Coastal VA and NC Trip Nets 11 New Statebirds, December 9-13, 2021, Part 2 of 2

I attended a Carolina Bird Club trip to the Outer Banks of NC in mid-December 2021.  And along with extensions into coastal VA, plus 2 travel days, I made it into a 5-day weekend.  It had been more than 20 years since I birded southeastern VA, and I had quite a number of possible new statebirds.  First, several target species like Lesser Black-backed Gull and White Ibis are more numerous there now.  Plus my VA statelist was only at 250 so there were a number of gaps in general I could fill.  On the downside, my last trip was before 9/11 when I was still able to bird on the islands of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel (CBBT) – locations which are no longer accessible due to possible terrorist concerns.  As for NC, even though it had been nearly 3 decades (ouch) since I birded the Outer Banks, my potential targets in NC were pretty limited.  Most importantly I was banking on a couple long-staying rarities, Eurasian Wigeon and Hudsonian Godwit, which were rather reliable.  All told I hoped for 5 or 6 new statebirds in VA and 3 in NC.  And I was looking forward to reacquainting myself with some of the top hotspots on the NC and VA coasts.

This is my summary of the second half of the trip; see my prior post for the first half of the trip.

December 12 – 6 for 6 in Eastern VA

The CBC trip continued on the Outer Banks through the morning of the 12th, but it sounded like the plan was to cover some of the same area we birded on the 11th, plus some other spots that would likely not yield any new statebirds for me.  Plus I had 6 feasible targets in eastern VA, especially given that I missed the Heermann’s Gull and didn’t pursue the Red-cockaded Woodpeckers and Western Kingbird earlier in my trip.  Though the targets would have to be cooperative if I was to have enough time to try for all 6.  So I decided to change my plans and bird eastern VA instead of NC.  I hoped I wouldn’t regret my decision.

The first stop was to try for the continuing Western Kingbird in Virginia Beach at a hotspot called the Harris Teeter Retention Pond.  The bird was most often seen perching in trees surrounding a large field to the south of the shopping center.  Though the last report had the bird at an adjacent school.  Once I parked at the shopping center it only took me a few minutes to get to the back of the buildings and the small pond which looked nice for a migrant shorebird or two in season.  But shorebirds weren’t my target here.  I decided to target the trees around the field as I walked right by the school.  Though I did stop long enough to see a few White-crowns feeding along the trail.

I was now walking along the western edge of the field looking for any movement of larger birds in flight or perched in the trees.  I had a few Blue Jays and woodpeckers here and there but no insectivores.  It was a cold, gray, breezy morning so I started to worry that the insects weren’t moving yet -not the best conditions for a flycatcher.  As I neared the southwest corner of the field I spotted a larger bird fly into the bare deciduous trees.  And with a quick binocular view I had my target Western Kingbird (statebird #5).  I got these distant digibin shots of the bird.

 VA was my 5th eastern state to see Western Kingbird as a rarity. 

I had given myself 90 minutes at this first stop of the day, but only needed 30.  It’s great especially to have the first target to be so cooperative.  Now a whole hour ahead of schedule, I was well-positioned to be able to pursue all my targets for the day. 

Next I was off to the Princess Anne WMA, where White Ibis were being seen in two adjacent tracts – Beasley and Whitehurst.  They were reported a bit more frequently at Beasley, so that’s where I would start.  The WMA was only open for birding on Sundays since hunting was allowed every other day of the week.  Hence I targeted this spot on Sunday the 12th instead of the 10th on my first trip through the area. 

The Beasley Tract features numerous small impoundments flooded to attract waterfowl.  So my plan was to scan each one to look for my target White Ibis feeding in the shallow water.  After a short walk through pine woodlands I arrived at the impoundments that were on both sides of my trail.  Although some were obscured by vegetation, I hoped that I would quickly find my target.  But after searching the first half dozen impoundments I had no waders at all.  And the only waterfowl was a Pied-billed Grebe – had the hunters scared away all the birds?  But then I noticed a tight flock of larger birds overhead – I had 8 White Ibis flying to the north (statebird #6).  I searched the rest of the impoundments but still never found any foraging waders.  Though I had 2 more small flocks of White Ibis flying low to the north.  Wonder where they were coming from and going to?

