Oh my Snow!

It has been an unusually snowy February for Southeastern Virginia this year. On President's Day we received several inches of snow and sleet that shut things down for several days. Between the snow and the holiday there was less than 2 days of work. And it was unusually cold that week so the snow and ice stuck around. We don't get much snow and ice here so the cities only clear the main roads, not the residential streets. That is not normally a problem since the temperature usually rebounds and it all melts in 2-3 days. A week and a half later we still have some of that snow left. And then two days ago we received more snow. That one was just a couple of inches but it was really wet and arrived just in time for the evening commute snarling up traffic.  But it blanketed everything and was very pretty. And last night we got the big one (for here). I measured 5.5" - 9" around the deck on the back of the house. This was a nice, light, wet snow. So we are off from work again. We've been enjoying the birds coming to the feeders and went out for a photo walk and snowball fight. Here are some photos from the BIG SNOW of 2015.

Stay Warm,
  Bryan

Wee-will Willet

It has been a while since I wrote anything and even since I spent much time with my photographs. But two annual events, the Virginia Wildlife Photography Contest and the Suffolk Photography Show, with deadlines around this time have made me spend some time reviewing my shots. And while I'm not sure there are many stellar art images in there, there are definitely some interesting stories buried in those images. So I am going to go back and revisit some of those. Here's the first.

The Willet is one of my favorite shorebirds. Maybe because it combines  a set of rather distinct field marks and frequent sightings along the Mid-Atlantic coast. These characteristics led it to be one of the first shorebirds I could reliably identify and was a common sighting on those early trips to beaches. What they lack is showiness, like the well-dressed Oystercathers or the insistent chatter of Killdeers, they make up for with familiarity. They also seem to be at least accepting, if not happy, of sharing the beach with humans. I can count on Willets being seen not just in protected habitat but right in front of the resort hotels in the morning.
This past fall my wife and I made our annual trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina with a group of friends. We rent a house right on the beach during the shoulder season. The houses are packed pretty close together and even in the shoulder season there are plenty of people walking the beach; right alongside the Willets. This particular one was right outside our house and hungry. During only about 8 minutes I saw it twice capture a little nugget of yumminess. Below you can see a sequence where the Willet grabs something from the sand, walks around with it and then eventually eats it (notice the lump in its throat in the last one).

 

And finally, this is one of my favorite Willet photos. It is from a couple of years ago, again at the Outer Banks, right at sunset.

Snow Bunting Memories

A few weeks ago a flock of Snow Buntings and a pair of Lapland Longspurs were seen near our house as part of the Audubon Christmas Bird Count. But it is a 5 mile round trip to the end of the beach where they were seen and with the holidays and Christmas travel coming up, my wife and I didn't get a chance to go out and find them. But then just before New Years I received an email from my uncle that he was coming up to the area for his bird club's trip to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and wanted to meet up for dinner, and if the birds were still around, a trip out to see the Buntings and Longspurs. We were back in town and ready to make an attempt.

Pair of Snow Buntings

As Friday got closer the forecast temperature also continued to increase. The beach in on the Chesapeake Bay and it can get quite cold and windy out there (relative to the southern Virginia winter balminess). Dick drove up and we had lunch and then headed out in early afternoon. The winds and water were remarkably calm and the water level was very low, even for low tide, so there was plenty of beach to walk on.
On the way out we saw a good selection of bay ducks: Scoters, Buffleheads, Loons. At the end of the beach the city has recently built up the dunes with a handful of small jetties and lots of grasses. This is to help reduce flooding of the Back River and hopefully helps protect our house. The target birds had been seen flying around the grasses and rocks. At the first cove we found at least 25 Savannah Sparrows. The most I have ever seen (probably in total; definitely at once). As we are scoping them for good views we see the white and black flashes of the Snow Buntings over the dune. We had heard from a photographer that we passed on the way in that they keep flying around and landing every couple of minutes. We made out way around to the next cover and through a pass in the dunes to where there were several hundred shore birds on the flats. And then the flash of white and black again. This time landing close to us allowing for some nice views. As they moved around we could see that two were slightly smaller and darker. And when the flock landed, they often landed off to the side. But often hidden behind grasses from out vantage point. After some patience and luck we could clearly see they were they two Lapland Longspurs. The longspurs were a life-bird for my wife and I while the Snow Buntings were a lifer for my uncle.

