Week Ending November 16, 2014

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Since I now cannot get out hiking after working hours Monday through Friday thanks to lack of sunlight, my first outing was on Saturday. With my 31st birthday coming up on Monday, Ruth & I decided to go down to the Outer Banks very early Saturday morning with plans to hike our way south towards Hatteras, and then stay overnight around Nags Head so we could do some more hiking on Sunday morning. We left home about 6:30 AM and were in the Outer Banks around 8 AM. We made our first stop at Bodie Island Lighthouse which is a few miles south of Nags Head, and a couple of miles north of Oregon Inlet, the large water crossing between the peninsula containing Kitty Hawk / Nags Head / and Currituck County and Hatteras Island to the south. The lighthouse has a short boardwalk the goes out onto an observation platform overlooking a freshwater marsh. We must have been the first ones there on the crisp & breezy morning since all the waterfowl and wading birds were still tucked close in to the platform. Slowly walking up, we flushed a few Song Sparrows, and then immediately noticed a large group of adult White Ibis just beyond the reeds. As we crept on them, a few Green-winged Teal took to the air, and as they did, so did all the other birds, which included some Northern Pintails and American Black Ducks, and many Tundra Swans. After flushing all the close-in birds, I didn't expect many good photographs, but we did get to add a Red-tailed Hawk to our list as it flew along the tree line to the north. After exiting Bodie Island, we crossed the Bonner Bridge over Oregon Inlet, and from the bridge it was immediately obvious that there was an immense gathering of birds in the vicinity.

Tundra Swans in flight over Oregon Inlet, NC!

It must have been around low tide, probably about 8:45 AM or so when we crossed. Many mud flat islands were visible to the south and west. These islands were completely engulfed by a moving mass of Double-crested Cormorants and Brown Pelicans. Thousands upon thousands of the cormorants were in the air as well, and also on the surface of the water. I've never seen so many in one area in my entire life, it was breathtaking. We crossed the bridge, and pulled off the road into the parking area, then walked the catwalk on the southbound side of the bridge as far as it goes. Along this catwalk, you get great views looking southwestward. Tons and tons of pelicans and cormorants were feeding on the surface, so there must have been a shoal of baitfish present. In addition to the birds, a pod of 3 or 4 Dolphins was also surfacing out in the middle of the action. They turned and headed right towards us on the bridge jumping out of the water along the way. We ran up to where they would hit us perpendicular, and they then dove under the bridge and stayed under on their way back out to sea. Another incredible experience that I had never predicted being a part of on the day. With all the wildlife activity already, I was surprised to find no ducks of any kind around the Oregon Inlet vicinity. Last February, there was tons of Scoters, and a group of Harlequin Ducks, but nothing was found this time, perhaps its just to early in the season. We walked back to the parking area (bringing a whole slew of plastic garbage along with us that careless fisherman just throw on the ground), and then walked the jetty that heads along the shoreline towards the ocean itself. Along this, we got some Savannah Sparrow, a Black-bellied Plover that was on the beach with a Sanderling, and we also got a look at a Northern Harrier as it flew up and over a sand dune, only to catch the wind and disappear quickly southward.

A Black-bellied Plover at Oregon Inlet showing off it's nonbreeding plumage.

We kept on southward, stopping at Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge's visitor center, and walked the mile or so long trail out to the observation platform between the "North" and "South" ponds. Here, we had the wonderful surprise of find quite a few American White Pelicans, probably 30-40! In addition to the Pelicans, along the marshes we could see plenty of American Black Ducks, Canada Geese, loads of Tundra Swans, Great Blue Heron, a Tricolored Heron and a Great Egret, Buffleheads, a group of Hooded Merganser, large groups of American Coots, the list goes on and on. The area was just full of bird life. Yellow-rumped Warblers were also very numerous in the brush on the sides of the trail, trying to no doubt stay out of the wind. We had one American White Pelican fly right over us, but unfortunately a cloud was blocking the sun at the time so my photographs weren't as good as they could have been! After walking back from the tower to the parking area, we crossed the highway and went up and over the dunes to the beach. I was hoping to catch some Northern Gannets or Bonaparte's Gulls, but none were seen, again perhaps too early in the season for them this far south. Continuing southward from Pea Island NWR, we drove through all the town of Rodanthe, Waves, Avon, and finally reached Buxton. At Buxton, we went into the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse area where there is a pond that fills up with waterfowl. Apparently though, again we are too early in the season and only a couple of what appeared to be American Black Ducks were present. We drove further towards the lighthouse,  where we saw a pair of White-tailed Deer out in a field. I pulled the car around and crept up from behind some foliage to get some good photographs of them.

