Brown Booby in Southwestern Virginia, October 5, 2022

On my last trip to the VA coast in February 2022 one of my long-shot targets was Brown Booby.  There had been a few sightings of one or more Brown Booby leading up to my trip, but sightings were scattered on the coast and none were reliable.  Little did I know that my best chance for this vagrant in VA would come in the mountains in the southwestern corner of the state. 

On September 23 I checked my eBird VA Needs Alert and along with reports of several shorebirds and passerines I needed was a report of a Brown Booby.  I just assumed it was on the coast, but was shocked to see it was in Smyth County – one of the VA counties in the southwestern portion of the state where I birded a week earlier in search of migrant passerines.  Certainly notable, but since it was nearly a 3-hour drive away, I didn’t think too much of it. 

But as the days passed the reports continued on a daily basis.  And looking ahead, we were planning a vacation to visit family in the Mid-Atlantic states starting October 5.  Our route would take us up I-81 within 15 minutes of the reservoir where the Booby was residing.  Certainly worth a short side trip, but would the bird stay around that long?

It was still being reported daily as our trip neared.  So I started compiling information on the sightings to prepare for my search.  The bird was being seen at a large lake at Hungry Mother State Park.  Several sightings were from the dam, and most others were near the beach often loosely associating with a flock of Canada Geese.  But it seemed like the bird might well be frequenting all parts of the lake so it might take some searching, and luck, to find it.  I also reached out to Allen Boynton, the birder I birded with in the area just a couple weeks earlier.  Although he had already seen the bird, he agreed to meet me there to try to get some better photographs.  Our plan was set.

We pulled into the parking area for the dam at the state park at about 11:30 and Allen was there waiting for us.  We quickly walked to the top of the earthen dam and started our scan of that portion of the reservoir.  Unfortunately, despite lots of scans, the bird was nowhere in sight.  The beach area wasn’t visible from the dam, so Allen suggested that I go up to the beach and he would stay at the dam looking for it there. 

A few minutes later we pulled into the beach parking lot and were greeted with this nice scenic shot.

Then almost instantly I spotted the Brown Booby in flight just off the beach.  I texted Allen about the sighting, and then went back to looking for the Booby.  After a while I re-found it flying over the reservoir, and even watched it plunge dive for food.  Much like its Gannet cousins on the coast.  Very neat!  Eventually it flew to a low perch across from the beach where it sat for the rest of my stay.  I got this heavily cropped phonescoped photo of the Booby perched just a foot off the water on the opposite side.

With a long trip still ahead of us, my wife and I stayed with the bird just a few more minutes, then bid farewell to Allen and got back on the road.  Nothing better than a cooperative super-rarity fitting so nicely into the family plans.

Brown Booby was #272 for my VA state list, and the 6th state where I’ve seen this species.  My statebird map is inserted below – I’ve seen it in FL which is the only state where it is regularly seen from shore (shaded in blue).  Plus I’ve now seen it as a rarity (the brown-shaded states) in 5 others.  As my map shows, Brown Booby’s are certainly prone to vagrancy.

Second Time is the Charm for Eared Grebe in Tennessee, September 28, 2022

In January 2022 I chased after an Eared Grebe in the northeast corner of TN at South Holston Lake.  The bird had been seen nearly daily for 2 weeks, and was reported 2 days before my trip.  So I was optimistic about my chances.  But it turned out that the last time the Grebe was spotted was indeed 2 days before I made the drive to TN.  Despite lots of searching I was the first person to come up empty on the Grebe.

So when reports of an Eared Grebe started to show up in September 2022 just west of Knoxville they really caught my attention.  The bird was at quite a small lake on the campus of Pellissippi State Community College in Knox County.  It was first reported on September 10 and continued to be seen on a daily basis.  I wasn’t too worried about chasing after it right away since vagrant Eared Grebes are often long-staying birds.  Then again, the South Holston Lake bird only stayed for 2 weeks, so I probably shouldn’t wait too long. 

