Week Ending April 10, 2016

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High winds and an overall wide variety of weather conditions affected Virginia Beach and the surrounding region throughout the second week of April. Temperatures were rather up and down with 80 degree (F) warmth on Monday leading to frost conditions on Wednesday morning. Of course, this is coastal Virginia, so nothing should be surprising at this point. Overall, temperatures dropped considerably to a daily high of 65.0 degrees F (an 8.3 degree reduction from last week’s average) and the average daytime lows also dropped dramatically to 46.0 degrees F (a 9 degree shift). While precipitation totals remained low this week (0.11 in.), the wind was the real story, with maximum sustained winds of 39 mph, and gusts to 53 mph on Thursday. Windy conditions persisted throughout the majority of the week which caused rather unfavorable conditions for springtime songbird migration. Perhaps not truly severe weather, but we had a strong hail storm move through my neighborhood around noon on Saturday, despite being 50 degrees F at ground level. This was a good display of just how turbulent the atmosphere was at the time, as the temperature differential between the clouds and ground must have been quite severe to produce hail. Despite these conditions, birders across the region did manage to find some new species, and Virginia Beach’s first-of-season (FOS) arrivals this week included: Ovenbird (5 Apr / Karen & Tom Beatty / West Neck Creek NA), Least Sandpiper (5 Apr / Tracy Tate / Pleasure House Point NA), Green Heron (7 Apr / Tracy Tate / Independence Blvd.), Black-and-white Warbler & Solitary Sandpiper (8 Apr / Tracy Tate / First Landing SP, and Prothonotary Warbler (10 Apr / Jonathon Snyder / Una Davenhill & Betty Sue Cohen / Stumpy Lake NA) though this warbler has not yet been submitted to eBird as of this writing.  A pair of lingering Tundra Swans at Back Bay NWR (7-8 Apr / Robert Wood), and what is likely the first spring arrival of Ruby-throated Hummingbird (8 Apr / Debbie Schroeder / North Point Ct.) also occurred during the week. Some individual Ruby-throated Hummingbirds have managed to overwinter recently in Virginia Beach, and there was at least one hanging around during this year’s mild Jan-Feb period. Now is typically the time where the true migrants of the species begin showing up though. Tundra Swans also have a departure date of 4 Apr set in eBird, so this pair was just slightly late, though I am of the philosophy that it is always good to review that first and last birds of each species to keep those critical dates in check. Aside from the slightly early & late species, there was no other birds in Virginia Beach this week that would be considered or flag as rarities in eBird.

This week moved us one step closer towards the May peak of migration, so species variety continues to increase. On Friday (8 Apr) I walked the West Dike at Back Bay NWR and found a great number of birds after working hours. My primary target was Prothonotary Warbler which unfortunately I could not locate at my usually reliable early-spring spot. The impoundments are still holding good numbers of Green & Blue-winged Teal, but the waters are a bit too high for any variety of shorebirds to be present. The wading species seem to be enjoying it though, with Little & Great Blue Herons, as well as Great & Snowy Egrets present on C-Pool. Greater Yellowlegs were the only shorebird seen in good numbers though as the impoundment water levels drop in the coming weeks, the habitat will become better for non-waterfowl. Last year, by the end of May, the impoundments were essentially mudflats and I did see a pair of Black-necked Stilts for the first time on the C-Storage Pool, so here’s hoping for another lucky find this year. Whitehurst Tract also held some nice flocks of teal on Sunday (10 Apr), and Glossy Ibis are always a highlight there. A single Lesser Yellowlegs provided me a new year bird to cap the outing off. An early morning jaunt to Stumpy Lake NA did not produce any Prothonotary Warbler either, though others would find some later in the day for the first Virginia Beach record of the year. Ovenbirds were heard singing in good numbers (9), and I did have a vireo calling high up in the canopy that I couldn’t quite nail down to species, though all 3 (Blue-headed, Yellow-throated, Red-eyed) are possible right now. The slow rhythm of the song favors Blue-headed, but with these, I’m more comfortable with the ID if I get at least a reasonable look at the bird. A quick check on some of the backroads in southern Virginia Beach gave up a female Wood Duck with 12 youngsters in tow, the first ducklings I’ve seen so far this year, though this was technically in Chesapeake on Blackwater Road while en route to Milldam Creek. Blue-gray Gnatcatchers continue to be present in large numbers and their ‘spee’ calls are tough not to come across while at basically any park in the area. Outside of Virginia Beach, I did also spend Saturday (9 Apr) morning at Great Dismal Swamp on the Washington & Lynn Ditches. Highlights there included my first American Redstarts of the year (and a first for Virginia in eBird), lots of singing Prothonotary Warblers, Ovenbirds & Hermit Thrushes, a nice Louisiana Waterthrush, a first-of-year (FOY) Yellow-throated Warbler and even an American Bittern! It is always a nice time of year to check out the swamp, before the mosquitoes arrive in full force, and the vegetation gets too high on the trails & makes ticks and chiggers a much larger concern. We ought to be seeing our first Spotted Sandpiper, Common Tern, Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, Yellow-throated & Red-eyed Vireo, and maybe even a Hooded Warbler or Black-throated Green Warbler in the next week, so keep the eyes & ears alert!

