Week Ending December 20, 2015

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As last week finished up, so too did this week begin with unseasonably warm temperatures across the region. We’ve also surpassed the earliest sunset of the year, which occurred somewhere around December 6, though the days continue to get shorter until December 22 (the Winter Solstice is 21-22 Dec.). How can that be? Well, the sunrises are continuing to be later, so the total daytime is still truncating. On the plus side, this means that each day we get a minute or so more of daylight in the ‘evenings’, though it of course won’t truly be noticeable until March when Daylight Savings Time begins again and we see the sunset occur after 7 PM. Mid-November through early March are always the most difficult time frame for me to get through, since I feel a bit trapped in darkness during the work week. At least this week, by the time Saturday arrived and I could get outside, the temperatures had fallen significantly, being only 36 degrees when I left in the morning. With this push of cooler air, and a strong north wind, I thought perhaps it was the ideal day to find some waterfowl that might have arrived along with on their migrations southward. I actually got a later start than usual, heading out after 8 AM, which is very atypical for me in wintertime, but when I did get out, I headed straight up to Pleasure House Point hoping to find some ducks on the creek. Unfortunately the waterfowl didn’t seem to have gotten the memo, and while I saw a good share of Buffleheads and Hooded Mergansers, the only other species I could find was a pair of American Black Ducks; a very surprising day for lack of waterfowl. No Gadwall, Wigeons, Shovelers, or Pintails were seen, all of which can be found in large groups as we get deeper into winter on Pleasure House Creek. Early in 2015, a Eurasian Wigeon was also mixed in with the groups of dabblers that made the creek their winter home. But on Saturday, it wasn’t meant to be. I did see three Greater Yellowlegs, and I met Mike DeRousse & Chip Allen finally, also running into Eric Alton, three of whom are members of the HRWE group on Facebook, with Chip being one of the admins now. A Northern Harrier, and a pair of Bald Eagles provided some entertainment, and I did see a flock of 10 Brants, my first of the season, though they’ve been present on the Lynnhaven for some time already.

One of our most colorful wintering ducks, the drake Hooded Merganser!

After Pleasure House Point turned out to be not so great, I decided to head across the CBBT up to the Eastern Shore in the hopes that maybe waterfowl were moving south, but just didn’t want to cross the bay during the windy conditions. I stopped at the first island, finding the large flock of Ring-billed Gulls with some Herring & Great Black-backs mixed in, some Rock Pigeons, Sanderlings, and not much else. No ducks here either, not even the highly sought after Long-tailed Ducks that frequent the channel between the islands. Harlequins were another hope of mine since they and Common Mergansers are the only remaining species of ducks that have been observed in Virginia Beach this year that I haven’t seen. Crossing northward into Northampton County I did find some Common Loons on the water, but surprisingly no flocks of Scoters, which should be around in good numbers. Driving over Fisherman Island, Black Vultures were all over as usual, and some shorebirds and waders could be seen along the muddy shorelines, exposed by the tide. My first stop on the Eastern Shore was at Eastern Shore of Virginia NWR, but upon arrival, the area where the trails are was gated off, apparently due to hunting going on. So, I drove up the Seaside Road, and stopped at Magothy Bay Natural Area Preserve instead. Here, I walked the loop counter-clockwise, and found it difficult to see much with the strong winds. No flocks of anything were in the air, and I had just one flurry of songbird activity in a deep area of the forest where the winds couldn’t penetrate. When I arrived back into the songbird habitat west of the woods, I spooked some Northern Flickers, and had overhead passes of Bald Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, and a Northern Harrier that lifted off from the trail ahead of me. But, the most excitement of the day didn’t occur until I reached the parking area, and walked back towards Bull’s Drive. On the drive in I had spooked some sparrows off the ground, thinking they were all Savannahs, so I wanted to give it a check before I left. In walking along the farm field edge, a few birds flushed and flew east with the wind into the nearest thicket. When I put binoculars on them, they looked different than anything I’d seen before, and I at first thought they might be longspurs. I snapped some quick photographs before they flew away, though I did find also a White-crowned Sparrow & and Orange-crowned Warbler in the same thicket. I sent the photographs out to Jason Strickland, Ron Furnish & Todd Day, and the consensus was that they were Vesper Sparrows, though my photographs were less than ideal but still distinctive. That was a new life bird, so a good way to end my weekly blogs! I headed back to the southside after driving a bit on the Seaside Road up to Oyster and back, but my second stop on the first island yielded nothing interesting, only a single Black Scoter & Red-breasted Merganser in terms of waterfowl.

A new life bird, a Vesper Sparrow, seen at Magothy Bay Natural Area Preserve on Saturday!

On Sunday, I was hell bent on getting an earlier start, so I headed out at 6:30 AM while the sun had yet to rise. I actually couldn’t sleep for some reason from about 3 to 4:30 AM, and was contemplating heading out super early to hunt for Great Horned Owls, but, I must have finally fallen asleep. I arrived to my destination, Back Bay NWR, at about 7:15 AM, just as the sun was shining above the horizon. In the low lights, I went out first to the beach to grab some sunrise photographs, and to let the light get a bit higher. On the way I spooked a pair of Mallards from the nearby pond, but it was otherwise quiet. After the trip back to the parking area from the beach, I walked the Bay Trail, Bayside Trail, and Kuralt Trails. There wasn’t much in the way of activity along the Bay Trail until I reached the west end, where Yellow-rumped Warblers were all over the place, and some Red-winged Blackbirds were pretty loud in the reeds. I did find a Swamp Sparrow and at least a couple Marsh Wrens along the trail as well, which are becoming an every outing find lately. On the bay west of the kayak launch, about 235 Tundra Swans could be seen at a distance, with a group of about 12 in fairly close. Near those, a nice surprise, of two Canvasbacks could be seen and photographed. This is one of the waterfowl I’ve yet to ever get close enough too for a nice photo, but this was a step in the right direction. Other waterfowl present were Canada Geese, Gadwall, Hooded Merganser, and American Wigeon. A single Northern Harrier was also perched out in the marsh reeds staring intently towards the ducks. One Bald Eagle, a youngster, was seen in flight as well, rounding out the raptors. I finished up the walk with a trip around the Loop Road, but birds were few and far between here, with the sounds of Eastern Towhee, American Crow and Blue Jays being about the only ones identifiable. I headed out of the park and then drove along Charity Neck Road, Horn Point Road, and Morris Neck Road in the hopes of finding some flocks of meadow birds (Pipits, Meadowlarks, Horned Larks, etc.), but to no avail.