Part of the flock of 30-40 American White Pelicans currently taking refuge at Pea Island NWR!

Afterwards, we drove near the campground area, and actually had a buck and a younger deer walking right down the shoulder. When we stopped, the younger deer actually walked across the road towards us. Seeing them up so close was amazing, but it sort of took away from the effort I'd put in to photographing the earlier deer, now realizing that the population must be extremely used to being around people. I almost consider it cheating to photograph these, as they're wild animals, but have basically become pets to those in the campgrounds. Either way though, very neat to see the beautiful animals up close. After this, we stopped at the Diamond Shoals Restaurant in Buxton, where I got my favorite spicy tuna salad wrap and sweet potato fries for lunch, this being the 3rd time we've driven down to eat here! About noon, and after eating, we started driving back northward, stopping at all the same locations all over again. I figured by the end of the day I walked between 7.5-8 miles probably. On the second outing at Pea Island NWR, I got a group of Willets and Marbled Godwits flying together across the trail, and got great views of the cloud of cormorants to the north.

The beautifully colored Killdeer, seen at Pea Island NWR!

The pelicans were all still present as well. I never did find any American Avocets, one of my hopeful birds for the trip, but, someday I'll find them here, since from eBird reports, they're definitely seen during winter here. On the second pass at Oregon Inlet, we again spotted a Northern Harrier, just after I'd told Ruth to me on the lookout for one. It flew across the dunes, and over the marsh to the jetty, but unfortunately kept going northward across the inlet. Savannah Sparrows were out along the Jetty, and we did see a number of fresh Raccoon tracks in the sandy marsh soils, but never found the responsible party. We crossed north on the Bonner Bridge and stopped again at Bodie Island. This time, with the sun shining, some Tundra Swans flew close enough in to get a nice flight photograph of them. Also, Green-winged Teal and Northern Pintail were still present in good numbers. Afterwards, we decided that since it was only 3 PM, that we didn't really need to spend the extra money to stay the night. Instead, we headed back up north to the populated areas of the Outer Banks (seeing what I believe was a Rail, and a Northern Harrier, perhaps the same that had left Oregon Inlet, along the way). We drove back home to Virginia Beach, partly for the money & time, and mostly because we both wanted to see our cat Buster, who is currently a bit subdued after getting fixed about 8 days prior. Hopefully he'll only be wearing the plastic cone around his neck for a couple more days!

An adult Brown Pelican showing off how beautiful their coloring really is!

Having opted to return to Virginia Beach Saturday evening awarded me the ability to get out hiking locally on Sunday morning.  I went up to Pleasure House Point in the morning, at around 8 o'clock, initially getting out a little later than I'd wanted just because I thought the overcast skies and chilly weather might keep the birds down. Boy, was I wrong. Low tide was about 9 AM or thereabouts from my observations, and the mudflats were packed with the typical species of gulls. I didn't notice any terns/skimmers/or Oystercatchers, but there were a large number of Sanderlings out there as well. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation's new headquarters building (the Brock Center) had it's grand opening (invite only) on Friday, and this morning was its first open house. The center is a mixed bag amongst the wildlife community, but I maintain that it was a small price to pay for the City of Virginia Beach setting aside Pleasure House Point as a natural area preserve instead of it being completely developed into condos/townhomes like it very almost did during the Indigo Dunes days with the Sandler Company. Walking around the sandy patch of the park and along the starts of the interior creeks, I found 1 Greater Yellowlegs along the shoreline, and also got my first American Bittern at the park that wasn't in-flight. This one was feeding and I got to watch it catch a meal. Clapper Rails were heard several times, but I never got any looks, which is typical of these birds here. There are good numbers of Hooded Mergansers and Buffleheads out on the tidal creek, but my big surprise with ducks came on one of the interior ponds when I stumbled upon a group of 6 magnificent Wood Ducks. I took several photographs from 100 yards out and when I took one step closer, they took to the air. I was behind dense foliage, and am just amazed at how weary they were! I haven't yet seen any Gadwall show up to the park though they are very common in winter on the stormwater pond near the east end, as well as the ponds at the west end. One lone Common Loon flew overhead also. There wasn't many songbirds present in the park but I did find a flock of Yellow-rumped Warblers that had several Pine Warblers in it as well.