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Week Ending April 3, 2016

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The final week of March & the first of April proved to be a rather up and down, though standard, spring week. Overall, temperatures increased a bit to a daily high of 73.6 degrees F (a 2.2 degree rise from last week’s average); the average daytime lows also rose slightly to 55.0 degrees F (up 1.9 degrees) and a total of 1.85 inches of rain fell during the week. No real severe weather impacted Virginia Beach this week, though high winds occurred overnight on Saturday, gusting to a maximum of 45 mph in the early hours of Sunday. With springtime progressing, we were again treated to several first-of-season (FOS) arrivals. This week’s arrivals included Lesser Yellowlegs (28 Mar / Rexanne Bruno / Back Bay NWR), Caspian Tern (29 Mar / Karen & Tom Beatty / Pleasure House Point NA), Green Heron (3 Apr / Eric Alton / Lake Joyce) and Yellow-billed Cuckoo (3 Apr / Back Bay NWR). The Cuckoo preceded the ‘extreme early’ date of 17 Apr listed in the Gold Book by a full two weeks, making it currently the earliest all-time record for the state of Virginia! Another species seen for the first time in Virginia Beach for the year was a single Wild Turkey (2 Apr / Rexanne Bruno / Oceana Boulevard). Of course, turkeys are not migratory species, and it has just taken this long for a report to pop up since they are very tough to find in Virginia Beach, though they are quite common not far away on the Eastern Shore and in more inland counties including Chesapeake & Suffolk. They’re an annually observed species, but there aren’t typically more than one or two reports within the county in any given year, so this was the first! A pair of Piping Plovers was also seen & photographed (1 Apr / Andrew Baldelli / Back Bay NWR), and though they weren’t the first of the year, seeing these birds is always noteworthy here. At Back Bay NWR on 3 Apr, the first Prairie Warblers of the season were heard, along the Loop Road and at the Jack Carter Wetland detachment of the park; just one day ahead of their expected 4 Apr arrival date per eBird’s Virginia Beach filter. A Yellow-crowned Night-Heron at Pleasure House Point (28 Mar) was the first of its kind seen at the park so far this spring.

Aside from what might be the final observation of the Lark Sparrow that has been present since early February at Back Bay NWR (28 Mar / Baxter Beamer), there was no other rarities seen within the boundaries of Virginia Beach this week, though the attention of most birders has shifted from really seeking out winter rarities, to searching for early spring arrivals. Yellow-throated Warblers were heard singing for the first time (3 Apr, Tracy Tate, White House Lane), and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers continue to rise in numbers of individuals, and reports. Sightings of other species became more commonplace this week as well, notably the swallows (Barn, Northern Rough-winged, and Purple Martins). Glossy Ibis were seen in a few spots, and migrating White Ibis were on the move as well. Waterfowl variety seemed quite good around the city, but numbers have surely dwindled from the winter counts. Blue-winged Teal, our only duck species that is more transient than winter resident, were seen in good numbers at Back Bay NWR on the C-Pool off the recently opened West Dike. A cautionary note though, since 1 Apr, Back Bay NWR does require payment to get into the park; this will continue through 31 Oct when the dike system is then closed for the winter to protect migrating waterfowl. Songbird migration should really start beefing up over the next week, and southerly winds are expected early this coming week which will hopefully assist them on their path towards us. As always, the log of ‘Noteworthy Observations’ has been updated for this week, and can be found in the Distribution section of the site, or by clicking Here . 