Snow Bunting

Lapland Longspur

Our first Snow Bunting is a pretty funny story. Every fall a group of friends rent a house for a ling weekend down on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It is usually early November before we get down there and our stay often coincides with the Wings Over Water festival so Sharon and I try to get in a guided trip. Probably four or five years ago our trip was out to Alligator River NWR. One of the hoped-for birds was a Snow Bunting that had been seen there with a flock of Red-winged Blackbirds. We found a flock with a albino Blackbird but no Snow Bunting. The following year there was a coastal storm brewing as we headed down. We stayed in Rodanthe just south of Pea Island NWR. Our trip was to the south pond at Pea Island; an area usually closed to the public.
We arrived early Friday morning to the designated meeting spot, the maintenance shed at Pea Island, to howling winds and heavy waves. As we huddled in the leeward side of the building several people were on their phones. Finally the trip leader came over and said they were likely going to close the Oregon Inlet bridge due to flooding before our trip was scheduled to end. That would trap everyone on Pea Island. That wasn't a big deal for us since the rental was just a couple miles south and we didn't have to cross the bridge. But everyone else was staying north of the bridge. So they decided to move the trip to the north side of the inlet to Bodie Island. We obviously didn't want to be trapped up there so we stayed behind. The leader said it would be fine for us to walk around the south pond.
So off we headed into the cold November wind. I'm not sure we headed around the right direction and we weren't seeing many birds. So after an hour and a half or so we decided to call it quits and go get something warm to drink at the house.
But as we approached the road we could see waves topping over the dunes and the water collecting at the base of the driveway down from the parking lot. The waves were coming every several seconds and there was a steady stream of water running down the back side; our side. It was clear that we had only minutes, not even tens of minutes, before the road at the bottom of the driveway would be flooded and trap us.  So Sharon called out over the deafening wind "throw everything in the back seat and drive!" We would put stuff away once back at the house. So up we ran towards our car. As we could start seeing the parking lot we could see that it was good that we were among the late-comers as the side where everyone had parked was now under water and there were only a few dry spots.

Snow Buntings in Flight

Ours was among the high and dry. But then thirty feet short of the car Sharon yelled "STOP! What's that???" This small, mainly white and black sparrow-sized bird was on the edge of the driveway about 15 ft away. Up came the binoculars. A quick scan convinced us both that it could be nothing but a Snow Bunting. A life-bird for both of us. But the flood waits for no bird, no matter how new and interesting. We both called out "Snow Bunting. Yeah! Run!" I quickly unlocked the doors, I still had manual locks so it had to wait for me to actually get there and binoculars, scope, everything was tossed in. Seat belts could wait until we were on dry road. The water was already encroaching on the driveway below. And off we went skirting the water and off on dry land. At least for a few minutes. The water and wind was pushing the dune across the road as we reached the edge of Rodanthe and we had to wait for the "snow" plow to push aside some sand before we could pass. But we finally made it home safely with just a fleeting glance of a Snow Bunting.
The following year another big storm came through and finally tore an inlet through the island right where that shed and parking lot stood.

Unexpected Hummingbird

UPDATE: we have heard back from a hummingbird bander who has identified the bird as an immature male Rudy-throated hummingbird. Hope he has survived the recent cold weather and this was jsut a refueling stop on his way to warmer climes. It's been a great experience learning more about hummingbird identification.

This past weekend my wife saw a hummingbird in our back yard. It is exceedingly late for our normal ruby-throated hummingbirds to still be migrating through. So maybe it is one of the selasphorus genus that sometimes winter on the east coast. But we are struggling to come up with a definitive identification. Any thoughts are most welcome and I'll post updates as we get them. So far we have a a few people suggest that it is a late ruby-throated, and at least one thinking it is a rufous hummingbird.

Here is my wife's write-up and thoughts on what species it might be.

Here is what we noticed:
-buffy wash on sides, meeting in a line across the chest
-grayish spotting on throat; together these give an impression of a double necklace
-back is all green with no observable rufous
-did not get views of splayed tail; no rufous on closed tail; upperside of closed tail gives consistent impression of a white terminal band with a black band above it.
-tail is longer than wings, but just a little bit
-bill is yellow - just kidding - it's covered in a thick coating of pollen, really pretty cute!
-face pattern has white chin and dark above that: white spot behind eye, dark smudge in front of eye, dark smudge behind/below eye, no white above the gape
-apparent dark streaks on green head, but we think this is no so much a field mark as the dark spaces between the feather tracts, since the bird seemed to be holding its crest feathers erect the whole time
-two thin lines of yellow or buffy above and behind the eye.  Again, not sure if this is actually a field mark (some selasphorus have an "orange" eyebrow line) or just more pollen

But what species (or even genus) is it?  Our field guides do not show any dark marks on the throat for a ruby-throat, but then looking online, I did see some photos of immature males with it.  Apparently this can be the immature gorget feathers just beginning to come in.  No rufous coloring seems to suggest it is not Allen's or Rufous, but apparently it can be hard to see on some individuals.  The tail has us really stumped; all the selasphorus (and ruby-throated too) have white on some of the outer tail feathers but not the central feathers.  In images I can find of selasphorus, at least some dark shows at the terminal end of the middle of the tail.  The only images I can find with the appearance of an all-white terminal band are ruby-throats.  I don't know if this is because the outer tail feathers are longer than the inner ones, maybe?  On the other hand, images of ruby-throats seem to have the tail sticking out farther compared to the wingtips than on this individual.  The relatively shorter tail seems better for immature Rufous or Allen's (or even Calliope, which would also be consistent with lack of rufous on the back, but in that case the tail is supposed to be actually shorter than the wings).  The face pattern does not have the extra white above the gape that a Calliope should have, but the white behind the eye and dark in front appears to be common to all of these species.  An expert could probably tell more by size, shape and bill length, but we are not experts, with very little experience identifying hummers, so help would be much appreciated!