Tundra Swans (adults at top and bottom, juveniles in the middle) flying past the Bodie Island Lighthouse. 

This was the first time since spring that I've actually photographed a Pine Warbler, and right in its namesake tree to boot. I had no luck with tracking down the now commonly seen (though eBird still calls them rarities) Nelson's Sparrows today, which is the first time in probably my last 5 or 6 outings that I haven't found any. I did however, find a Savannah Sparrow, and many Song Sparrows, so if you're seeking sparrows in general, this is a great place to find them without walking too far. Carolina Wrens were also seen in the dense underbrush along the trail. I did also get a good sighting of a small Sharp-shinned Hawk flying overhead, which I initially thought was a Kestrel or a Merlin, but was able to tell from the photographs that it had banding on the stomach. I never realized just how small the Sharp-shinned Hawks are in comparison to their larger cousins, the Cooper's Hawks, which I see more frequently here in the suburban areas of Virginia Beach. This was the only true raptor I saw, though I did spot a single Osprey that must be over-wintering in the area like last year. I ended up getting home rather early, about 10:30 AM or so, which doesn't usually happen, but after all day out on Saturday, it was nice to catch a bit of a break. Tomorrow, sadly a Monday, and back to work, also happens to be my 31st birthday! Unfortunately this coming week, my company works Monday through Saturday, and then gives us the following Thursday & Friday off for Thanksgiving without docking us personal time off usage. So I'll be working 6 days this coming week, hopefully making it out next Sunday in an attempt to continue my blog for the week, and to hopefully see some neat wildlife. I may have to rely on reports that others have passed on to me to give my blog some meat next week, but check it out anyway when you get the time!

Pine Warbler sitting in its namesake tree at Pleasure House Point!

Week Ending November 9, 2014

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With Daylight Savings Time coming to a close this past weekend, it was a rough work week to get through, knowing that I couldn't make it out birding at all in the evenings. I was beyond ready to get out the door this morning, and hit Back Bay's parking area right around 7 AM. Temperatures were down in the 30s around Hampton Roads over night, and it stayed nice and cool this morning, which really seemed to cut down on the number of visitors to the park. By the time I left around 10 AM, there was still only 4 or 5 vehicles in the main lot, which is great for viewing wildlife. The waterfowl have started showing up now to the park, and the main impoundments are now closed off to the public. I saw a mixed group of Wood Ducks, Ring-necked Ducks, Pied-billed Grebes, and Buffleheads off the Loop Road near the West Dike gate. There was also Northern Pintail, Gadwall, Mallard, American Black Ducks in the area northwest of the parking area. Out over the water, the massive blob of Tree Swallows that have taken up residence at the park could be seen swirling back and forth, and eventually they overtook the entire parking area, it was incredible to see and hear them all streaming by continuously. The Bay Trail was packed with Yellow-rumped Warblers, and should stay this way for a while. Also along the trail I saw a couple of Golden-crowned Kinglets (one showing a good amount of red in addition to it's Golden crown), Carolina Wren & Chickadee, and standard Red-winged Blackbirds. A few Tundra Swans were visible from the very end of the trail, probably a mile or so south on the bay. The Loop Road held a number of Chipping Sparrows, which added to the Swamp and Song Sparrows I'd see near the visitor center.

A Chipping Sparrow sporting its nonbreeding plumage at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

A pair of White-tailed Deer also showed up as I was walking this stretch. It's really nice now that the dikes are closed, and there is basically no foot traffic along the gravel roadways leading up to the gates. I'd initially planned to walk the beachfront south towards False Cape, but I'd neglected to think about just how directly the sun in the early morning shines right at your face walking south. So I opted out of this and just did about a half hour sit, seeing numerous groups of ducks streaming south (a bit too far out for my camera to help me ID, though they looked like Green-winged Teals). Northern Gannets have also returned and a few strayed close to shore. Royal & Forster's Terns were seen, though I believe the Royals will be moving southward out of the area pretty soon. While heading back towards the parking area, I finally caught up with the American Bittern that has showed itself over the last several years in the same spot. After I'd found the Bittern, I ran back to the end of the Bay Trail where a couple of other birders were set up with spotting scopes. The one had mentioned he was hoping to find a bittern, so I wanted to give him a shot at doing so. After I got them on the bittern, I asked if they used listserver or eBird and introduced myself. The first gentleman knew who I was from my postings and turned out to be William Leigh (who I'd later realize is actually the current #2 eBirder in Virginia with about 280 species, the American Bittern being a new one!). The other birder also turned out to be Andrew Baldelli, which I found very amusing since he'd corrected some of my sparrow sightings just that week (Nelson's versus Saltmarsh). I wish I could have stayed out all day today, it was a beautiful one, and lots of species can be tallied at the park now with all the variety of bird families that have showed up! If you've never been, now is a great time to head to Back Bay.

