A Challenging Day of Statebirding in Northeastern Tennessee and Southwestern Virginia, January 13, 2022

Most birders use eBird to catalog and document their sightings these days.  And it has proven to be an excellent resource for me as I continue to pursue my statebirding efforts across the country.  By far the Needs Alerts are the most valuable tool in the eBird arsenal – I review nearly a dozen county and state Needs Alerts each day.

Starting in late December my TN Needs Alert included reports of an Eared Grebe at a hotspot named “South Holston Lake – Musick’s Campground” in northeastern TN.  The bird was first spotted on the local Christmas Count on December 26, and was seen on each subsequent report from that spot through January 11.  That location is barely south of the TN/VA stateline, and as a result the Grebe was sometimes also seen in VA waters.  That gave me 2 potential statebird ticks to target.  Plus on the 9th a Lark Sparrow was reported there “with a mixed Chipping Sparrow and Field Sparrow flock in the pokeweed stalks behind the sign-in mailbox”.  Seemed pretty specific.  And since wintering Eared Grebes and Lark Sparrows are often long-staying, I liked my chances.

That was more than enough to justify my 2 hour 15 minute drive to the area.  But then I started to research potential targets I might need in VA.  And just a 20-minute drive from the campground was a spot called Nicewonder Pond with a couple recent reports of multiple Turkeys.  Wild Turkeys had become something of a nemesis bird for me in VA, so I was excited to find a location where they might actually be somewhat reliable.  The pond had quite a number of waterfowl as well, so I wondered if the waterfowl were being fed, which in turn attracted the Turkeys. 

Then the icing on the cake was a report of an Orange-crowned Warbler on the 10th at a hotspot in Kingsport, TN.  I’m not usually too optimistic about being able to find a lingering warbler, but it was re-found on the 12th, along with a comment that Orange-crowns “are seen regularly here during winter”.  Sure enough there were quite a number of eBird records in this area in the last several years.

That gave me 5 potential statebird ticks.  If things went well, it could be quite a nice trip. 

The morning of the 13th I was out of the house pre-dawn and approached the area of Musick’s Campground around 9 AM.  The GPS coordinates of the hotspot were perfect, taking me right to the gate, which unfortunately was locked.  Complete with multiple “No Trespassing” signs.  The campground was obviously closed for the winter with no one in sight to ask for access.  I checked the area nearby thinking that I would find another spot to access the lake below the campground.  But each access point was gated with more “No Trespassing” signs, some more ominous than others.  I went to my iPhone and found a phone number for the campground, but not surprisingly there was no answer.

None of this was mentioned in the eBird checklists, nor in the hotspot itself.  Then again, the Lark Sparrow report mentioned a “sign-in mailbox” – did that mean you could somehow enter the campground and once inside there was a location where you would sign in?  But the No Trespassing signs were very obvious.  Had I made the 2+ hour drive for nothing?  Just then a car came by and the friendly driver stopped to ask if I was ok.  He lived nearby and had watched me wandering around and thought I had car problems.  I told him instead about my access issues.  He said he had a neighbor whose yard had frontage on the lake.  That neighbor was out of town and I could just hike through the yard to get to the lake.  Boy was I lucky the friendly resident was there to help out.

Within a couple minutes I was taking a short hike through the neighbor’s yard and made my way down to the lake.  I entered the lake bed just a short distance north of Musick’s, and had a good view of the water.  Now I just needed to find the Eared Grebe.  Most of the posts had mentioned the bird was on the far side, so that was my initial focus.  But with several scans I just found a few Bonaparte’s and Ring-billed Gulls, 4 Common Loons, and 1 Red-breasted Merganser.  I changed my angle and looked some more, finding a flock of Pied-billed Grebes, but nothing else new.  Then again, I did have a distant flyby of 2 small waterfowl that might have been grebes.  I spent more than an hour scanning the lake both in TN and VA waters but couldn’t come up with my target bird.  As it turns out the last time the Eared Grebe was seen was on the 11th.  So not only had I struck out on the Grebe, I also couldn’t get into the Campground to try for the Lark Sparrow, wherever it was.  A difficult start…