It was nice to fill in VA in my statebird map as the northernmost Atlantic state where it is regular.  I’ve also seen White Ibis as a rarity in 7 northeast states and DC.

I had one more longer shot target at this spot – Blue-headed Vireo.  This is one of several quite common passerine migrants and nesters that I still need for my VA list.  There were occasional recent records of Blue-headed at the Beasley tract which is near the northernmost extent of its wintering range.  The parking lot was surrounded by nice pine habitat which should be quite good for roaming bands of wintering passerines.  So when I got back to the car I played some Screech-owl tape and quickly attracted a number of Yellow-rumps.  At one point I thought I heard a couple Blue-headed call notes but they were faint and didn’t continue so I couldn’t be sure.  A few minutes later I felt like I had found everything that was in the area so stopped the tape and was about to get in the car.  Just then I heard the characteristic scolding calls of a Blue-headed Vireo (statebird #7) – I guess I could have counted it based on those first call notes afterall.  I now just need this species in MS and DC in its regular range.

The next stop was at the Piney Grove Preserve in Sussex County for the resident Red-cockaded Woodpeckers.  I was actually lucky to have noticed one recent report for this species – otherwise I would have passed right by this area without knowing that this was a regular spot for these woodpeckers.  When I arrived in the area along Chinquapin Road it was obvious where to look for these endangered woodpeckers – there were extensive patches of tall longleaf pines actively managed to reduce the undergrowth. 

I drove slowly through the area stopping at several locations, listening intently for their characteristic calls, but with no luck.  I also looked for the nesting trees that have white rings painted on their trunks, but never found any.  I was starting to get a little worried.  Then finally on my next stop I heard a few woodpecker taps, then got a quick view of a medium-sized woodpecker.  A bit later I heard the calls and got good views of a Red-cockaded Woodpecker (statebird #8).  And as is typical of this species, it was one of 4 birds foraging together in the pines.  Here’s a digibin shot of one of the shier birds.

I also got nice views of a second Blue-headed Vireo here – rarer at this inland location than the one I had earlier closer to the coast.

With the woodpecker under my belt I was off for a second try at the Heermann’s Gull.  My luck with this very reliable bird had to be better than on my first stop – right?  As I pulled into the Hopewell Marina I saw a group of birders around the boat ramp which is the gull’s preferred roosting and feeding spot.  I quickly drove over to them hoping (indeed expecting) that they had my target bird.  But they had been unable to find the Heermann’s despite quite a bit of searching.  Had I struck out again?  Just then another birder walked over saying she just heard that it was perched under the bridge.  That was one of the spots I searched on my earlier try so I knew exactly where to look.

We all drove over to the bridge and sure enough there was a significant flock of gulls perched on the nearby wooden piers under the bridge.  But with a quick binocular scan none of us picked out the gull.  It should be obvious given its unique charcoal gray plumage, so now we wondered about the accuracy of that third-hand report.  I set up my scope to do a more detailed scan, even though I was pretty sure binocular views were good enough.  And then I spotted the Heermann’s – it was sleeping in the shadows of the bridge and it was nearly the same color of the wood (statebird #9). 

VA is now the 4th state where I’ve seen this species as a rarity on the Atlantic or Gulf Coasts.  Wonder what’s causing the vagrancy of this Pacific Ocean gull.

I was thinking of staying to wait for the bird to wake up and give better views, but I had one more target to chase after – Ross’s Goose.  A pair of these diminutive geese were reported in a large flock of Snow Geese two days earlier at Turkey Island Road in nearby Henrico County.  Photos showed the geese foraging in harvested corn fields so it seemed like it could be relatively easy to find them.  That is if the flock was still around.  Afterall there had been no reports in the last 2 days. 

