Christmas Bird Count

 Again this year my wife and I led a sector count for our local Christmas Bird Count organized by the National Audubon Society. We have been doing the count for about a decade now and most of that time in the same sector. The stops are familiar but every year we adjust the order based on the weather to try and maximize the species and individuals encountered. Some years it is really warm and we visit the wooded areas first to get the song birds as they wake up. Other years we head to the Bay front to get early morning movements out to the feeding areas and return to the woodlands later once the birds have had a chance to warm up. And a couple of times we have been really limited by heavy fog keeping our viewing range down and the birds grounded.

This year the weather was about average; warm enough to be comfortable walking but cool enough that returning to the car or coffee shop were quite welcomed. We also had a newish birder join us for her first Christmas count. She is a fellow Master Naturalist so we knew each other.

The day felt kind of hit or miss with a few stops being very productive and several feeling slow. But that might be the way it normally is and we only remember the highlights and not the slow stops. All told we ended up recording 59 species and 3861 individuals. There isn't a lot of variation in habitat in the sector so that's a good number. In the past several years we have been in the mid-50s for species count.

Some of the highlights include a couple of boat-tailed grackles flying overhead at our second stop. We usually have to wait and hope for them in the grocery store parking lot when we break for lunch. Good to see them early and in "real" habitat. That stop also had an osprey soaring overhead. They are infrequent in winter but our sector is probably the most likely spot for a December spotting around here. 

There is one spot on the beach overlooking the Chesapeake Bay that the gulls like to hang out at. There are several break walls along the beach and just one of those coves hold about 95% of the gulls on the beach. Not sure why the like that one and not the others, but it's been consistent for as long as we have been coming here in winter. This is where we see lesser black-backed gulls on some counts. We found  at least 5 in with 750 ring-billed gulls and a few of other gull species. Wouldn't be surprised if there were a few more but everyone was moving around. 

Lesser Black-backed Gull with a lot of Ring-billed Gulls

In the past, the lessers have shown bright yellow legs that make it easy to identify (the slightly lighter dark back is sometimes hard to be confident with in the glary light). But several of these looked pink to dirty yellow. Some investigation in Sibley's after returning home confirmed they are still lessers and juveniles. Good to learn something new.

At the same stop we saw around 800 red-breasted mergansers fly by in a couple of very large groups. There were also a large group of double crested cormorants sitting and feeding on the water. We sometimes se large numbers moving out the James River to the Bay but this is a first that I remember seeing them all sitting on the water so close to shore.  This was definitely one of the good stops this year.

The next stop included some open fields where we found some very pretty eastern meadowlarks showing off with great views of them facing us. I hadn't carried along my camera and by the time I got it, they were moving parallel to us so not a photogenic. But any bit of bright yellow in winter is a good find.

Eastern Meadowlarks

We also saw nine great blue herons all standing in a row on an island in the small marshy bay (called Mill Creek for some reason as it doesn't seem to flow in from anywhere and I can't imagine there being enough flow to run any sort of mill).

We didn't see much at the far end of the sea wall looking over the bay but did pick up a few surf scoters and horned grebes that we didn't see anywhere else.

After lunch we stopped by a small park on Mill Creek that generally has a lot of pelicans, gulls, and cormorants sitting on an old pier and buffleheads swimming in the water. Although the walk to the pier is about 40 ft, it took us 15 minutes to get there from the car. We were mesmerized by an American kestrel putting on a show for us right overhead.

It was hovering/hunting for a while right in front of us and then decided to perch on this telephone pole for a couple of minutes. After a rest, it took off and was hovering along side us. It dropped down a couple of times but never dove to the ground and caught anything. Eventually it flew off and we continued on to the old pier to see the expected birds. But quite the show for us.

Finally, we had prioritized a marina we always visit towards the end of the day. It is often getting dark or we are exhausted by the time we get here. It offers not a lot of new and unusual species but it has better and more varied habitat than the more urban park and built-up beach that we usually do first and only provides rock pigeons, gulls, and starlings. And it was a good move as we saw 19 species there. This included a pair of belted kingfishers hunting from the boat masts and a row of 11 killdeer all sitting on a private dock across the creek. Just sitting there. Another unexpected sight for the day. 

We did stop and count the 75 pigeons and 200 ring-billed gulls at the beach. Surprisingly, no starlings. But don't worry, we saw plenty earlier in the day. But it felt much better doing that after the nice experience at the marina. 