I finally cleared my calendar to chase after the bird on September 28, and started to make my plans for the trip.  I also needed several migrant passerines for my TN state list, so I searched for migrant hotspots near the Community College that I could stop at while in the area.  A nearby eBird hotspot called Sharp’s Ridge had nearly daily reports of migrants, and was generally on my way back home, so I decided to give that one a try.  Although it would likely be best to look for the migrants in the early morning, my key target was the Eared Grebe.  So I decided to first look for the Grebe as my top priority bird, then try for the passerines afterwards if time allowed.

I was out of the house before 6 on the 28th, and pulled into the campus of Pellissippi State Community College about 8:15.  The small lake was right in front of me as I parked in one of the large parking lots (luckily no parking permits were needed).

I got out of the car and quickly scanned the lake with my binoculars.  There were a few Canada Geese and a number of domestic Muscovy Ducks, but no Grebe.  I scanned again but once again came up empty.  Several of the recent reports mentioned that the Grebe would dive frequently so I tried to remain optimistic.  Though with each additional negative scan I couldn’t help but remember my failed search for this same species in TN back in January.  Finally on one of my scans I briefly spotted a bird near the northeast end of the lake just a fraction of a second before it dove.  Was it the Grebe?  I trained my binocs at that end of the lake for several seconds until a bird finally popped up to the surface – it was indeed the Eared Grebe.

The Grebe continued to feed at that far end of the lake, so I walked around for a closer look.  Eventually the bird stopped diving and swam quite close to shore.  I got these passable “digi-binned” shots of my target bird. 

My statebird map for Eared Grebe is inserted below.  The blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species in its regular range; cross-hatched MO is the last one in its regular range where I have not yet seen it.  And now TN is the 8th eastern state (shaded in brown) where I’ve seen Eared Grebe as a rarity.  It was #253 for my TN state list.

The Grebe continued at the community college stay at least through October 4.  Like I said – no need to rush after it. 

I only stayed at the college for a few minutes – after all there were other birds to chase after.  Next I headed to Sharp’s Ridge for some migrants.  My most likely target was Gray-cheeked Thrush which was seen there a number of times recently, including the previous day.  One recent report had Gray-cheeked and other thrushes at a fruiting black gum tree by “the ranger’s house”. 

I pulled into the park just before 9:30 and after a bit of driving found what was likely the ranger’s house.  And about 150 ft away found the fruiting black gum tree and it was indeed full of activity.  I spent at least 60 minutes watching the tree as numerous thrushes and mimids came in to feed including – Mockingbirds, Robins, Catbirds, Thrashers, and Bluebirds.  Eventually I spotted a couple Catharus thrushes but they were just Swainson’s.  I wandered around the park a bit and ended up with a respectable tally of 10 warbler species, but couldn’t come up with a Gray-cheeked.  At least the views from the ridge were nice.

 Oh well, it gives me a reason to come back to TN during fall passerine migration.

Four Fall Migrants in Southwest Virginia, September 18-19, 2022

Soon after I moved to western North Carolina I put together a list of potential targets I needed for my Virginia state list that might be feasible in the southwestern corner of the state.  Although that is the closest portion of VA to my home, it is still at least a 2 hour drive just to reach the NC/VA stateline, and of course longer to get to any VA birding hotspots in the area.- As a result, I hadn’t yet made any efforts to bird in the area. 

But then as Fall 2022 approached I opened up my target list to see what migrants might be feasible as new VA statebirds.  There were actually a few pretty common migrants I needed, like Cape May, Tennessee, and Magnolia Warblers, and quite a number of rarer ones as well.  So I started to research potential VA birding locations as close to home as possible.  And given the distance, I figured it would be best to make it a 2-day, 1-night, trip.

While doing research for the trip I noticed that many of the eBird reports from the area came from local birder Allen Boynton.  So after I had pinned down what appeared to be the key hotspots I should bird I reached out to Allen to ask for some advice for birding those sites.  In his response Allen offered to bird with me if schedules meshed.  I never turn down an opportunity to explore a new area with a local expert, so I quickly accepted his offer.  And soon afterwards we had pinned down the dates for the trip – September 18 and 19.