Our most common winter warbler, the Yellow-rumped Warbler!

After a beautiful day yesterday in the region, clouds came in over night and made it a tougher morning for birding than Saturday was. With overcast skies I opted not to go back down to Back Bay NWR since it is about a 40 minute drive (and with questionable skies, it is hard to get excited for the long drive). Instead, I went up to Pleasure House Point (a 20 minute drive) in the hopes of catching some birds just after the low tide had hit earlier in the dark hours of the morning. A good number of species, and individuals were present, the most interesting sighting (to me at least) was a flyover of a beautiful American Bittern as I was talking to fellow Lisa Rose. Just prior to this I'd had a Clapper Rail come flying out of the marsh and land nearby, but it hid under the reeds and I never got another look at it, just the continuous cackles filling the air. The Nelson's Sparrows that are being continually seen were very numerous right at the high tide line of the salt-marshes. Getting photographs of them however was much tougher, though a few did stay up on their respective reeds long enough for an identifying shot. Thankfully, out of a lot of photographs, a few did come out good enough to post. Waterfowl have really started showing up around the region in the last week or so, and about 10 or so Buffleheads, and another dozen Hooded Mergansers were present along Pleasure House Creek up near the northwest end of the park.

The famous American Bittern of Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge has returned!

Also, a group of 4 American Black Ducks was situated along the creek near a settlement of Great & Snowy Egrets. A pair of Osprey that has overwintered in the area was also seen overhead in this area, and a Great Blue Heron added to the species. Tree Swallows in large numbers (though much less than the group at Back Bay) were also present, and it was fun to watch them drinking along the surface of the creek and then perching off in the marsh grasses. I had one flyover of a beautiful Cooper's Hawk, though it arrived right out of the sun, and immediately banked across the creek when it saw me on the trail. I got one identifying photograph as it made it's final turn up into a tree to perch about 100 yards away. Other birds along the hike included a pair of Clapper Rails flushing from their marshy hiding spot, and numerous Yellow-rumped Warbler, though that was about it for the songbirds. After leaving the “Point”, I drove up to the first island of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel complex and walked around the first island (South Thimble Island). I was hoping to find a few species of ducks, but I may be a bit early on that. However, I was excited to find a lone Wood Duck sitting out on the water west of the fishing pier, which was very surprising to me. I expected scoters, mergansers, bufflehead, long-taileds, and other sea faring ducks, not a dabbling species that would much rather be sitting on a small backwater pond protected by surrounding woodlands.

A Double-crested Cormorant fly-by at Pleasure House Point on Sunday morning!

Seeing one way out in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay's mouth was definitely unexpected. I did get a flyover of 3 Black Scoters also, but that was really it for the birds, no Purple Sandpipers, and only a lone Ruddy Turnstone was the only shorebird that I was able to find. I did have a lone Yellow-rumped Warbler flying around and landing on the chain linked fence as well, another bird I was not expecting to see all the way out there on the exposed island. It was still worth the $13 toll just to have the information that the main duck species have not yet showed up. I'm looking forward to seeing folks post their sightings when they do! Over the weekend also, a Western Kingbird was sighted up on the Eastern Shore, and I heard of a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher that had showed up somewhere around Yorktown as well. So the birds are really showing up around the region now, so hopefully this next week will be a good one though I again expect to only get out hiking on the weekends from here on into about March of 2015 with the sun setting so early in the day and me being stuck in the office until that time anyway Monday through Friday. I'm starting to plan for taking my first Pelagic outing on one of Brian Patteson's trips out of Hatteras, North Carolina. These trips are all in February, and this past year, a Yellow-nosed Albatross was among the birds that was seen. Hopefully I'll get signed up for that in the next week or so, so many opportunities for adding to my life list are on the horizon. 