Next I was off to VA to try for Turkeys.  The key stop was Nicewonder Pond on Virginia Trail in Washington County.  And since almost all my route was in VA, I also kept an eye out for Turkeys feeding in the fields the whole way there, but to no avail.  Just as I turned onto Virginia Trail I came upon a guard house at the entrance to a private community.  The pond was on private property which was not mentioned in the eBird reports.  Not again!  I told the security guard that I was trying to go birding at the pond, but he said he couldn’t let me in.  But after a 10-minute discussion he relented and called his boss.  Another 10 minutes passed before he gave me permission to go in.  After all that effort I hoped it was all worth it.  But alas, after a short drive I got to the pond and found a few ducks but no Turkeys. 

What started as a promising trip was now down to just 1 possible target – the Orange-crowned Warbler.  And if it hadn’t been for some lucky breaks, I might not have even been able to access either of my first 2 planned stops.  On the drive back into TN I once again watched for Turkeys during the VA part of the route, but another strikeout.  Though I wasn’t more than a couple miles into TN when I spotted a Turkey flock on the roadside, which I don’t need in TN – very frustrating… 

A few minutes later I pulled into the waterfront of the South Fork Holston River in Kingsport, TN.  The hotspot was titled Riverfront Seafood which was a restaurant along the river.  And although there was some brush between the restaurant and the river, other recent Orange-crown sightings were scattered along the waterfront nearby.  So I figured all the brushy area along the river could be possible sites to search.  Though in reality the habitat was quite limited.  In fact, I wondered why most any bird might be attracted to it.  Here is a representative shot of one of the “better” areas.

I had heard that Orange-crowns will respond to recordings, though I had never had any success attracting them this way.  But this time I decided to give it a try since this was my last opportunity to avoid striking out for the entire trip.

I started at the restaurant and scoured it quite well, just finding a couple Song Sparrows.  And nothing responded to recordings of the Orange-crown call.  I then walked over toward the west and found this cooperative Great Blue Heron feeding along the water’s edge.

The next spot with some habitat was under the large I-26 overpass with some large trees but little brush for a warbler to forage in.  Though a skulking Carolina Wren initially caught my attention.  Then I played some more tape and almost instantly got a response – but was it an echo of my tape bouncing off the bridge?  I played some more tape and heard more chip notes in response.  And a few seconds later found a most cooperative Orange-crowned Warbler foraging half way up the trees.  The trees were covered in what looked like old webs from fall webworms, and the warbler was picking through them looking for tasty winter-time morsels.  Interestingly this bird had no streaking below whereas the one photographed here 2 days earlier had pretty obvious streaking.  There were at least 2 Orange-crowns here continuing a trend from the last several winters.

At least I got 1 statebird for the trip.  Although I dipped on the other 4, I had 1 more than I had the day before.  And it was #250 for my TN statelist – my 26th state with at least 250.

TN was my 41st state for Orange-crowned Warbler.  In my statebird map below, the blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen it in its regular range; those that are cross-hatched are the ones where I still need it in its regular range.  And the 5 tan New England states are those where I’ve seen it as a rarity.

And now humor me while I get on my soap box about eBird and my access problems -

As I said earlier, eBird has been a great resource for me.  But the downside is that eBird has pretty much made the state listserves obsolete.  Just a few years ago I would go to the listserves not only to understand what has been sighted, but also to obtain details on those sightings.  Birders would often provide details on where to find rarities, how to access the site, and just how to bird the area in general.  Don’t get me wrong, those same details can be provided in eBird.  But the only details required by eBird are those required to confirm the IDs.  And few birders go above and beyond to provide those most valuable additional details.