We set the dates more than a week before the trip, long before there were any predictions for the size of the migration on those days.  So I just crossed my fingers that those dates would be good for migrants.  Unfortunately, it turned out that we picked some of the worst dates for migration in the entire month.  Although there were exceptionally high numbers of migrants earlier that week, the nights before my 2 planned birding days were among the worst that week.  Here is the reported number of birds crossing Grayson County the week of my trip, per BirdCast (dashboard.birdcast.info):

Night of –           Sept. 13 – 1,653,000

                             Sept. 14 – 1,548,000

                             Sept. 15 –   781,000

                             Sept. 16 –   334,000

                             Sept. 17 –    91,000 (night before Day 1)

                            Sept. 18 –   390,000 (night before Day 2)

                             Sept. 19 -  951,000

And ironically, migration picked up the night I left.  Go figure…  Despite the slow migration I still hoped for maybe 4 new statebirds on this trip.

My research also showed that a number of my targets were local but reliable breeders in the area as well.  That would of course need to wait till next summer, but a secondary objective of my September trip would be to get acquainted with some of these locations for a future summer trip.

Day 1 - September 18

I was out the door at about 5:45 on the 18th, and met up with Allen at 8:30.  First we headed to Homestead Road in Grayson County – one of Allen’s favorite spots.  We started at the eastern end of the road, which was quite birdy, with several warblers including Ovenbirds, Hooded, and Black-throated Blue.  There were also a number of Swainson’s Thrushes, and I was lucky enough to pick out one Gray-cheeked mixed in.  A bit later as we scanned a small feeding group in a treetop Allen spotted a Tennessee Warbler, which I quickly got on (new statebird #1).  My statebird map for Tennessee Warbler is inserted below.  The blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species; the cross-hatched states are those in its regular range where I’ve yet to see it.  Now that I can color in VA I have just two states along the western edge of its range where I still need Tennessee.

We continued to bird the site picking up more Thrushes and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, and several Hummingbirds.  Then Allen spotted a Philadelphia Vireo high up in a tree.  Luckily the tree was pretty bare so I was able to get on the Vireo before it took off (statebird #2).  Thanks Allen!  Although the Philly Vireo range is quite similar to that of the Tennessee Warbler, my statebird maps are very different – I still need this less common species in many states in its regular range.  Though I have seen it in NM as a rarity (brown-shaded state).

We made several more stops on Homestead Road, including visiting quite a number of very nice habitats, but found no more migrants.  Definitely a place to come back to on a future trip – either for nesters or on a better migration day.

Next we were onto the Elk Garden Trailhead area.  This site features a grassy bald that has nesting Vesper Sparrows, which are occasionally reported into fall.  Just after we reached the parking lot we noticed a small group of juvenile sparrows foraging in the gravel.  Although I had Vesper on the mind, they were just juvenile Juncos.  We walked up the hill through the grasses, eventually connecting with the Appalachian Trail, looking for Vespers but just found Fields and Songs.  And we had a few migrants in the low trees at the edges of the bald, including Palm, Black-throated Blue, and Yellow-rumped Warblers, and a couple early Ruby-crowned Kinglets, but no key targets.  It was nice to see the site though and be able to know where to look for Vesper Sparrows on a future summer trip.

Then it was on to Whitetop Mountain which is a great spot for a number of my breeding targets like Least Flycatcher, Magnolia and Blackburnian Warblers, Vesper Sparrow, and Saw-whet Owl.  Though on this trip our principal targets were additional migrants.  Our first stop was a pullout just 0.7 miles up the mountain on Mud Creek Lane which Allen recommended as the best spot for Saw-whets.  But it was quite slow – in fact I don’t think we had a single bird.  Then we drove slowly up the rocky road through the grassy habitat hoping for Vespers to no avail.  A walk through the conifers near the top of the mountain was slow but yielded both Kinglets and a Sapsucker.  Another spot to file away for a summer visit.  Here’s a shot of the grasslands and conifers near the peak of Whitetop Mountain. 