Only present in the area during wintertime, this is an Orange-crowned Warbler, seen in a thorny thicket on the Eastern Shore!

I stopped at Princess Anne WMA’s Whitehurst Tract like I usually do on Sunday outings this time of year since it is the only day it is open to birders due to hunting Monday through Saturdays. When I got out of the car, I found a bit sign reading “This Management area is CLOSED except for Quota waterfowl hunts”. Incredibly bummed out, I tossed my stuff back in the car, and left the area. This spot is pretty much the only public area in southern Virginia Beach, but it appears that I can no longer bird there, which is incredibly unfortunate, and I’m a bit perturbed that I pay $20/year for an access pass to the WMAs in Virginia, so that only hunters can use them. After cursing a bit, I drove around Pungo on Morris Neck, Campbells Landing, Back Bay Landing, and Fitztown Roads seeking out more meadow birds. In the process I did see a lot, good numbers of Chipping Sparrows, a big group of Eastern Meadowlarks, Killdeer, but no Pipits. It seems this is one bird that is just going to continue to elude me while I’m birding by myself, but at least I did see my first with Todd Day on November 14th, the last day I’ve added any birds to my county list in fact. I crossed the Pungo Ferry Bridge and checked around Blackwater for birds, stopping at Milldam Creek Boardwalk for a quick walk, but not finding anything unusual. So, I headed to Stumpy Lake Natural Area thinking perhaps I’d find that Common Gallinule reported a couple weeks. No go on that either unfortunately, and though I think I saw a Blue-headed Vireo high up in the trees along the trail, I couldn’t get a good enough look to be certain, that would have been a nice find since they’re quite rare here in winter, restricted to primarily First Landing State Park. That pretty much rounded it out though and I headed home for the week.

Another of our winter inhabitants, this time a Savannah Sparrow seen at Back Bay NWR on Sunday morning!

This of course concludes my 100th weekly entry into this blog! This blog is surely something that became more and more expansive over time as my understanding of birds moved from a true beginner to somewhere in the intermediate realm. It unfortunately has just become an area of the website that I will be halting so I can put time towards other things. I will continue to write blog articles as rare birds pop up in the area, but they will not be weekly entries by any means (See Bruce Mactavish’s Newfoundland Birding Blog as an example). In discontinuing the weekly blog, it will allow me to build up other areas of my website, so keep checking in, and remember that there is two full years of blog entries that can be of great resource when trying to see what I was finding at any point in the year. Also, I will continue to post additional write-ups to the ‘Articles’ section of the website when I feel one is warranted, like the Kiptopeke Challenge write up was done previously. I will be posting a complete review of my 2015 Virginia Beach “County Big Year” there in the coming weeks, of which it appears 207 species is going to be my final count unless something changes in the next week, so an overwhelming success given my initial goal was to hit 200 species. Any persons who do read this blog, or use my website for any reason, should make sure to follow its public page counterpart on Facebook, RBNature.com, since I post updates there whenever something on the website is changed around or added too! At some point in time, my domain name will likely change since this has really become a birding page for Virginia Beach, so if at any point in time my site can’t be found, I’ll post the new information on the Facebook page, make sure to add it to your ‘likes’! Lastly, I’d like to thank all the folks that have been reading the weekly blog (most notably my mother, Peggy, and my wife, Ruth). It has been my pleasure over the last 2 years to present all this information to you, and while I look forward to having extra time for other things, I know I’ll undoubtedly miss writing it each week. Hopefully in doing so, it will afford me the ability to improve the rest of the site, with my end-goal of making this website into the go to source for all information related to birds in Virginia Beach for amateurs and experts alike!

The final photograph of my 100 weekly blog entries, an American Robin! This species was one of my grandmother's favorite birds, and though she'll never get the opportunity to read this blog, it felt like more than a coincidence that this was my last bird of the day! For those who've made it this far, thank you for following this weekly blog, it has been a wonderful experience, and may the same birding spark be ignited in you! -Rob

Week Ending December 13, 2015

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Particularly wet weather to start the week ended up taking down most of the remaining fall colors, which seems about typical for the first or second week of December. The days continue to get shorter each week as well, though we’re nearing the worst of it, which takes place on the Winter Solstice on 22 Dec. The poor weather continued through about Wednesday and there wasn’t much in the way of checklists being submitted to eBird. On Friday (11 Dec) though, there was a wave of excitement in the form of the first Ash-throated Flycatcher to be seen in the region this year. Karen & Tom Beatty were the first to positively identify this bird, which is a western vagrant that will occasionally show up on the East Coast in November and December. Unique among the flycatchers that would be present now, given that Great Crested Flycatchers are all in southern Florida at the northernmost, this was an easier ID to make than most thought by seeing the bird. While this bird was seen during the ‘open roads’ at Mackay Island National Wildlife Refuge in Currituck County, NC, it is about as close to being in Virginia Beach as it could have been given that one must actually pass through Virginia Beach to reach Mackay, unless they take the ferry across Currituck Sound. The bird was sighted again by others on Saturday it appeared, so perhaps it is sticking around. I’m wondering if it arrived on the strong southerly winds that brought 70 degree temperatures into the region on Thursday, lasting all the way through the remainder of the weekend. As for the sightings inVirginia Beach actual, Royal Terns continue to pop up beyond their expected late date  with being reported on11 Dec by Morton Massey at First Landing State Park. Irregular winter visitors in the form of Pine Siskins (12 Dec / Rob Bielawski / First Landing State Park) and Purple Finches (13 Dec / Gabriel Mapel, Nicole Koeltzow / Pleasure House Point Natural Area) were observed during this week, and the finches were the first seen so far this season here. Fairly rare in winter here, a Blue-headed Vireo was spotted at a feeder mixed in with other birds (12 Dec / Timothy Barry). Noteworthy sparrows of two different types were seen this week, with a Lincoln’s Sparrow present at Pleasure House Point Natural Area on 13 Dec (Gabriel Mapel & Nicole Koeltzow), and Nelson’s Sparrows continuing to be found there by the duo as well as one on 12 Dec (Rob Bielawski). A surprise came nearby in the form of a juvenile Little Blue Heron seen associating with a Snowy Egret (Rob Bielawski, with David & Heather Beloff) on 12 Dec. Several Snowy Egrets were reported at the park, and I have to wonder if others also saw the Little Blue but didn’t scrutinize it for the proper identification. One other species made a first-of-season appearance, that being a Red-necked Grebe off South Thimble Island (CBBT #1) found by Gabriel Mapel & Nicole Koeltzow on 13 Dec. Wintering Baltimore Orioles stopped in at a pair of backyards on Sunday as well, with one showing up at Ron Furnish’s residence, and another to Tommy Maloney’s. Ron’s yard continued to produce unusual sightings with a very late pair of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, the first sighted in Virginia Beach since Kristin Swanbeck’s last backyard visitor was report on 14 Nov.

