Gleanings…from the Web

This edition's summary covers reports to the Virginia Birds listserv for the four month period from January 25 th to May 31 st. Individuals interested in subscribing to this listserv or reading its archives can find directions on the VSO web page (www.vabirds.org). 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.

We'll start by concluding the winter's highlights. Evening Grosbeaks were reported regularly from Highland Co. at feeders in McDowell and Monterey (1/30-4/14), with a maximum of 30 in McDowell (1/30) and about 100 in Monterey (4/4). A single individual was also found in the western extremes of the state in Grundy, Buchanan Co. (4/17). Only two sightings of Red Crossbills were reported, 18 in Wythe Co. (1/31) and six at Manassas National Battlefield Park in Prince William Co. (3/31). A single Common Redpoll was reported on 2/10, a female in Chesterfield Co. that had been present for several days. A Snow Bunting reported earlier this winter in the Williamsburg area was joined by a second individual on 2/13, and one was seen at Craney Island on 1/3. Two Lapland Longspurs were also seen at Craney Island , on 2/16.

Birds of a western flavor included a male Bullock's Oriole that frequented a feeder in Vienna beginning at least 3/16 through 3/29. There have been very few sightings of this species in the state, and this will likely be the first well-documented one. An immature Harris' Sparrow visited another feeder near Weyer's Cave, Augusta Co. from 4/10-20. One female Brewer's Blackbird was in Richmond Co. on the Northern Neck 3/10, and a Clay-colored Sparrow first seen at Manassas National Battlefield Park on 1/20 remained through 2/16. Several of the Selaphorus hummingbirds reported earlier here remained through the winter, and there was a report of a new bird in Hampton 2/6.

Among unusual winter gulls, there was a Thayer's Gull at the Prince William Co. landfill (2/3), and single California Gulls at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (CBBT) (2/10), the Prince William Co. landfill (2/16 and 3/24), and at Belle Haven/Hunting Creek in Fairfax Co. (2/21-24). Single Iceland Gulls were seen at the Prince William Co. landfill (2/3, 9, 16, 23) and at the CBBT (3/2), while single Glaucous Gulls were at the Prince William Co. landfill (2/5, 9, 25), and at Neabasco Creek, also in Prince William Co. (3/2, 22). Also, Lesser Black-backed Gulls continued to be numerous.

In the waterfowl realm, the Barnacle Goose that first showed up at Dyke Marsh in Fairfax Co. 1/9 was seen, mainly in Alexandria , in the company of Canada Geese, through 2/24. One Greater White-fronted Goose was reported from a farm pond in Fauquier Co. 1/25, and a Pacific Loon was apparently at Cape Charles on 3/16, detected by the characteristic call heard (one had been seen at Virginia Beach 11/30 just before the VSO field trip there). Single Harlequin Ducks were reported from the CBBT (1/26, 2/3, 10, 3/2, 9, 14), as were Long-tailed Ducks (formerly Oldsquaw) (1/26, 2/3, 10, 3/9; maximum of three). Common Eiders were seen both at Virginia Beach (two on 2/10) and the CBBT (two on 3/2, 9, 14, 4/5), and a single female King Eider was also at the CBBT (4/13-15). Single Eurasian Wigeons were seen at four locations: Henricus/Dutch Gap Park in Chesterfield Co. (1/27), a pond in Virginia Beach (2/4-3/23), a pond in Fauquier Co. (3/11-12), and at Stumpy Lake in Virginia Beach (3/21).

Winter raptor reports have been numerous. The most unusual were Northern Goshawks in Bath Co. (2/2) and in Reston (4/19) and Snowy Owls at Craney Island (1/28-2/15) and Chincoteague NWR (4/3). There were four Merlin sightings (2/9 at Saxis Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in Accomack Co., 3/20 in Vienna , 4/21 in northern Virginia , and 4/26 at Willis Wharf in Northampton Co.) and two Peregrine Falcon sightings (2/2 at Chincoteague NWR and 2/9 at Saxis WMA). Both Rough-legged Hawks and Golden Eagles were seen frequently in Bath/Highland Co., with a maximum of four Rough-leggeds on 2/22 and six Goldens on 2/23). Other Rough-legged Hawks were seen in Russell Co. (2/10), Tazwell Co. (2/16), Huntley Meadows (3/23), and Occoquan Bay NWR, Prince William Co. (3/27), and other Golden Eagles were reported in Wythe Co. (two on 1/31), Montgomery Co. (2/4), Fauquier Co. (2/8), Russell Co. (two on 2/10, 17), Fairfax Co. (2/17), and Tazwell Co. (two on 2/16, 23). Short-eared Owls were at their regular field on Bull Run Post Office Road in Fairfax Co. (maximum of two, 1/27-2/18), as well as in Augusta Co. (two on 3/11).