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Week Ending March 27, 2016

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After the extreme heat of the previous week, it came as quite a surprise on Tuesday morning when those of us in Virginia Beach had to scrape ice off our vehicles (one last time?). But, temperatures evened out afterwards & eventually allowed the average to increase a bit to a daily high of 71.4 degrees F (a 1.4 degree rise from last week’s average); the average daytime lows also rose slightly to 53.1 degrees F (up 0.8 degrees) and a total of 1.08 inches of rain fell during the week, though the vast majority (1.02 in.) accumulated on Sunday. Weather conditions since the previous weekend seemed to not favor migration, as the northerly winds associated with the Nor’easter seemed to stop a number of species in their tracks. By the time Saturday & Sunday rolled around though, migration seems to catch back up properly, and Virginia Beach did see its first Piping Plovers (25 Mar, Bob Ake), Chimney Swifts (25 Mar, Karen & Tom Beatty), Northern Parula (26 Mar, Andrew Baldelli), and Barn Swallow (26 Mar, Tommy Maloney) of the season. Additionally, the first Cattle Egrets (27 Mar) & Yellow-throated Warbler (27 Mar, Isabel Eaton) of springtime were observed this weekend though some over-wintering individuals had been observed previously in 2016 due to the mild winter; these are the first instances I would classify as ‘spring arrivals’ though. As with the Gold Book’s descriptions, sometimes wintering birds obscure the arrival dates for some species. The only rarity reported within Virginia Beach’s borders this week was the continuing Lark Sparrow at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge, which was observed again on Friday (25 Mar, Bob Ake), and on Saturday (26 Mar, Isabel Eaton). With March quickly reaching its end, the songbird migration should begin to ramp up, and we ought to be seeing a wider variety of new species each week from here through May. On Friday of this coming week (1 Apr), Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge will begin requiring fees to access the park once again, and one of the dikes will be opened. Whether it is the East Dike or West Dike will depend on the park staff’s assessment of waterfowl numbers, and which is the better option to keep these birds safe. The West Dike affords great views of the impoundments, but last year, it was the East Dike that first opened (in 2014 it was the West). Perhaps the opening of one of the dikes will help give views of some new rarities, or possibly of the Eurasian Wigeon & Mute Swans that were observed in the impoundments by tram a couple of weeks back. As always, the log of ‘Noteworthy Observations’ has been updated for this week, and can be found in the Distribution section of the site, or by clicking Here!

With the later sunsets now, I was able to get out several nights after work this week to try and catch some of the migrants as they arrive. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, the weeknights just weren’t productive, but Friday was a holiday for my company and I was able to spot my first Royal Terns (Rudee Inlet) and Yellow-crowned Night-Herons (Norfolk) of the year. On Saturday, a trip out to the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in nearby Suffolk proved to be a great kickoff to the season. Along Hudnell, New, and Jericho Ditches I found first of year White-eyed Vireo, Black-and-white Warbler, and Prairie Warbler; all relatively early arrivals, and the warblers were both the first reported thus far in 2016 in the county. Dreary weather moved in overnight on Saturday, and Sunday was expected to be a washout. However, I am glad I gave it a go, against the will of the weather forecasts, because it turned out to be my most productive day of the week. First of year Cattle Egrets, 10 of them, were observed on Morris Neck Road while en route to Princess Anne Wildlife Management Area’s Whitehurst & Beasley Tracts. The rain held off for a couple hours while I trudged around the WMA’s freshwater impoundments. One, and possibly a second, American Bittern were observed along with 8 individual Wilson’s Snipe that flew out from the same general area seemingly each time I took a step forward. I could never get them in binocular view though until they burst out of the high grasses into flight. Whitehurst was relatively quiet for waterfowl, with single digits of several species present, but Beasley held a great number of Green-winged Teal & also Blue-winged Teal. A flock of 7 Glossy Ibis at Beasley also were a new year bird, and my target at the park to begin with. The rains began again as I was leaving, and so I did some vehicular birding along the roads (Campbell’s Landing, Fitztown, Back Bay Landing) to the south. A pair of Northern Rough-winged Swallows became a new Virginia Beach county life bird for me (220 species to date now) along Back Bay Landing Road, and a single Purple Martin had taken up residency on the same property I’d seen the Cattle Egrets at earlier in the morning. That flock was again picked up on Mill Landing Road, and a couple of hawks (Cooper’s & Red-tailed) were also observed not far away. By the time the morning had ended, I’d tallied 60 species, on a day when all signs pointed to staying at home and avoiding the rain; just goes to show, you never know what you’re going to get.