A gorgeous Hooded Merganser drake sliding across the waters of White Hill Lake in First Landing State Park!

This blog is actually my 99th weekly entry, and after next week’s 100th entry goes live, I have unfortunately decided that I will be discontinuing the blog portion of the website indefinitely. For the last two years, I’ve dedicated a great deal of my time to re-living my outings through the blog posts here on the site. Throughout that time, I hope I’ve given any new birder a good series of steps to take to learn more, and a guide on how to move up to the next level of birding, just as I’ve done on my own throughout that time. Now, I’m ready to focus more on other areas of my site, and to focus more time actually outdoors with the birds to try to make myself more knowledgeable. The last two years of blogs has probably been more about myself, than the birds. I’d like the next year to be about the birds. Additionally,  a couple of months ago I was recruited as a volunteer to help with the area for eBird, and I’ll be spending more and more time doing work on their site to make data better for the Virginia Beach area, and other parts of the state as well. I’m also looking forward to building up areas of the site like the ‘Locations’ and ‘Guide’ sections of the website, and there just isn’t enough hours in the day for me to put effort into all these areas. I felt my blog did what I wanted to accomplish over the last two years, and I’ll always enjoy being able to review old posts to see how much I’ve learned along the way. I’ll also still write ‘Articles’ on a non-weekly basis, when events or sightings warrant it, as I’ve done with the Kiptopeke Challenge and pelagic birding trip. So I guess what I'm trying to say is, even with the blog going inactive, this site will continue to provide a huge amount of information, but on an easier to maintain schedule.

Unseasonably warm temperatures caused a great deal of fog throughout the region on Saturday morning!

This week was a tough one for me outdoors given the darkness situation after working hours, and the holidays swiftly approaching.  For this week, I made it out for a great day on Saturday, starting early around 7 AM at First Landing State Park’s 64th Street entrance and heading down the Cape Henry, Long Creek & Osprey Trails. While I was hoping I might come across a Blue-headed Vireo, I got a songbird surprise in a flock of about 25-30 Pine Siskins that were buzzing overhead in the treetops. These are actually the first I’ve identified on my own in Virginia, and the first I’ve ever photographed, though I’ve seen them many times as a kid during my time spent in northern Minnesota. Woodpeckers were abundant, with the 5 more common species being seen (Pileated, Downy, Red-bellied, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker & Northern Flicker); only the Hairy & Red-headed evaded me, though Hairy are a tough find anytime of year here, and the Red-headeds are tough in winter. Hooded Mergansers, Mallards, Canada Geese & Buffelheads were the waterfowl sightings, and I only had one raptor, though it was an adult Bald Eagle, a welcome sight any day. Throughout the 6 mile loop, it was nice to be there early since I barely ran across any other people on the trails. I don’t mind people, but a lot of time they’ll be with dogs that aren’t leashed, which can be a bit irritating and though it is illegal, never seems to get enforced. I’ve had dogs scare off plenty of birds while photographing them unfortunately. With the 70 degree heat coming in pretty early in the day, it made for a beautiful foggy view across White Hill Lake in the center of the park, something I haven’t seen in a while since we’ve had mainly cooler days lately. Only in Virginia does it seem that the weather hasn’t figured out that it is supposed to be winter. Of course, I’m hoping for colder weather since it brings down the more northern birds as their current home ranges get coated in snow and food becomes scarce, pushing them further south. If the weather keeps up as the last few days have been, it is unlikely we’ll see another Snowy Owl eruption year here. Of course, it is usually in late January or in February when our winter seems to hit its coldest conditions, and I’ve even seen 80 degrees on Christmas Day here, so who knows exactly what we have in store this time around.

Nelson's Sparrows are still present at Pleasure House Point Natural Area, or at least one of them is!

After First Landing, I made a quick trip over to Pleasure House Point Natural Area, parking on Dinwiddie Drive and heading south, then west across the park. The mudflats weren’t visible sicne the tide had just peaked, so the hope of shorebirds pretty much went out the window. A few gulls were in the air, but the first excitement was actually a wader. While photographing a Snowy Egret, I realized the bird was actually a juvenile Little Blue Heron, as mentioned in this blog’s opening paragraph. The bill on the Little Blue is a two-toned color, rather than the all black of the Snowy, and the legs are more a greenish yellow, than the typically black legged & yellow-footed appearance of the Snowy. Seeing the species side by side afforded a great comparison, which I got to explain to David & Heather Beloff who I met for the first time nearby as they also snapped photographs of the birds. Tree Swallows were also noted nearby, as were American Goldfinches. Surprisingly, Yellow-rumped Warblers were seen only in small numbers on the day, not like in the past weeks where they were essentially the only birds I could find. Ducks were seen in the form of Gadwalls, Northern Shovelers, and American Black Ducks along Pleasure House Creek, though just in small numbers still. Sparrows proved to be good photography candidates on the day, with several Savannahs & Songs present on the main point, and one pesky Nelson’s being seen as well. I hadn’t seen any reports of the Nelson’s in a couple weeks, so I was wondering if they were indeed still present, so it was nice to get the confirmation. Their time to shine seems to be October & November, if the last two seasons are any indicator at least. After the 8 miles of walking at the two parks, I headed home to lay down, swinging past Kings Grant Lakes on the way but not noting anything strange. As mentioned, next week’s blog will be blog #100, and will be my final weekly entry. Hopefully, whomever does read this blog will continue to check in on the site, as I'll constantly be updating other areas, and still adding articles as mentioned.