Now let’s focus on site access.  Some eBird hotspots have limited or no access and appropriately include that detail right in the hotspot name.  Then again, many of these same hotspots will have multiple eBird sightings - I guess access can’t be too limited.  Then there are the ones like Musick’s Campground and Nicewonder Pond on my TN/VA trip that are obviously on private property.  But no access, or limited access, is not mentioned anywhere in the birders’ checklists, nor in the hotspot information.  Local birders apparently know how to access these “private” sites – why not share those details in their reports? 

Consider those sightings of rarities at residential feeders.  Some of these are truly private and no access is allowed.  But then there are others where the homeowner does allow birders to visit their feeders.  But the procedures to access the feeders are often not included, neither in the hotspot name nor in birders’ checklists.  A great example of access challenges was when I took a trip to Athens, GA earlier this winter to chase after 3 rare hummingbirds coming to 3 different residential feeders there.  Although all 3 homeowners welcomed birders to see their birds, info on only 1 was readily available in birders’ checklists.  It took me many hours of research to finally get the info on the other 2.

My message to eBirders – if birding at a given location is not straightforward, include at least a few details about how to bird that spot in your checklist, as well as details on how to locate rarities you’ve found.  Alternatively, if the spot is truly inaccessible, say so.  Just a few seconds to provide extra input would greatly improve the birding experiences of those that follow you.

Western Grebe, Cabarrus County, NC, January 1, 2022

My NC Needs Alert on 12/27 featured multiple reports of a Western Grebe on Lake Norman north of Charlotte, NC.  Then likely the same bird was re-located the next day on Coddle Creek Reservoir in Cabarrus County some 6 or 7 miles to the east.  That’s one I need for my NC list, and within my typical chase distance.  Now I just needed the bird to stick around till January 1 – the first day I was available.  That would be a great way to ring in the new birding year.   

My experience with wintering Western Grebes in the northeast is that they will often stay in protected lakes and bays for quite a while.  And luckily that was the case with this bird as it continued to be reported daily.  The good news was that it was often seen in the same part of the reservoir.  The bad news was that it was almost always quite distant – perhaps a mile or more away.  My birding friend Bill Hooker went to see it on the 30th, and he shared his notes with me including the best viewing spot (which interestingly was only mentioned in 1 eBird post).  Plus he offered to meet me there on the 1st which would be most helpful.  The trip was set!

I pulled in at 1 PM and Bill and Anita were already there.  They had scoped the area the Grebe preferred but hadn’t found it yet.  That was mostly because that part of the reservoir was full of birds, most notably perhaps 3,500 Ring-billed Gulls.  There were also 50 ducks on the far shore that were just too far away to identify.  This was going to be difficult. 

I scanned the area multiple times but just kept finding the same birds.  It had been nearly an hour without success when the entire flock of gulls took off, perhaps spooked by an Eagle.  With the gulls temporarily off the water, I hoped that my target bird would be much easier to find - that is if it wasn’t spooked as well.  And sure enough on my first scan through the area I picked out the Western Grebe close to the far shore.  We watched it slowly swim along before it mixed with the distant ducks and disappeared behind a nearby point.

Here is an unmagnified picture of the area where we saw the grebe, perhaps 1.2 miles away. 

And a relative “close-up” of the duck flock it mixed with for a while.

Western Grebe was #312 for my NC state list.  My statebird map for this species is inserted below – in its regular range the blue states are those where I’ve seen this species and the cross-hatched states are those where I still need it. And given that Western Grebe is prone to vagrancy, it’s not surprising that NC was the 8th state where I’ve seen Western Grebe as a rarity (the tan states). 

As an aside – This was not the first time I’ve seen a Western Grebe a mile or more away.  In April 2016 I was able to re-find a Western Grebe on a coastal bay in Brunswick, ME where the bird was roughly 6,500 ft away.  (see my blog post - State Birding: Western Grebe, Brunswick, ME, April 2016 ).One local birder said the bird was “wicked faahh out”.  Needless to say birders’ viewing the NC bird had quite a different accent.

What a great way to start 2022!

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!