More photos at http://www.pbase.com/gbheron/2014_hummingbird. 

Black-and-yellow argiope

While it is not uncommon to see these black-and-yellow argiope spiders in our yard, this past weekend I found this quite large one buried in amongst our ginger lilies. While I didn't stick a ruler in there, the spider must have been close to an inch and a half in body length.

Unusual Chincoteague Sightings

This weekend I had to make a short trip up to Philadelphia. I left there early Sunday morning and had time to stop by Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. For late July, there was a lot going on there; and I don't just mean the crowds looking for ponies. This coming week is the annual pony swim and I guess the crowds are starting early.
But anyways, the birding was good too. Since it wasn't planned as a birding trip, I didn't have the spotting scope with me; but, I did have my camera and binoculars. So many of the birds were just too far out of reach. I concentrated on getting pictures of those kind enough to be close to the edges.
In the second pool on the north side of Beach Access Road I saw a dark ibis in the distance. Glossy ibis wouldn't be unusual this time of year. So that's what I thought. But I took a picture anyways just to document the sighting. Well, when I got home I saw an email on the va-bird listserv that a white-faced ibis was being seen at Chincoteague and it was the only dark ibis that that group had seen today. So I pull up my picture and what do you know? A white-faced ibis.

The image isn't that good but you can definitely see the white on the face.

I had also stopped at the Tom's Cove visitor center. I was going to go in and see if anything unusual had been reported and look around but I scanned the birds on the exposed flats first. And I'm glad I did. In among a lot of common terns and black skimmer was this smaller, all dark bird. A little study and a photo confirmed it was a black tern.

 Again, not a pretty picture but definite proof. I could see a photographer behind these birds next to one of the beach parking lots (P-1). So I skipped the visitor's center and drove around to the beach hoping to get a better photograph. I was definitely closer but I couldn't find the black tern again. Most of the rest of the terns were still there so just bad luck this guy flew. The other photographer had also seen it but then was focused on a bird much further out (he had a much larger lens).
There will be more to come from this trip as I got some good photographs of egrets and the black skimmers skimming. But I wanted to get these out while they were hot.

Sunny with a chance of ...?

Sunday here was a nice, sunny day. Just like the weatherman predicted, nary a cloud in the sky and temperatures in the low 80's. I had been working in the yard making some cages to protect our plants from deer and was just walking back toward the house. I looked up, as birdwatchers are apt to do, and saw a large but odd-looking bird flying towards the house. It took a second to realize it was a bald eagle. It was diving down towards the top of the house with wings fully spread and talons out.
Now, I feel back about this with it almost being Independence Day here and the Bald Eagle is out national symbol, but eagles aren't the kindest of birds. They enjoy themselves some good carrion and aren't afraid to take something another bird has caught.
And back in the yard, as I'm watching the eagle come in, clearly trying to intimidate someone. That someone was an Osprey. I saw it appear out from behind the house and they both quickly disappear behind some trees as they head down the street.
So I continue on around the house to where my wife is working in the garden to see if she saw any of this. When I walk around the house she is standing out by the street looking up at the house. Thinking something unusual had happen I ask what she is looking for. And here is her side of the story.

I was in front of the house weeding when I was startled by a sound like a thump.  I realized I'd been hearing an osprey calling excitedly but had been too focused on what I was doing to pay attention to it.  So, looking up and seeing the osprey flying away wasn't too much of a surprise, but the eagle right behind it, only maybe 15 or 20 feet above the roof of the house was a pretty cool sight.  Then, a red-tailed hawk rocketed down towards the eagle screaming all the way.  Three different raptors in one sighting, very cool.  But what was the thump?  Bryan hadn't heard it from the backyard but it had sounded really close, like something hitting the house.  I had an inkling of what it might be, but we were both pretty incredulous....  Still, Bryan got out the ladder and I went up on the porch roof to take a look.  Sure enough, there was a foot-long fish in the rain gutter!  If I hadn't seen it happen, I never would have believed it.  Good gracious, what if we hadn't seen it?  How many days of enduring the stink every time we went in and out of the front door would it take before anybody would think to look in the rain gutter for a dead fish!

My field guides to fish did not include a chapter on gutter fish. But some poking around suggested that it was probably Atlantic menhaden. It was commonly used in pre-Colonial times as fertilizer. [Side Note: it is now a major commercial fish used for Omega-3 tablets and fertilizer.] So we buried the fish in our veggie garden. If the raccoons leave it alone, we'll see if the plants in that area grow larger.