Though very similar to the Snowy Egret, this is a Little Blue Heron juvenile showing the two-tone bill and greenish yellow legs!

Week Ending December 6, 2015

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On Friday evening after work, I made a quick trip up to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel in search of Harlequin Ducks. Earlier in the day, they had been spotted out on North Thimble Island, which is inaccessible to individuals, but as I’d find out later in the day, the Virginia Society of Ornithology held a trip out there that was escorted officially to the spots not typically open to the public. In arriving at South Thimble Island around 3:25 PM, I parked on the southeast corner, and walked the island counter-clockwise as I typically do. On my first pass around the island, birds seen were primarily the large flock of Ring-billed Gulls at the northeast and west sides, numbering about 350 individuals form a quick count by fives. Sanderling were on the rocks in a couple double-digit groups, and Ruddy Turnstones were also seen in a few spots, though they spend their entire year out on the rocky man-made islands of the CBBT. Herring Gulls and Great Black-backed Gulls were also numerous, with most Herrings sitting among the Ring-billeds, and most Great Black-backed in the air encircling the island. Several boats were positioned off the northern point of the island, which was unfortunate since this is where I’d hoped to see waterfowl. Harlequin Ducks like to stick close in to the rocks, or rest on them and it is tough to see the water-side of the rocks everywhere on the island except for along this rocky point. The fishing pier does provide an opportunity to view towards the island, rather than from it, but this didn’t yield any ducks either. I spent some time on the north side of the island though, just watching the horizon with binoculars, and eventually picked up a single Red-breasted Merganser, and a single Black Scoter. A couple of birders passed me with a scope, and I ran into a 3rd birder who identified himself as Rich Rieger, whose name was familiar to me since he posts on listserv. The other two eventually came back to where we were watching, and one of them turned out to be Jack Esworthy, another VA birder from the Richmond area and his visiting friend from Colorado, Todd. All three individuals were in town for the pelagic trip set to go out of Lynnhaven Inlet in the morning, and I was glad that Jack mentioned he got sick on his last trip out. Up until then I was on the fence about using my seasickness patches for my first trip, wondering if it’d be better to find out if I did fine without them, or to just rely on them. Well, after hearing that, I made the logical choice to use them on Saturday morning. While the 4 of us were watching, we had some distant flybys of Red-throated Loons, a good sized flock of Black Scoters, and a set of Surf Scoters as well. No Great Cormorants were seen this outing, and sadly, no Harlequins.

A beautiful sunrise on the way out to sea on Saturday morning!

Saturday morning came all too quickly. I tried to get to sleep early on Friday night, but I think the combination of anxiety and excitement over my first offshore pelagic birding trip just got the better of me. I think I finally fell asleep around 10:30 or 11 PM, and then got up at 4:15 AM to ready myself for the boat, which was set to leave Lynnhaven Inlet at 6 AM sharp for a full day on the open ocean.  After getting my pack & gear all ready, I applied the seasickness patch I had gotten from the pharmacy, and headed out the door into the darkness towards Dockside restaurant, our point of departure. When I arrived just after 5:30 AM, the Storm Petrel II was sitting at the dock behind the restaurant. I’ve eaten many a lunch & dinner at this one, and it is one of my favorites in Virginia Beach, but this was the first time I had been there before the sun even rose, and without any food to enjoy. A side exit to the restaurant allowed us to wait on the outdoor veranda area as the boat was being loaded up by the crew, first mate Kate Sutherland and captain Brian Patteson. As more and more folks showed up, the boat became readied, and we started to pile in, shoving our gear under the benches in the cabin of the boat wherever they would fit. One very nice thing about this trip being out of Virginia Beach was that while I was anxious, it was leaving from my own home area, which provided quite a bit of comfort. Just being familiar with surroundings can make all the difference when trying something new & exciting. Something else that added to the experience was that I knew quite a few of the folks who were going out, including Jason Strickland who I took part in the Kiptopeke Challenge with back in September, Jane Scott Norris, who runs the HRWE group on Facebook and worked with me as an admin while I was still involved last year, and several folks that I’ve had contact with through Facebook, listserve and eBird.

A small portion of one of the massive Bonaparte's Gull flocks!

After a few quick minutes of direction from Brian, we got underway. Shortly after, I finally got to meet Ned Brinkley in person, after many online only interactions when discussing birds since he’s in the HRWE group and he’s also the eBird regional reviewer for Virginia Beach, the Eastern shore & surrounding counties. For those unfamiliar with Ned (you must not be a birder!), among many other items, he is the author of my favorite photo ID guide to North American Birds, and he also is the editor for the North American Birds journal put out by the American Birding Association. It was pretty incredible to see how he could pick out birds at a distance and identify them with accuracy throughout the trip. Also on board acting as a spotted alongside Ned was Todd Day. Todd is the one who got me involved in eBird not too long ago, and also took me out during the Rarity Roundup in November around Virginia Beach, helping me to find birds I didn’t even know I could get here. We were certainly in good hands with these guys running point on the boat. As we departed from Lynnhaven, I got to see a different side of the Lesner Bridge for once, and we pulled out to pretty calm water on the Chesapeake Bay while headed out towards Cape Henry and the open ocean. Nearshore, we saw plenty of Double-crested Cormorants and gulls through the darkness that enshrouded the boat as the sun was just starting to rise up over the eastern horizon. As we neared the cape, and moved out into more open waters, the chop increased on the waves, and I could certainly feel the movement of the boat as we trudged onward at an angle into the oncoming winds. At that point I felt very happy that I chose to wear the seasickness patch on my neck, as the movement was very noticeable, even though the more experienced birders said it was still calm. While heading out from the cape to the northeast, we picked up some Red-throated Loons, a Common Loon, and we even had a Jaeger chasing a Herring Gull quickly around at a distance. Initially, the loudspeakers had called it out as a Parasitic Jaeger, and I was really excited because it was to be a new bird on my Virginia Beach list since we were still close enough to shore that Northampton County’s waters hadn’t yet taken over. However, after the trip, it turned out that there wasn’t enough of a look to be certain it wasn’t a Pomarine Jaeger, so it remained uncountable for my purposes. But, I didn’t know that til much later, so I was very excited at the time, and with good reason, either way I’d never seen a Jaeger before, and I called it out before I heard it on the loudspeaker, so something for me to build some confidence off.

