the eagle, as it was not happy that it chose to come to it's area of the park. Most of the Ospreys have actually left the area already as the bulk of them fly south in the winter, but a few do winter over in the area, though up near Pleasure House Point, and I've never seen one do so in First Landing yet. Heading back inland, I got bit up a lot more, and then finally made it out of the park, alive. Afterwards I had to head back home and shower up, eat, and then start the drive north to Fairfax, where we ending up getting to about 9:30 at night. 

A Pine Warbler showing off it's Fall plumage now that the weather has surely transitioned away from Summer.

Saturday, we needed to head out to the wedding site by about 1 PM, so I had the morning to go hiking around a new area. After reading numerous posts on the Virginia Birding Listserver, I opted to try out Huntley Meadows Park just about 20 minutes up the road. The park has a large marsh centered in it, with boardwalks criss crossing through it. I was there early enough to where the park wasn't too well lit up, so it was a bit tough at first. I did see a small White-tailed Deer running through the marsh, and then saw a number of songbirds at the north end of the boardwalk system. After winding around the trails for a few loops, I came up with several Common Yellowthroat sightings, a Black-and-White Warbler, another Ovenbird, and a number of more common birds like Robins/Jays/Crows/Chickadees/Titmice etc. I thought maybe I'd find a Brown Creeper but it didn't happen. Having left the park about 9:30 I still had more time so I drove to my typical hiking spot at the South Run Stream Valley off Hooes Road in Lorton. I walked a couple mile stretch downstream, but any birds that may have been present were well concealed in the thick forest, and I didn't come up with anything new unfortunately, but did see some pretty butterflies. The remainder of the day was spent on the wedding & reception, and then Sunday we headed back down to Virginia Beach after dropping one of Ruth's friends off back in Fairfax. This coming week is going to be the busiest yet unfortunately, taking away from my nature photography more than likely. I'm in my buddy Chris' wedding on Friday, and therefore also have the rehearsal for it on Thursday evening. Saturday, we have our 3rd and final wedding of the last 8 days as well at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens, so perhaps I'll see a hummingbird or two before the ceremony! After this week, hopefully I'm able to get more outings in, as Fall is now setting in and the leaves should be changing soon!

Seen up at Huntley Meadows in northern Virginia, and not positive on the ID (possible House Sparrow or House Finch), but I liked the surroundings in the photo so I included it.