After a quick 20-minute drive I arrived at Turkey Island Road, driving through very nice ag lands with cornfields on both sides of the road.  Excellent wintering goose habitat.  The only problem was I couldn’t find any geese of any species.  I got to the end of the road and turned around for another try.  Then I noticed a car parked on the side of the road ahead of me.  Not too surprisingly, they were birders also looking for the Ross’s.  [On a side note they had recently moved from NH and new of me from my New England days – small world.]  They had just come from a nearby small lake, likely finding the right flock of Snow Geese but not finding the Ross’s.  I was glad I ran into these birders because I didn’t know about the lake.  And always up for a challenge, I was willing to try to find the Ross’s in with the Snows. 

After a short drive and a walk through the fields I came upon the lake with all the geese.  It was located behind a hill and out of view from Turkey Island Road – I would have never found the lake on my own.  The lake was full of geese – I estimated 750 Canadas and 500 Snows – but all quite far away.

Surprisingly most of the Snows were blue-phase birds.  And most of the few white-phase Snows were noticeably small than the “Blues”.  So the good news was that there weren’t many white geese to look through.  The bad news was that the Ross’s wouldn’t be too much smaller than the white Snows.  I started to scan the flock slowly but couldn’t come up with the Ross’s.  But then I noticed a group of 4 white geese together with what appeared to be small bills.  It took a while to get clear views but I finally could see the short stubby bills, steep forehead, and rounded head of Ross’s Geese (statebird #10).  Here’s a very distant phonescoped pic of the birds in the background.

I texted both the NH birders and the ones with me at the Hopewell Marina to tell them that I had found the Ross’s.  A few minutes later they all got to see the birds.  Interestingly the best way to find them in the flock was to look for 4 white geese swimming together.

VA is now my 32nd state for this expanding species.  It wasn't too long ago that Ross's Goose was quite a rarity anywhere across the country.

What a day – I found all 6 of my target birds.  A nice improvement from the beginning of my trip.  Though as an aside, it turns out that the CBC group re-found the Hudsonian Godwit on the Outer Banks that day.  I guess I can’t be everywhere.

December 13 – Another Slow Travel Day

The 13th was my day for the long ride back home from the coast.  And along the way I would make another try for the Say’s Phoebe in Guilford County, NC.  But first on the VA part of my drive I kept an eye open for Turkeys – a bird I still needed for my statelist.  But the best I could do was to spot a dead bird on the side of the highway.  Alas, not countable unless it was still breathing.

I rolled into the Guilford County Farm mid-morning and started my slow walk through the area.  As before I slowly walked around the complex checking out every conceivable Phoebe perch.  After 90 minutes I was not very optimistic.  And then I got a text from the Blue Ridge Audubon group saying that there was a Varied Thrush coming to a feeder in Hickory.  A quick look at GoogleMaps showed that Hickory was right on my home.  The text included the fact that the homeowner was willing to have visitors, his address, and where to stand to look for the Thrush.  Hmm…  Would the Thrush be more likely than the Phoebe?  After searching for the Say’s Phoebe now for 4 hours over 2 trips, I decided to throw in the towel and give the Varied Thrush a try. 

Just after getting back on the road I called my birding friend Bill Hooker and alerted him to the Thrush report.  Bill was very interested, though I mentioned the only thing missing from the report was whether there were certain times of the day when the Thrush was being seen.  Bill decided to try for it as well, and his ETA was actually a few minutes earlier than mine.  An hour later I was just a few minutes away from the feeding station when Bill called.  He was on-site and talked to the homeowner – the Thrush was only being seen once a day pretty early in the morning.  Ugh…  We gave it about an hour, seeing a good number of birds at the feeding station.  But given its history, not surprisingly we had no Varied Thrush. 

That was a tough way to end the trip – missing both of my last targets.  But it was still a most successful weekend, with 10 additions to my VA list, bringing my statelist up to 260.  And my NC list is now at 312 with the addition of 1 new bird.  Certainly better than the 8 or 9 new statebirds I hoped for for the entire weekend.  Plus I reacquainted myself with many of the key hotspots in the upper portion of the Outer Banks and coastal VA. 

Can’t wait to go back!