A beautifully marked adult Northern Gannet off the coastline!

Up until this point in my birding ‘career’, I’ve only read about all these species, though I’ve done so quite intently as this date neared, I still had no idea what to expect when seeing these birds in person and not just on the pages of a colorful guide book. After the jaeger excitement, we continued offshore and eventually neared a large platform that apparently is called the Chesapeake Light, situated about 15 miles off the Virginia Beach coastline, but far enough out on this morning that land couldn’t be seen. That was a bit of a strange feeling that took some getting used to, being so far out that land was no longer a landmark. Near the platform we had some good groups of Bonaparte’s Gulls which the spotters intently scanned for Little Gulls. Little Gulls are the world’s smallest species of gull, slightly smaller than the Bonaparte’s, but with a dark underwing visible in flight. Of course, I didn’t know all this prior to the trip, and was piecing much of it together while underway. None of the Littles were sighted so we continued on, and over the next couple hours headed straight out to sea in the general direction of Norfolk Canyon, a deep cut in the continental shelf that drops off from just a couple hundred feet on the mouth, to a few thousand feet at its exit to the abyssal plain. Of course, none of this was evident from the surface from my perspective, but interestingly, almost all the waters we were in were less than 150 feet deep, even 55 miles offshore according to the spotters. For a couple of hours, no birds at all were seen, and things appeared quite bleak. At one point, a Great Black-backed Gull flew in, and I can honestly say I’ve never been so excited at seeing one of these absurdly common birds! As we reached an area where the water temperature increased, and apparently the color also changed on the surface, Brian announced that we had arrived to the area he had been looking for. It is my understanding that the color difference occurs when water masses of different temperature come into contact with one another and aren’t mixed immediately.

One of several new life birds on the day, a Northern Fulmar!

After a little while of cruising around this region far removed from any landmarks, I saw a white flash on the eastern horizon. As I got my binoculars on the horizon, others saw it as well, and Todd ran up to the front for a better look. Shortly after the loudspeakers called out a Northern Fulmar in the distance, so Kate started to toss pieces of dead fish out the back, creating a trail for the bird to home in on. Eventually, gulls showed up, and the Fulmar moved in, provided great looks as it did so, but cruising by incredibly quickly. Its long wings and very stocky body made for easy identification, even for seeing my first one, but I was amazed that it could be called out so distant, apparently due to its flight trajectory. Just after the first pass of the Fulmar, someone yelled Phalarope! A group of 5 Red Phalaropes quickly moved across the water in front of the ship a hundred yards or so. Unfortunately they took to higher air and disappeared pretty quickly but I did get a single shot off with the water as a background before the moved up and blended into the sky. Throughout the next few hours, we had continuing flybys of Fulmars, and we were treated to an amazing show by several Great Shearwaters as well! Another new bird for me was the Black-legged Kittiwake, of which we saw many including both adults with beautiful yellow bills and juveniles with black bills. I have no idea exactly how many of each of these pelagic species we saw, since I had no means of saying whether some were duplicates or not given that they would likely follow the boat as we trudged forward and continued to chum the waters behind us. Great Black-backed and Herring Gulls continuously followed us, picking up pieces of fish as they hit the water, and Northern Gannets also put on a good show. We even had several age classes of the gannets, from true juvenile birds that were almost exclusively brown to second year birds with much more white, all the way up to the full adults and their beautiful marked facial features.

A juvenile Black-legged Kittiwake rests on the water's surface!

All the excitement made riding the waves in the 52 foot boat all the more fun, it is amazing how good moral can make seemingly tough situations into perfectly enjoyable ones. Of course, this was my first trip, so any waves were going to seem huge to me, but it seemed that it was a perfect first outing for me since it wasn’t too rough. However, I will say that the waves made for the most challenging day of photography I’ve ever encountered. Throughout the day, I snapped almost 700 photographs, and I’d say 90% of them were out of focus to the point where they should be deleted, but I never delete photographs given how available and cheap electronic storage is nowadays. The only time I seemed to have trouble though on the boat was when I’d go into the cabin. As soon as I went in there, it felt like I was in a closed box that someone was shaking in all directions, and I immediately had the horrible sensation of not knowing which way as up. I learned through a few trips in and out to retrieve things from my pack that as long as I kept my eyes out the door and on the horizon, I did just fine. It seemed, as I was warned by Todd prior to the trip, that it is really only when your eyes don’t have a fixed viewpoint, and your ears are telling your brain that you’re moving that you begin to suffer issues. Needless to say, I spent as little time as I could inside the cabin, so next time I know to pack some snacks into my own pockets, and filter cloth as well to clean my lens & binoculars. That was an ordeal on its own, trying to keep everything clean and clear while ocean waters sprayed onto all of us; a near impossible task but incredibly important when trying to photograph fast moving seabirds. For several hours we remained out on the ‘high seas’ and enjoying continuous looks at birds. At one point, I got extremely comfortable with the surroundings and felt like I was actually able to call out some birds at far distance with binoculars. The sun was shining all day, and I was down to just a fleece top and my Carhartt baseball cap, rather than the full winter Carhartt coat and knit cap I started the day with. Temperatures must have come up to right around 60 degrees, and it felt great on the protected side of the boat.

My favorite bird of the day, and my best photograph, a Great Shearwater!

