Gleanings from the Web

This month’s summary covers reports to VA-BIRDS for the period from August 23 rd to November 20 th. Individuals interested in subscribing to this listserv or reading its archives can find directions on the VSO webpage. Inclusion in this column does not imply that the sighting has been accepted by VARCOM (the VSO's Records Committee), or verified in any other way. Nor does exclusion of a sighting from this column imply that a particular sighting was not noteworthy.

Among the more exciting western strays this fall was an Elegant Tern seen at Chincoteague NWR in Accomack County on both September 5 th and 7 th, just before the VSO trip there. If the record is accepted it will constitute the second state record of this western species. The previous record is also for Chincoteague, in June of 1985.

Western Tanagers showed up in Henrico County and in Norfolk on October 9 th and 22 nd respectively, while at Chincoteague an unusual tanager was reported on September 15 th that had mixed characteristics of both Western and Flame-colored Tanager. It was speculated that it could have been a hybrid of the two, but was not reported again. Two Northern Flickers were reported on the Eastern Shore in mid October, one as a dead specimen; both were hybrids of the western and eastern forms. Western Kingbirds were seen both at the Culpeper/Faquier County line and on Fisherman's Island in Northampton County on October 10 th and 12 th respectively. Multiple apparent Cave Swallows were sighted at Kiptopeke on October 15 th.

Beginning October 1 st and continuing through the period one to two Greater White-fronted Geese were reported frequently from Fauquier County on farm ponds there, as well as two other birds that were apparently White-fronted x Canada Goose hybrids. Single Selaphorus hummingbirds were reported in Bristol (beginning October 1 st), Virginia Beach (November 12 th), and Chesterfield County (also November 12 th). A Sandhill Crane was sighted at Kiptopeke on October 29 th, and from one to four Buff-breasted Sandpipers at a Loudoun County sod farm cooperated by staying around for a week, from August 31 st to September 6 th. A Clay-colored Sparrow was seen at the Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge (ESVNWR) in Northampton County October 28 th, a LeConte's Sparrow was found at Sky Meadows State Park in Fauquier County on October 20-21 st, and a Dickcissel frequented a feeder in Rockingham County beginning November 6 th.

The season so far has been a good one for boreal seed-eating species. Two Red-breasted Nuthatches at the Harvey's Knob hawkwatch on August 18 th were early, and the species has been reported widely since. Likewise, reports of Purple Finches and Pine Siskins have been numerous, with the first report of a Pine Siskin coming from Prince William County on October 1 st. An unspecified number of Evening Grosbeaks in one flock were reported from Rockfish Gap on October 3 rd, and the highest number reported during the period was of 16 at a regular feeder location in Monterey, Highland County on October 31 st. Additional sightings made were of three at Lake Mercer in Fairfax County on October 30 th, ten in Grundy, Buchanan County on October 31 st, eleven at Snickers Gap and two at Kiptopeke, both on November 2 nd, and one in Alexandria and another at Sky Meadows State Park in Fauquier County, both on November 11 th. Both crossbills have also made appearances in the state, with one Red Crossbill seen at Kiptopeke on October 30 th and another two at Rockfish Gap on November 4 th. And a single White-winged Crossbill visited a feeder in Rockingham County for three days between October 26 th and 28 th.

Significant sightings of northerly waterbirds have included one Common Eider at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel on October 29 th, two Long-tailed Ducks at Lake Anna on the Louisa/Spotsylvania County line and another at a pond in Fauquier County, both on November 11 th, a Surf Scoter at Sandy River Reservoir in Prince Edward County on November 13 th, an immature Great Cormorant at Beaverdam Reservoir in Loudoun County on November 19 th, and the flyby of a flock of Tundra Swans in Culpeper County on November 20 th. The Great Cormorant sighting may be the first Piedmont record if accepted. Also noteworthy in numbers, an estimated 1660 Double-crested Cormorants passed Harvey's Knob in one hour on October 27 th.

Among raptors, an immature Mississippi Kite was tallied at the Kiptopeke hawkwatch on August 25 th, and Harvey's Knob also had an immature on September 5 th, the fourth or fifth record for that site. A Swainson's Hawk was seen at Kiptopeke on October 28 th, and a Rough-legged Hawk at Rockfish Gap on October 6 th was only their fifth record in the lookout's history; one was also counted at Snickers Gap on October 28 th.

While not an invasion year for Saw-whet Owls, banders have none-the-less netted numbers well above average. In the vicinity of Kiptopeke State Park and the ESVNWR, a project sponsored by the College of William and Mary's Center for Conservation Biology had banded 238 Saw-whets as of November 19 th, the third highest total in the eight-year history of the project. And in western Rockingham County, a project under Clair Mellinger of Eastern Mennonite University began collecting the first extensive data on the Saw-whet Owl migration in the Mountain and Valley Province, netting 222 Saw-whets between October 30 th and November 20 th. A Saw-whet was also heard calling on Shenandoah Mountain in Augusta County on October 6 th, constituting the first fall record for that county, and a road-killed bird was found in Fauquier County on November 18 th. Long-eared Owls have yet to be reported this season, but at Harvey's Knob a Short-eared Owl was counted as it passed the lookout late on the 28 th of October.

Finally, A Kirtland's Warbler was reported from a backyard in Grundy, Virginia in Buchanan County on September 3 rd, and a pelagic trip out of Virginia Beach on September 23 rd located a much sought-after White-faced Petrel, after not having been reported in Virginia waters in ten years.

- Gene Sattler