Once again we had a fun and productive day on the count and provided more useful data on the changing bird populations and distributions. For example, the lesser black-back gulls were quite the amazing find the first year we found them. Now, only a handful of years later, they are almost expected. 

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The fox

 Saturday morning I went out in the yard looking to see if any spring migrants had come in overnight. Walking out past the shed I could hear the baby chickadees calling from their nest box and the parents flying back and forth through the nearby pear tree. Otherwise, it had been pretty quiet and I quickly got to our pier. As I approached the ramp up to it, I noticed an animal sitting about 40 ft out from the ramp.

It seems largely unaware of me at first as it was looking out over the marsh and scratching an itch. Before I got my phone out to take a video, it had turned around and was looking the other way. But still ignoring me. After several seconds it stood up and noticed me but seemed comfortable enough to take care of another itch. During that time I tried moving away from the base of the ramp. I wouldn't have as good of a view, so not video, but I was afraid I was blocking it's path off. It is about six feet down from the pier to the ground. 

It watched me as I stood to the side and then moved to get a better view again. So I turned to walk away, better to give it the space it wanted than to stress it or make it aggressive. About five steps into my retreat, I heard it jump down into the reeds.

We see the foxes around occasionally and even catch them on our camera trap.

But this is probably the closest, and longest view that I've had of the fox. A lovely experience.

A Dismal Spring Day

Yesterday, my wife and I enjoyed the unseasonably warm weather here in SE Virginia by looking for spring migrants at Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. Dismal Swamp is a great place to catch some early migrants, especially warblers. While I'm sure there are plenty of migrants later in spring, once the dense trees fully leave out, there's no hope of seeing anything much. We try to time our annual visit to when the early wave of warblers are coming through and the leaves aren't too dense. 

We often times start at Jericho ditch with the mistaken belief that this is the year we will actually see a Swainson's warbler. The Swamp is one of the best locations in Virginia to find this skulking warbler that allaboutbirds.com says "tends to remain frustratingly hidden in the understory." While others have heard it at Jericho Ditch on a few guided walks we have taken, we've never comfortably identified the song nor come close to seeing one. This year my wife suggested forgoing that annual disappointment and go to Washington Ditch boardwalk which we usually prefer for the rest of the birds. 

Even in mid-April the trees were well leafed out so we started with a lot of songs and no sightings. After some searching we ended up finding a group of yellow-rump warblers, actually late leaving this area, not early arrivals. Since they are winter birds here, their song is always a bit confusing. Further down the road we heard a northern bobwhite calling. A great find as populations have plummeted around here and most of the country. I'll go out on a limb and say it will likely be the only one we hear this year. It's a personal favorite of ours so an exciting bird to find. 

This blue grosbeak was actively feeding low and close to the road giving the opportunity for some good photos. 

As we started the boardwalk we heard a pair of wood thrushes singing back and forth. One was close to the boardwalk and eventually, easy to see.  Shortly after we started down the boardwalk, my wife remembered something she left at the car and returned to retrieve it. I stayed and tried to find some of the birds singing. I was using the Merlin app to help identify the sounds. It works really well, especially to put a name to a familiar song. But here was one that I wasn't quite sure about. Maybe a Swainson's? But probably not. We never really find them. But no, Merlin confirmed; it too heard a Swainson's warbler. We continued down the boardwalk listening to the song get louder and louder. Finally, it had to be right there close. And pop, the bird hopped up to a branch about 10 feet off the ground and 20 feet away. And it sat there and put on quite a show. We were able to get excellent looks as it sat there and sang. It moved a few times just a tree or two for about ten minutes. Finally, it hopped down onto the ground and disappeared behind some trees and fallen limbs. Singing the whole time. 

The real glory at Washington Ditch is the number of prothonotary warblers that nest there. I even have a picture of one nesting in a hollow about a foot off the railing at waist height. While none were that close this time, they were out in force. We never went more than a minute or two without sweet-sweet-sweet-sweet ringing out. 

As the morning wore on birds were fewer and further between. But there are also a lot of great native plants in the swamp. As my wife pointed out, good to see a bunch of aggressive plants that aren't invasive. 

The greenbrier (Smilax) and coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) were blooming.

There were also several large, flying insects. Zebra and tiger swallowtails are common. We also saw a viceroy (might be the first one I've recognized in the wild).

There was also this beautiful ebony jewelwing damselfly.

Overall, a great day with some exciting and unexpected birds and lots of engaging nature.