Once we started heading back towards the coast, it definitely cooled off though and it wasn’t long before I had to don the heavier gear once again. The waves also seemed to pick up, with the swell greatly increased, and the choppiness going down a bit. I have no way to gauge it, but the wave swells had to have been about 8 or 10 feet or more from trough to crest, it was pretty awesome to see! On the way back, we still had some great birds following us, and we did get another group of Red Phalaropes fly across in front of us. Unfortunately none of them landed on the water this time either, so we never got closer looks at them. Our final new bird of the day came when we were about an hour from the sunset, as a pair of Razorbills flew up northward behind the boat at a pretty good distance. I grabbed a couple bad photographs just to document, but they were far too out for my 400mm lens. It was much more enjoyable to just watch these alcids as they flew through the frames of my binoculars. Further along we came upon some more massive flocks of Bonaparte’s Gulls, and Brian put us in position to again scan for Little Gulls mixed in. I was all the way up front on the boat this time and noticed shapes moving underwater near the flock. I thought they were Mahi (Dolphinfish) because of the green shape, but apparently that was partly due to the water, and they were actually Little Tunny, which the internet informs me are the most abundant species of tuna found in the Atlantic. The fish were clearly feeding on a school of smaller fish, and this is likely what brought all the Bonaparte’s Gulls in. Several thousand birds were in one flock, and it was always shifting and cycling as the birds rode up on the waves the took to the air, incredible to watch, though no Little Gulls were found.

Back on land, I found this Pine Warbler at Whitehurst Tract on Sunday morning!

Over the remainder of the trip, with ever darkening skies as the sun set far over the horizon, it was tough to seek out any new birds, and I wasn’t able to spot anything else near shore that might be a new Virginia Beach species. I got the chance to talk more to Jason and Jane, and Ernie Miller & Jessica Ausura who live up on the peninsula as well. We even had a pair of dolphin breach just off the boat as the sun was going down over Cape Henry, which was awesome, but not a single person on the boat pulled a photograph of that off since it was a one and done leap. The sun eventually set with the Westin hotel visible directly in front of it, roughly 20 miles or more away from where we were on the water; it was pretty incredible how the timing worked out, though my photographs will do no justice to how pretty this was. After the sun went down, we had about one more hour before we arrived back at the docks, and this was a cold hour for me with the sun’s light no longer warming me up. Also, it had been about twelve hours since I’d used the bathroom, since I didn’t want to lose sight of the horizon by going into the tiny, enclosed bathrooms on the boat, so needless to say, I was excited to get home afterwards! I did find out that the bathroom had a plexi-glass window so the horizon was still visible, something I’ll remember for next time, but this trip out for surely a learning experience in many regards. We made it back in just before 6 PM, and I went home afterwards, cleaned up, cooked dinner, and passed out, fully exhausted from the day. The trip was a lot more physical than I’d expected, as just trying to keep your body in position with the all the movement made for a workout. Jamming legs and waist up against the rails in order to use both hands freely on the binoculars and camera made for a few bruises after the long amounts of exposure, but well worth it, and I would highly recommend the trips to any birder who is trying to make the leap from a casual watcher of birds to a more serious observer. The ocean is referred to as “The Last Birding Frontier” for good reason, and I was very fortunate to have taken part in exploring a tiny bit of it!

A Double-crested Cormorant zooming past the marshy impoundments at Whitehurst!

As with Saturday, Sunday morning came too quickly, but this time I allowed myself to sleep in for a little while, getting up around 7 AM instead of my usual 6 AM daily routine. Interestingly, I sort of felt weird all night after getting off the boat since nothing was moving around me like I’d been in for the prior 12 hours. I decided to head down to Back Bay NWR for a more typical day of birding, arriving just after 8 AM to find a huge number of birders there. Apparently the Virginia Society of Ornithology (VSO) was having their field trip there after doing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel & Eastern Shore on Friday and Saturday. I parked in my spot at the base of the Bay Trail and headed down it westward, noting plenty of Yellow-rumped Warblers, some Red-winged Blackbirds, and two chatty Marsh Wrens before reaching the small pond near the end. I could hear a Kingfisher nearby, and found a Pied-billed Grebe in close at the final observation area. At the secondary viewing point, looking north, there was about 150 Tundra Swans visible though way too far away for a good photograph. Ducks were among them, with some Canada Geese as well. In the bay nearer, adjacent to the fishing pier, there was a solid group of Gadwall, but I didn’t note any other species mixed in like I had in weeks past. A few Hooded Merganser were associating with each other, detached from the dabblers. A Horned Grebe flew past, and I could see a few Forster’s Terns far out across the bay through my binoculars. Upon reaching the pier after walking the Bayside Trail boardwalk, I ran into Donald Freeman & Dennis Tompkins, and then also bumped into Bob Ake, who was there to lead the VSO field trip. I walked north to the Kuralt Trail, and got a brief glimpse of an Orange-crowned Warbler before it dove into the brush, just as Bob and two other birds who I recognized from the pelagic trip on Saturday approached. The bird refused to pop back out unfortunately, and Bob had to go lead the trip southward to False Cape SP, but the three of us kept looking to no avail. It turned out the duo was John Pancake & Barrie Kinzie, two named I’ve seen pop up plenty on eBird and listserv, John has a top ten state total I believe this year. We scanned from the north end of the Kuralt Trail, finding a Bald Eagle in the process, but it was pretty quiet so I headed out after a little while.

Our most common winter resident, the Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler!

With all the VSO members getting to ride the dikes to False Cape, I figured if anything neat was going to be seen at Back Bay, I wasn’t going to be the one to get on it, so it made sense to go elsewhere to see if a change in location might bring about some new birds. I went over to Princess Anne Wildlife Management Area’s Whitehurst Tract since it was Sunday, and this is the only day of the week the park is open to non-hunting activities during this point in the year, though eBird lists continually show up on days where no one should be out there, so it doesn’t seem to be enforced. I still wouldn’t want to be out birding in the brush when hunters are ready to spray the area thinking you’re a deer. In walking the outer perimeter, I was again disappointed by the fact that the impoundments were not flooded with water, thus not providing much habitat for waterfowl. I at least saw a pair of Green-winged Teal, 4 Mallards, and a pair of Double-crested Cormorants on the northern cell of the southern half (the Ruff impoundment), but that was it for waterbirds. Three White Ibis on flybys added to the total, and there was of course plenty of sparrows and wrens to keep me busy. The prettiest surprise was likely a Pine Warbler, and interestingly I did add a female Common Yellowthroat, making that four warblers on the day, something very difficult to do in Virginia Beach in December. Only Palm Warblers were missed of the five species that winter here, and I’m not even certain Palms truly winter in the city’s boundaries but they show up at times so they’re counted as winter residents. I spent the next couple of hours driving around Pungo, and Blackwater trying to turn up whatever I could find. In the process, I got some Eastern Meadowlarks on Munden Road, several Northern Harriers at various fields, lots of Chipping Sparrows while trying to seek out American Pipits off Fitztown Road, and I even added another Red-shouldered Hawk at Milldam Creek’s Boardwalk where Todd Day had got me on one back in November. All in all, it was a great way to wrap up another weekend of now-winter birding, but the highlight of the week was obviously the time spent on the pelagic trip!