Coastal VA and NC Trip Nets 11 New Statebirds, December 9-13, 2021, Part 1 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 first half of the trip; see my next post for the latter half of the trip.

December 9 – 0 for 3 for the Travel Day to the Coast

I had 3 targets for my day heading to the coast – Say’s Phoebe near Greensboro, NC, Heermann’s Gull in Hopewell, VA, and Red-cockaded Woodpecker in Sussex County, VA.  Even with lots of hours on the road, I had plenty of time to be able to check off all 3.  That is if the birds were reasonably cooperative. 

The Say’s Phoebe had been coming to a complex of farmfields and related buildings in Guilford County since mid-October.  Earlier in its stay it was quite reliable, with most birders finding the bird rather quickly.  But lately, many reports included several hours of wait time.  Though all birders were apparently eventually seeing the Phoebe.  That is except for a visit 3 days before my trip which came up empty.  In any case, I remained optimistic and allotted myself at least an hour and a half to find my target.

I got out of the house 30 minutes earlier than expected, and the early morning traffic was light, so I had even more time to find the Phoebe.  Within minutes I had picked out most of the perches where the bird had been photographed – wooden fence posts along the pond, fencing surrounding the corral, concertina wire around the former penitentiary, and roofs of old farm buildings.  But by 11:45, my planned time to depart this spot, 2 hours of searching still hadn’t produced the Phoebe.  I could stay longer in the hope that it would still show up, but that could reduce my chances of finding my later targets.  I decided I could give it another 30 minutes and still have enough time to get my last 2 targets, though just barely.  But it was not to be.  After 2 ½ hours I still didn’t have the bird, and I wondered if the cold, raw, overcast weather was minimizing the activity of the Phoebe’s insect food.  I decided to call it quits, since I could always give it another try on my way back home on Monday.  That is if it was still being seen.

Next it was on to the Hopewell, VA City Marina where an immature Heermann’s Gull had been overwintering since late October.  Not only was it long-staying, but it was also very reliable.  Many birders reported seeing it within minutes of arriving, often as it begged for food at the marina.  If the bird was just as cooperative for me I could be in and out in just a few minutes and still have time to try for the Red-cockaded Woodpeckers, my third target of the day.  I pulled in just after 3 PM and saw a few Ring-bills and Laughings in the parking lot, but no Heermann’s.  I was already past my allotted time when I noticed large gull flocks on the 2 marina roofs, but only found the regular Herrings, Laughings, and Ring-bills.  There were a couple reports of the bird perched under the adjacent bridge, but with a quick look again I came up empty.  Quite a number of gulls were now coming into roost on the buildings, so I tried to check out each bird as it arrived.  Still no luck.  After more than an hour I decided that my target bird just wasn’t around.  And not only had I missed the Heermann’s, but I also no longer had enough time to try for the woodpeckers. 

That left me 0 for 3 for my targets for the day.  Not the best way to start the trip.  And my results, or I should say lack of results, really put a monkey-wrench in my plans.  I could always try for all 3 after my trip to the Outer Banks, but that would probably require me to cut the NC portion of my trip short.  I’d definitely have to be flexible.

December 10 – Successful Day in Eastern VA

The plan for the 10th was to visit several hotspots in Northampton and Virginia Beach Counties in eastern VA.  I was in search of as many as 7 targets, though all but one, Lesser Black-backed Gull, were long shots.  Most were not reported recently, and/or could have just been passing through.  I started to brace myself for another less than successful day, maybe with just one new statebird.  Then again, after yesterday’s results, my luck had to improve, right?

Then just before the trip another target popped up on the radar screen – a Western Kingbird was found in Virginia Beach on the 9th.  If it was spotted again on the 10th I would revise my itinerary to chase after this rarity.  I would just have to check my Needs Alert during the day to see if it was re-found.