And the beautiful scenery in the distance.

We visited three other spots later that afternoon hoping to run into foraging groups of migrants, but just found 3 Redstarts.  We ended the day with just 9 warbler species, and we had to work hard for almost every one of them.

Although I was planning to end the day with some nocturnal birding to try for Saw-whet Owls, I was pretty tired and decided to just try for them during the breeding season when they would likely be more vocal.

Day 2 – September 19

I woke up early on the 19th and went right to my phone to see the BirdCast report for the night before – migration numbers were better but still not the best.  The plan for this day was to meet Allen at Grayson Highlands State Park at sunrise to once again try for some migrants.  And as I planned my route I realized that on my way to the park I would go right by Whitetop Mountain where Saw-whets were possible.  It was early enough that I would have perhaps 30 minutes to try for them and still get to the park by sunrise.  It was a long-shot, but why not.

I reached Allen’s recommended Saw-whet spot on Mud Creek Lane at 6 and got out of the car.  Clear skies, calm winds, and no traffic suggested conditions would be perfect for owling.  I played some tape and listened, but heard no replies.  About 10 minutes into my stop I spotted a large bird fly into a tree nearby.  With my binoculars I could see a silhouette of a large owl, most likely a Barred, which continued to perch overhead for my entire stop.  My only other birds at this stop were 3 calling Swainson’s Thrushes – at least a few migrants were moving. 

Next it was onto Grayson Highlands State Park, where I met Allen at 7 AM.  Our first destination was the Visitor Center, but the gate to the Visitor Center roadway was closed.  Undeterred, we walked the last mile up the road to reach the empty gravel parking lots.  Since we were the first ones there that morning, we hoped to find Ruffed Grouse gritting in the lots, but not this time. 

Now we waited for the rising sun to illuminate the foliage to warm up the migrants, and their insect food, on that chilly morning.  We were at the hill just below the Visitor Center when the vegetation came into the sun.  And right on cue we started to see some activity.  It turned out to be a nice wave of warblers especially featuring Tennessee’s and Black-throated Green’s.  Soon after that wave moved down the road another wave appeared in its place.  Again, more of the same, along with a couple Redstarts and Yellow-rumps.  At one point Allen spotted a Cape May though I didn’t get on it until it was flying down the road – too late for a positive ID.  Luckily a third wave appeared a bit later, and this time I found another Cape May mixed in (statebird #3).  And just a minute later I spotted a Magnolia Warbler in that same wave (statebird #4).  My statebird map for Magnolia has many more shaded states than the one for Cape May – a comment on the fact that Maggie is generally quite a bit more common than Cape May.

And a bit later a fourth wave came by as well, like the others passing along this sunlit edge.  In less than an hour we ended up with 10 warbler species, and at least 200 individuals, predominantly Tennessee’s and Black-throated Green’s.  Unfortunately, at least half passed by without stopping long enough for IDs.  Here’s a picture of the edge where we had most of our warblers.

By 9 AM the warbler activity had ended, so we headed back down to the cars.  Along the way we were serenaded by both Kinglets, Brown Creepers, and Red-breasted Nuthatches as we passed through some great mixed spruce/fir forest.  And we couldn’t resist at least a brief stop at an overlook with this amazing scenery.

Our next stop was the Massie Gap area which is the best spot for nesting Alder Flycatchers locally.  They were long gone by September, but Allen showed me the wet area where they breed.  Yet another spot to remember on my summer trip to the area.  On the way back we ran into a few more warblers, notably another Cape May and another Magnolia. 

It was now early afternoon, and with a long drive home ahead of me, I decided to call it a day.  I ended up with 61 species for the 2-day trip, including 14 warbler species.  Very respectable numbers given the limited migration that occurred while I was in town.  And most importantly I added 4 new statebirds.  That brings my VA statelist up to 271. 

I can’t thank Allen enough for all of his help.  Not only for his tips on this trip but also for his advice to help me look for my summer target birds.  Hopefully I can get back to the area next summer and keep filling gaps in my VA statelist.