A striking Song Sparrow at Princess Anne WMA on Sunday morning!

Week Ending November 29, 2015

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This week, the headliner was Thanksgiving. With the holiday on Thursday, and most birders (including myself) spending time with family, there was a drop off in sightings from previous weeks. Starting off where last week ended, the Gray Kingbird was seen again on Monday at Magotha Road in Northampton County, Virginia Beach’s neighbor to the north. Several folks included Rexanne Bruno, Giles, Jason Strickland, and Jim Marcum all added their names to the list of observers who managed to see this rarity while it was in town. Monday proved to be the final day for sightings though, and it hasn’t been observed since. As far as Virginia Beach observations go, things were really quiet while I was out of town, which is a swing from this same week last year when the Crested Caracara off Hungarian Road was causing a considerable amount of chaos in the birding community. On Wednesday, both Bob Ake & Rebecca Walawender observed a Razorbill flying along the beach at Back Bay NWR, being the first of the season sighted in the county. This one was mixed in a flock of Black Scoters according to Bob’s post on the Virginia Birding Listserver, so I’ll have to scan these flock as I encounter them moving forward. I’ve yet to see one in Virginia Beach, though they’re sighted commonly in winter offshore, and from the beaches by those with powerful scopes. The CVWO Seawatch at Rudee Inlet turned up the season’s first Common Eider on Thursday morning when Tracy Tate had one inside the inlet during the first hour of the 3-hour watch. Royal Terns continue to be sighted, and 25 Nov is their late date according to the Gold Book. They seem to be staying longer each year, though they definitely still depart the area before the new year begins, arriving back again in mid-March typically. A few Peregrine Falcons were seen, and Nelson’s Sparrows are still being found at Pleasure House Point. I’ve noticed a number of eBirders that seem to be annoyed by Black Skimmers flagging as rarities, and this should be fixed very soon, so hopefully it’ll quiet some folks down since the birds can be found year-round at Pleasure House Point. Interestingly, a few Palm Warblers were seen this week, and though they are said to winter here, I don’t think I’ve seen one this time of year. I primarily spot them during the transient months when their numbers are inflated by passers-by.  

A very beautiful Palm Warbler, one of the more common warblers of the southeastern US in wintertime!

Since it was a holiday week, on Wednesday evening, Ruth & I drove down to visit her sister & nephew in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, arriving just after midnight following a long post-work drive down the I-95 corridor. On Thanksgiving morning, as I’ve done the past few years, I headed out for a long hike so I could feast without feeling too guilty. The past two years we have visited South Carolina, and each visit, I’ve knocked a bit more off of the Swamp Fox Trail that winds its way through the nearby Francis Marion National Forest. Interesting, Francis Marion is the fellow who Mel Gibson’s character in The Patriot was based off of, and he was commonly referred to as The Swamp Fox, hence the trail’s name. I don’t typically see a huge volume of birds along the trail, but I do enjoy the workout, so I headed out for what would become about an 8.5 mile walk around 7 AM. Throughout the walk, I kept my eyes up and used my binoculars as much as I could, using my camera only as a backup, something I’m working more and more towards since the best birders tend to be the ones who take the least miscellaneous photographs, and only use the camera when something documentation-worthy pops up. Heading up Route 17 towards Awendaw, then northwest on Steed Creek Road, I made it to the starting point on Halfway Creek Road. The forest here looks primed for Red-cockaded Woodpeckers, as it is inundated with Jackpine stands and is managed by the US Forest Service. While I did see some Northern Flickers, Red-bellied & Pileated Woodpeckers, and Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, I never did come across the more endangered Red-cockadeds, so they remain a bird I’ve yet to see in my life. The forest was actually very quiet in the morning, and the air was still. While it was very peaceful, I did miss the thrill of seeing lots of birds like I do in areas I know well back home in Virginia Beach. However, I did find a few neat species along the way. The highlight for me was probably the pair of Blue-headed Vireos seen in the treetops. Surprising a group of 15 or so Wood Ducks on a small rainwater pond along the trail was also a great sighting! Of course, these birds all took off before I could even raise my camera, but I did see them clearly. Nearby, what I believe was a Red-shouldered Hawk could be seen in the trees as well. On the way back to my sister-in-law’s house, I stopped by the Pitt Street Causeway, a birding hotspot in the area, but the high tide was in and birds were scarce.

A close-in shot of a Horned Grebe, showing off their almost devil-like eyes!

On Friday morning, I went out early to a little park in the area called Shem Creek Park. Elevated boardwalks here travel through the tidal saltmarsh and often times afford good wildlife viewing. As with the past couple of years, this site didn’t disappoint, and I quickly started racking up some good species. A Seaside Sparrow and Saltmarsh Sparrow were seen in close to one another in the higher portions of the marsh. The high tide was in here, so many species like Clapper Rail weren’t seen since they tend to be seen out in the open more when the mudflats are exposed and they come out of the reeds to hunt. Common Loons and Horned Grebes were seen on the creek itself, as were Hooded Mergansers. A good size flock of Scaup flew by overhead, but the real highlights were a group of Palm Warblers that came out into the open when I rigorously pished them out. Among them were a number of Yellow-rumped Warblers, the classic winter warbler of the southeastern United States. Other species like Ring-billed, Laughing, and Herring Gulls were also observed, and Double-crested Comorants were seen in the main river offshore in healthy numbers. Brown Pelicans could be seen further out as well. The park provides a really nice view out over the main bay looking towards the city of Charleston and Ft. Sumpter. Two years ago, Ruth & I had a heck of a surprise when a Bottlenose Dolphin put on a show just a few feet off where we were standing. No such luck this time, perhaps they prefer the low tide situation when the fish are funneled into a smaller volume of water. The Horned Grebes were enjoyable finds, diving and popping up pretty close to the boardwalk, much closer than I see them up on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel at least. After walking out and back, I headed home and we spent the rest of the day in the city.