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Week Ending March 20, 2016

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While the third week of March started off with some extreme heat, reaching a maximum of 91 degrees F on Wednesday (our warmest day of 2016 thus far), it finished with cooler temperatures as a late season Nor’easter impacted the mid-Atlantic & New England coasts. Temperatures this week dropped a bit to an average daily high of 69.7 degrees F (an 8.2 degree drop from last week’s average), and the average daytime lows also dropped slightly to 52.3 degrees F (down 0.4 degrees); for a second straight week, 0.56 inches of precipitation accumulated through the Monday through Sunday timeframe. Weather conditions early in the week remained favorable for the arrival of spring migrants as southerly winds gave them a nice boost to reach our area. On Monday (14 Mar), the first Blue-gray Gnatcatchers of the year were observed at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge (Peter Martin) and at Stumpy Lake Natural Area (Jonathon Snyder). Interestingly, this is the earliest known arrival date for this species in terms of eBird reports from past years. The Gold Book lists 30 Mar as their expected coastal plain arrival date, but with the warm winter, it seems they stayed further north than in year’s past, so they were able to arrive here much quicker than usual. I tend to consider their arrival to be the true start of springtime, since they’re the first passerine that returns to our area. On Wednesday (16 Mar), Tracy Tate picked up our first Black-bellied Plover of the year, and she also added the first Purple Martin on Thursday (17 Mar). A White-eyed Vireo was heard calling at Back Bay NWR by Karen & Tom Beatty on Friday (18 Mar), and a Northern Rough-winged Swallow was also added for the first of the spring season here (Tracy Tate at First Landing State Park). While the slow trickle of migrants has begun, rarities in the county were tougher to come by. The Lark Sparrow continues at Back Bay NWR in the same area just northwest of the East Dike gate, and it was observed from Monday (14 Mar, Kim Harrell) through as recently as Saturday (19 Mar, David Clark). With the drop in temperatures associated with the coastal Nor’easter and patchy rain on Sunday, there were no reports from Back Bay NWR to confirm if this individual stayed through the entire week or has decided to move on; it was first observed on 7 Feb by Sue Garvin. As always, the log of ‘Noteworthy Observations’ has been updated for this week, and can be found in the Distribution section of the site, or by clicking Here!

For this week, I was out of town from Friday-Sunday visiting some friends in Charlotte, NC so I did not get to see much in the way of birds. Though I did list some Wild Turkeys along the drive to get my first tick in Mecklenburg County, VA in eBird. On Wednesday, I brought my camera and binoculars to work with the hope of observing my first Blue-gray Gnatcatcher of the season at Stumpy Lake given the reports from earlier in the week at that site. During a rather quick outing at the park, I did pick up at least two Gnatcatchers which were easy to find by their repeated ‘spee’ calls. Since the photographs I took of them were ID-worthy quality only, I have added an older shot of a Gnatcatcher above that was taken at Back Bay NWR in 2014 just so folks reading this get a better view of what one actually looks like. The leaves have started to pop out already, which is going to make things interesting in the next couple of weeks. Another hope of mine at Stumpy Lake was to track down a Yellow-throated Warbler, one of our other early songbird arrivals. I have yet to observe one in Virginia Beach, though they should be present here spring through fall, and I feel Stumpy Lake is a likely spot to find them. There is a good bit of swampy terrain with a very tall canopy above it, similar to the Great Dismal Swamp where they are quite commonly reported. I had one bird calling that I think could have been one, but I couldn’t get close enough to see the bird, and I didn’t want to call a county lifer by just the call, that I’m not that familiar with yet. So in the coming weeks, this might become a post-work destination during the weekdays. From now through the end of May is my favorite time to be outdoors, so in the coming weeks I should hopefully have some interesting photographs or observations to discuss. This week should be an exciting one, with some new birds filtering into the region once the southerly winds hit, and help guide their northward journeys towards their desired breeding grounds, whether here or further to the north.

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