My mother's favorite bird (kind of), this is a Carolina Chickadee in front of some of our beautiful fall foliage. (Her favorites were technically Black-capped Chickadees but we don't have those here).

Week Ending November 2, 2014

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With my engagement weekend having gone the way I'd hoped, I had a whole week of work to look forward to (ugh). I was anticipating another Monday through Thursday of not being able to get outdoors since the sun is setting around 6 or 6:15 PM now. However, thanks to a 2:00 meeting at the City of Virginia Beach on Wednesday that got out at 3:00, I was able to book it home & change clothes, then head up to Pleasure House Point for a short walk. I arrived about 4:15 to Marlin Bay Drive and headed into the park, just excited that on a 75-80 degree day at the end of October I was still able to get out after work hours. The first bird I came across was a cackling Belted Kingfisher that I located far out over the creek. The ponds near the access trail were both empty for a change, typically I'll see Great Blue Herons, or at least some Yellow-crowned Night-Herons along the shorelines. This is the second outing in a row that no Night-Herons showed up, so I'm thinking that the last of them have now headed south and I won't see any in Hampton Roads until the 3rd week of March at the earliest when they migrate back. There was a discussion a while back as to why the Yellow-crowns leave us, but the Black-crowns remain, and it was mentioned that perhaps since the Yellow-crowns feed mainly on crabs, they leave as the crabs go into hibernation, while the Black-crowns, which tend to eat fish, are still able to catch enough prey to survive. I don't know if it's scientifically accurate, but it made logical sense to me at least. Regardless of the reasons for their departure, they will be missed through the next few months!

My first American Black Duck of the season, seen it Pleasure House Point!

While walking along the shoreline I caught up with Kathy Spencer and a gentleman named Randy who was visiting from Roanoke. Both were in search of the Nelson's Sparrows that have been being sighted around the park lately. I showed them a couple of spots where I'd been frequently seeing them, and we watches as a few unidentifiable sparrows moving through the marsh grasses. It was approached low tide so the birds could hide lower in the reeds, making them tough to get good looks at. While watching for them, we saw a Bald Eagle chasing an Osprey that held a fish, and as they flew towards the Lesner Bridge, all the gulls out on the mudflats lifted off at the same time, filling the sky for a few minutes, it was quite amazing to view. I headed off east towards the new pier, and right before I reached it, after a few circles, I got a good look and a photograph of a Saltmarsh Sparrow along the reedy shoreline. I walked back westward to the spot where the 3 of us had been looking for the Nelson's, and surprisingly spotted a Clapper Rail just across the near creek that was walking slowly along the water's edge. Kathy & Randy both walked back towards where I was at, but it disappeared just as Randy arrived. However, a few minutes later it came back out, and stayed in sight for quite a while. Then a second one swam across from right in front of us and ran into the marsh near the first one's location. I couldn't believe it. Under good lighting conditions, it would have made for great photography, but being that it was probably closing in on 5:45 PM, the sun was very low, and hidden by some clouds, making photographs tough, but seeing them clearly was something else! While standing there, a sparrow finally showed itself by walking along the mudflat, where we could finally get a good look. I confirmed this one as a Nelson's with a very orange chest and lacking black striping down the stomach like the Saltmarsh Sparrows have. Randy headed east, and Kathy and I headed back west, surprisingly finding a single Greater Yellowlegs out on the next stretch of low-tide-shown-mudflat. When she headed up to Marlin Bay Drive at the first cut-in, I had parked at the next one between the two large ponds so I kept going. On the final pond, a lone American Black Duck was swimming slowly right out in the middle. This is the first one I've seen in a while, and hopefully a glimpse of what's to come soon to the park, which will be full of waterfowl during the wintertime. It's just a matter of when they begin showing up!

A "murmuration" (large grouping of birds in the family Murmidae) seen on Halloween evening at Back Bay NWR!

On Friday, I made it out for probably my last friday evening outing before Daylight Savings Time officially ends here in Virginia late Saturday night, and the sun will begin setting at 5 PM (wahhhh!). I got out of work at 3 and did a little Halloween walk around Back Bay NWR to close out the season. After sunset, the East Dike road will now be closed to visitors until next summertime. The West Dike road will open up again on April 1, 2015. Until then, the only areas open to the public are the trails immediately around the parking area, the Loop Road up to the waterfowl observation blind, and the beachfront all the way to the North Carolina border. These areas are all open year-round. Anyways, I wanted to get one last walk in along the East Dike before it closed up for the winter. I first walked the close trails, seeing a few Yellow-rumped Warblers and a small (probably still 500 or more birds) murmuration taking flight around the visitor center. A continuous stream of Tree Swallows flew from south to north the entire 2 hours & 20 minutes I was there, probably number in the thousands.