One of the most unique among birds, this is the only bird that can break into a live Oyster shell, the American Oystercatcher!

On Saturday, my nephew got dropped off by his father and spent the day with the three of us. I had done some research on other potential wildlife outings in the area before I arrived, finding one that sounded to be a neat excursion. The Bull’s Island ferry. Leaving from Awendaw, this private ferry takes passengers out to Bull’s island, one of the barrier islands just off the coast a few miles. In between it and the mainland lies the saltmarsh, and the ferry ought to provide some great views of birds there. So the four of us took the 12:30 PM ferry to the island, hiked around for a few hours, and then headed back on the last ferry of the day at 4 PM. En route to the island, we saw a good number of American Oystercatchers, a personal favorite of mine. Horned Grebes, Buffleheads, and Hooded Mergansers were also seen. Surprisingly the Buffleheads flagged as a rarity on eBird, which had me scratching my head a bit since I saw about 40 of them throughout the afternoon. Several Bottlenose Dolphins were seen in the labyrinth of tidal creeks that flowed through the salt marsh, and the boat slowed each time we encountered them. Among the low tide mudflats, Willets, Dunlins, Dowitchers, and Black-bellied Plovers were seen. When we arrived at the island, it had taken about 45 minutes in total to navigate the shallow waters of the saltmarsh. Before we were able to step off the ferry, I noticed a large bird soaring over the island through my binoculars. With a massive bill, and outstretched white and black wings, the bird was recognizable even in shadows as a Wood Stork, a bird I’d never officially seen before, though I wonder if I had seen some in Florida when I was 17 years old when my family visited. Similar to an ibis, but much stronger looking, Wood Storks can be common along the coastline in the southeast though they don’t go much further north up the coast than this area, so I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time. As it turned out, this was the only one I’d see on the day, so I’m glad I was the one that spotted it.

One of the rather large American Alligators that was pulled up on the banks of the freshwater marshes on Bull's Island in South Carolina!

After stepping off the boat and onto the island, we walked a little ways down a gravel roadway toward an open field that had a few buildings, including a bathroom. On the way, I pished a few times to get some warblers to come screaming in so Christopher could see them. Palm Warblers, Yellow-rumps, and even some Ruby-crowned Kinglets were the main species that came towards us when I’d make the pishing sounds, they seemed aggravated by it. Given the limited time on the island, we took the Turkey Walk Trail counter-clockwise, wandering through some pretty thick palmetto forest. Along the way, we saw some Eastern Phoebes, but it wasn’t until we crossed the Summerhouse Road and split between two large freshwater impoundments that the wildlife really began to show up. As we got to the first pond, birds scattered off the water and I wasn’t able to see them clearly enough, but figuring them to be Coots or Gallinules. While I was looking around for the birds, Ruth spotted a 7-8 foot long American Alligator on a mudflat out in the pond not far away. We figured we were lucky to see this one, and thought perhaps no one else from the ferry had seen any yet. From there, we walked down a side trail towards an observation platform, but the high water had overtopped the trail and we couldn’t make it to the end. There was no way I was walking through any water here after seeing the gator. When we got back to the Turkey Walk Trail, we continued on, and suddenly American Alligators started running off the trail into the waterways on both sides. There was at least 15-20 of them along the banks, and several more already swimming out in the water. One large gator held firm up on the bank, facing us, so we didn’t want to continue in our direction. Fortunately, some other people were approaching along the trail from the opposite side, and so we backed off, knowing that as they neared, the gator would run forward to escape. Once they’d cleared us a path, we kept walking, though while waiting, I did get some photographs of my very first Common Gallinules, of which there was probably 20-30 moving through the thick marsh vegetation!

My second new life bird of the trip, this is a female Common Gallinule, not showing quite as vibrant coloring as the males, but still a beautiful species!

Along the walk between the ponds, I took a lot of photographs of the gators, and it was amazing to see how well some of them could blend in with the freshwater marsh. Even some of the ones that had pulled themselves onto the bank were tough to see. From this trail, we ended up meeting back up with the Beach Road, after a half mile walk through more palmetto forest, where the mosquitoes were actually pretty bad, keeping us walking at a good pace to avoid them. At the Beach Road, we headed south and met the ocean, where we looked for shells, and Sand Dollars for a little while. Ruth found one that was still alive so we put it back in the water, and Heather finally found one that was almost complete, though Christopher accidentally broke it later in the walk, so it didn’t make it home in one piece. From the beach, it was roughly 1.5 miles back to the ferry, so we started off the walk, finding more alligators on this side of the pond, and many more Common Gallinules as well, bringing the number up to at least 30 of them seen on the day, not bad for a life bird. I tried pishing a few more times, bringing in some White-throated Sparrows, but almost exclusively Yellow-rumped Warblers. One Northern Mockingbird was added near the meadow with the bathrooms. A group of 17 White Ibis was seen out over the tidal marsh just before we reached the ferry, and while awaiting its arrival, I got some nice photographs of a brilliantly colored Savannah Sparrow in the grass while everyone else was oblivious. When we hopped back on the ferry, we had flybys of Buffleheads, and several Snowy & Great Egrets. Even on the trip back, we did good with the birds though the angle of the sun was making it hard to capture most in photos unless they were in the perfect spot. American Oystercatchers were again the highlight, but Willets, Dowitchers, and Plovers were seen as well. Only one dolphin was encountered on the return trip, and it was a brief sighting, though dolphins are tough to photograph, and most shots end up just being of the water’s surface. When we reached the dock, there was some Short-billed Dowitchers feeding alongside in the exposed mudflats, and a Great Blue Heron was also seen, adding to the wading bird count for the day. Next year, I might do the earlier ferry at 9 AM, and explore more of the island, as it seemed like quite a place for wildlife, and the further out I can get away from the casual visitors, the more I’m likely to see.

One of the birds many folks refer to as "little brown jobs". Clearly, when one gets a good look or photo, there is much more than just brown to these sparrows!