Finally, unusual wintering passerine reports included two noteworthy Yellow Warblers, one at Hunting Creek, Fairfax Co. (1/26-28) and another at Stanton River State Park, Mecklenburg Co. that same weekend, seen there previously 11/23. A Blue-gray Gnatcatcher in Danville on 1/31 was also seen earlier in the winter (12/5). Orange-crowned Warblers were found both at Craney Island (1/28) and at a feeder in Richmond (3/28-29), and a Yellow-breasted Chat was at the Eastern Shore of Virginia NWR (ESVNWR) in Northampton Co. (3/11).

Now we turn to the spring's highlights. A Swallow-tailed Kite was found at Gloucester Point in Gloucester Co. (5/15), and Mississippi Kites continue to stage an expansion north with the following sightings: James City Co. (4/18), Arlington (5/1), near the ESVNWR (5/11), Huntley Meadows, Fairfax Co. (up to two from 5/13 through the period), Augusta Co. (5/26), and a total of six in Brunswick, Greensville and Southampton Cos. (5/27). Staying on the theme of northward expansions, Anhingas continue to be seen with increasing frequency and in greater numbers. Most significant were four males and three females soaring over Stumpy Lake in Virginia Beach on 5/7, following sightings of a pair on 4/8 and a single bird on 4/14. But other recent sightings of single birds have also occurred at Chincoteague NWR (4/26), Curles Neck Farm during the VSO annual meeting (4/27), east Loudoun County (5/17), Greensville Co. (5/27), and the Southampton/Isle of Wight Co. line (5/27). And in Northampton County where Eurasian Collard-Doves have been present since January 2001, a bird was observed nest building just south of Rt 600 and 645 on 5/7. In addition, a bird was seen at a feeder at a new location in the state in Chesapeake on 5/30.

A Pomarine Jaeger seen anywhere on the Coastal Plain would be noteworthy, but a flyby at Kerr Reservoir in Mecklenberg on 5/27 was quite a sight. So, too, was the male Magnificent Frigatebird reported from Isle of Wight Co. on 5/20. A probable Sooty Shearwater was seen at Chincoteague NWR on 5/24, and five additional birds were seen off Metompkin Island in Accomack Co. 5/29. At Chincoteague NWR on 5/19 an adult White-faced Ibis was found in a flock of Glossy Ibises, and at Back Bay NWR eleven adult White Ibises were present 4/28. Single Great Cormorants were seen twice on the CBBT 4/26 and 5/1, and a Sandhill Crane was observed landing just NE of Richmond in Hanover Co. on 4/28. Noteworthy shorebird sightings this spring have included up to two Upland Sandpipers near Remington in Fauquier Co. (5/6-12), including an observation of copulation, three Baird's Sandpipers at ESVNWR on 4/26, and on the Piedmont, a flock of eleven Sanderlings as flybys at Kerr Reservoir. Also worth noting on the Piedmont were the following. A Least Bittern was seen at a farm pond in Fauquier Co. both 5/9 and 5/12. Two or more birds were also at Henricus Park in Chesterfield Co., nearly on the Piedmont , 5/28, one of which was nest building. And a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron was seen in Lynchburg on 5/20. Finally, two Caspian Terns were seen near Verona in Augusta Co. on 4/22, 25, American Avocets were found in Augusta Co. that same day, and a Black Tern was seen on Lake Pelham in Culpeper Co. on 5/23. And not reported on VA-Birds, but worth mentioning, were two Black Terns, one Forester's Tern, and four Caspian Terns, all on Lake Moomaw 5/18.

Concluding the spring wrap up, sightings of rarer passerine migrants included the following reports: Olive-sided Flycatcher at Huntley Meadows (4/23), singing Alder Flycatcher at Phelps WMA, Fauquier Co. (5/22), singing Yellow-bellied Flycatcher at both Dyke Marsh (5/20) and Phelps WMA (5/22), Philadelphia Vireo in east Loudoun Co. (5/17), Alexandria (5/20), Phelps WMA (5/22), and Prince William Co. (5/22), Mourning Warbler near Warrenton, Fauquier Co. (5/16), in Alexandria (5/19-23), Annandale (5/21), Leesylvania S.P. in Prince William Co. (5/25), and at Dyke Marsh (5/26), and an adult male Yellow-headed Blackbird in Charlottesville (5/14).

-Gene Sattler