A coastal storm (aka Nor'easter) sliding up the East Coast over the weekend seen at Back Bay NWR!

The wind was really whipping out of the northeast so the water in the bay was very very low as this direction of wind causes it to flow southward towards Currituck/Albemarle/Pamlico Sounds faster than the tide pushes it back in. With the north wind I walked out on to the beach thinking something might have blown in close to shore, and a few Northern Gannets (FOS) were seen but still pretty far out. Some Sanderlings were the only shorebirds present, and one of them was banded, so I'll be interested to see what information I get back on that one. After getting off the windblown beach I headed down the East Dike. Along the way I saw a number of Golden-crowned Kinglets and I also found a lone Clapper Rail next to a freshwater ditch about 3/4 mile south of the waterfowl blind. I've seen a number of King Rails in the park, due in part to the abundance of freshwater (though the bay is slightly saline), but this is the first Clapper I've seen here (since they seem to prefer saltmarsh and brackish habitats). Also got a look at an adult & immature Bald Eagle sitting out on one of the impoundments. Then to close out the walk I had a close encounter with a Great Blue Heron, and got to watch it capture a very large (~12 inch) Largemouth Bass before I headed back up to the parking area. It's been such a great year down at Back Bay for me, this was my 29th visit to the park in 2014 (annual pass to federal lands has become the best Christmas gift my fiance has ever gotten me!). I'm up to 121 species in the park this year and hopefully we'll be able to uncover a few more as we get into the final 2 months of 2014 tomorrow. I will greatly miss being able to take the long walks down to False Cape State Park until springtime, but when it comes around, I'll be excited to have my favorite area open again (the West Dike).

During the high winds on Friday evening, I found this beautiful little Golden-crowned Kinglet taking refuge in a closed off area of pine trees, well protected from the winds!

Over the weekend, we had a very strong coastal storm form offshore and brush by us on it's way northeastward along the East Coast. Saturday at about 7 PM, the tides hit a maximum level of 5.04 feet (above MLLW, mean-lower-low-water, which is the yearly average of the daily lowest tide). This is the highest tide we've had since October 10, 2013 when another strong nor'easter brushed us, caused moderate tidal flooding around the region. This very high tide, and the storm itself cause interesting effects on the local wildlife. For example, this weekend, with the very high tides, the Nelson's Sparrows at Pleasure House Point became very visible since they had to retreat to the highest portion of the reeds they like to feed on. Also, with the high winds, Parasitic Jaegers were sighted offshore be several people on eBird observing from the Virginia Beach Oceanfront at Rudee Inlet, and at Dam Neck Naval Annex as well. The weather could bring some interesting sightings in the next days as well, so I'll be keeping an eye out!

One last view of the impoundments in the interior of Back Bay NWR. The trails leading there will now be closed until April 1, 2015 in order to protect the wintering waterfowl.

Week Ending October 26, 2014

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This week was a very quiet one for me being outdoors. Monday through Thursday I was unable to get outside for photography just because of the sun setting too early in the day now for a trip after working hours to be worth the effort. On Friday, my girlfriend Ruth & I were heading up to Charlottesville, Virginia to stay for the weekend and do some hiking...and also so that I could pull a surprise proposal at the top of Spy Rock just outside of Montebello in Nelson County (I'll try to hit the highlights since this is technically a nature blog). In the plans for quite a while, I had picked out an engagement ring two weeks prior while my mother was in town visiting, and Friday was the day I finally got to pick it up. Naturally, it wasn't there at Noon like it was supposed to be, but after a short panic, it did arrive at 2 PM, so I was able to grab the ring and get it home before Ruth got home so I could hide it in my backpack for the weekend trip. We headed up to Charlottesville around 6 PM or so on Friday evening, and thanks to some truly awful traffic on I-64 up between Newport News and Williamsburg, we didn't make it til close to 10 PM. We grabbed a quick dinner at Ruby Tuesday and settled into our Comfort Inn hotel just southeast of the city proper. On Saturday morning, we were up and out early, before 7 AM, and headed up I-64 westward towards the access at Rockfish Gap / Afton Mountain to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Still shrouded in darkness, we headed south on the Blue Ridge and got to see the sun just starting to rise over the eastern horizon from several of the overlooks. Plenty of people were already up there probably trying to photograph the sunrise as well. We drove past my favorite overlook, Twenty Minute Cliff, and then caught the road that heads eastward down and out of the mountains towards Montebello & Crabtree Falls. Along the way, now with light on our side, it was evident that a good amount of frost had piled up on the ground, and the temperatures must have still been in the 30s or 40s at the highest. We parked at the country store near the small trout fishing pond, and then started walking down the road towards the Virginia Station Fish Hatchery entrance road (the trailhead is just beyond the fishery parking lot but up a very poorly maintained mud road, hence why we walked from further out). Ruth was not very enthused with how cold it was, and for a few minutes I thought I was going to have to rethink my proposal plans.

Atop Spy Rock outside Montebello, Virginia where moments earlier me & Ruth got engaged!

I went to great lengths to conceal that I was going to propose up top of Spy Rock, so I was happy when as we headed up higher, it got warmer, and our blood started pumping from the vertical change. I can't say for sure whether the wildlife just wasn't there, or if I wasn't noticing it since my nerves were a bit anxious, but we didn't really see anything on the trip up. Well up at the top, my plan was to get ahead of Ruth enough so that when she climbed up the last little bit, I'd be there holding the ring, however, the hike was a lot more exhausting than I remembered and I couldn't get out too far ahead, so we were both at the top and I just decided to get the ring out of my bag then. It was inside it's box, wrapped up in a wool sock, inside of a plastic bag (to protect from condensation from the water bottles in the backpack). Ruth thought I was pulling out a snack of some sort, but instead I kneeled down & proposed. I honestly thought she was expecting it over the trip, but she was clearly caught completely offguard, and teared up for a moment before saying "Of Course". A couple of folks up top overheard and were nice enough to come over to take a photograph of us in our celebration. Having finished the proposal, my nerves went away finally and we go to enjoy the beautiful views from up top of Spy Rock. The leaves were well beyond peak, and most of the trees had already shed all their colors, so we missed it by a week or two unfortunately. Looking back in my logs, I was here about 6 days prior 2 years back and seen vivid colors, so just proof that every year is different. 

Looking north from Spy Rock after the 2.5 mile climb from Montebello's Country Store parking area. The leaves were a bit past peak but it was still a beautiful view!

We headed back down the mountain together, and I was trying to get used to the idea of referring to Ruth as my fiance instead of my girlfriend, which probably will take some time since I have over 4 years of the latter engrained in me at this point. The weather was now absolutely perfect out, feeling more like a summer day than a late fall one. On the way down I did finally get some looks at wildlife as many sparrows (White-throated, Chipping, and Song) were seen hopping around next to the trail. Also, a few American Goldfinches, and some warblers that I couldn't ID (potentially Palm or Orange-crowned but not sure) were also seen. Around the fish hatchery, plenty of Black & Turkey Vultures were set up in the trees and soaring overhead. When we finished the ~5 mile hike and got back to the car, we headed down the Crabtree Falls Highway back into the Rockfish Valley and had lunch at the Devil's Backbone Brewery & Restaurant. That was it for our outdoors adventures on Saturday as we were totally worn out from the mountain hike. Sunday, we made it back about 12:30 PM to Virginia Beach, and it was another absolutely gorgeous day, so we went up to Pleasure House Point and did our first hike here as engaged folk. There was a number of people there as always, some of whom were much to loud and obnoxious for my tastes (the only downside to city parks that are easily accessed). We heard a number of Clapper Rails, and I did spot some sparrows, which were either Nelson's or Saltmarsh though I didn't get clear photos to verify with certainty. We did have a Cooper's Hawk fly across from the marshy islands towards the beach and continue on into the interior of the park, and we saw one juvenile Bald Eagle soaring over the same area. Plenty of gulls and terns, and skimmers were out on the mudflats, with a few Oystercatchers, Willets, and what looked to be Greater Yellowlegs as well. We just did one quick loop of the park before heading home since we had a lot of chores to do, and I was just wore out from the weekend, so got to relax on the couch. It was a great week & I'm very proud to be able to announce our engagement!

One of very few photographs I got this past week of wildlife, this was a juvenile Cooper's Hawk that flew over Ruth & I while hiking at Pleasure House Point on Sunday!