First I was off to Northampton County, with a first stop at the Eastern Shore of Virginia NWR.  Specifically. I was heading to the salt marshes at the end of Ramp Road where I hoped for Nelson’s Sparrow and Sedge Wren that had been reported there sporadically.  My route to the refuge took me across the CBBT which yielded lots of gull and cormorant flybys, though nothing of interest (stopping on the islands is no longer allowed).  Soon I was at the first boat ramp at the edge of a large expanse of Spartina marsh.  And it didn’t take long before I had a couple inquisitive Nelson’s Sparrows (VA statebird #1). 

My statebird map for Nelson’s Sparrow is inserted below.  The blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species in its regular range; the cross-hatched states are those where I still need it as a regular species.  The 2 tan states (WV and VT) are locations where I’ve seen it as a rarity.  I still need it in several coastal states as a wintering bird and throughout its migration and breeding range in the Midwest.

I spent another half hour or so trudging through the marsh and adjacent brush trying for Sedge Wrens but with no luck.  But I had another spot to try for them so I hadn’t given up hope.

Next I was off to Sunset Beach where 4 Eurasian Collared-Doves had been reported a month earlier.  With no details on the location of the sighting, I wasn’t sure exactly where to look, so I took a 30-minute stroll around the beach area and adjoining campground and hotel.  No luck again.  I had 2 other spots to try for ECDs so wasn’t stressing too much.  I got back to my car and began to plan my next stop when I looked out my passenger window and noticed this Sapsucker not 10 feet away.  Nice cooperative bird.

 Then I headed to Magotha Road a few miles away which passes through ag fields and associated farm houses, and then ends in saltmarsh habitat similar to Ramp Road at the refuge.  Over the years there had been a fair number of ECD reports along Magotha Road, including 2 a month earlier at 5037 Magotha.  I started driving slowly along the road looking for doves perched nearby.  And when I got to #5037 slowed down to a crawl (I was a bit hesitant to park on the road opposite the house).  There were a couple feeders and some House Finches nearby but no doves so I just continued driving along.  I got to the end of the road without seeing any doves, so turned around to try again.  This time I went by 5037 even slower and spotted a large pale bird perched on the roof.  I came to a quick stop and put my binocs on it – it was indeed a Eurasian Collared-Dove (statebird #2).  Since I was already stopped, I scanned the rest of the area in more detail and found 2 more ECDs.  And no homeowners even came out to complain.

My statebird map pretty well matches the range of this species.  After first appearing in FL, Eurasian Collared-Doves expanded their range to the north and west throughout those parts of the US and southwestern Canada.  And for the most part they have avoided the northeast, though they are known for their vagrancy – I’ve now seen ECDs as a rarity in 7 northeast states.

With ECD nicely checked off, I headed to the salt marshes at the end of Magotha Road in hopes of finding a Sedge Wren.  Certainly lots of excellent habitat to search through.

 I walked along the road and played a bit of tape near some low brush – instantly I spotted movement of two birds skulking low in the brush.  Eventually 1 bird popped into the open giving me nice views of a Sedge Wren (statebird #3).  Later a third bird called spontaneously a short distant down the road.  As I was heading back to the car I noticed a number of waterfowl in the bay – there were Buffleheads everywhere.  I estimated at least 500 birds.  And the cherry on top was a flyby Peregrine.  

My next stop was at the southern end of the CBBT back in Virginia Beach County on Guy Avenue where there were two recent reports of Common Eiders.  The reports included large numbers of Surf Scoters, though there was no mention if the Eiders were in with the scoters or elsewhere.  After a few lefts and rights in a residential neighborhood I arrived at the viewing spot and quickly spotted the large flock of Surf Scoters – I counted 190 Surfs, and with careful searching found 4 White-wings and 1 Black.  But couldn’t come up with an Eider despite searches of the entire area.

When I got back to the car I checked my Needs Alert to see if the Western Kingbird was seen again that morning.  But there were no reports from that day so no need to make a diversion to look for it. 

Back on my original route my next stop was Rudee Inlet.  This location appeared to be THE spot for seawatches in Virginia Beach, plus featured occasional sightings of rarities on the jetties like Brown Booby and Heermann’s Gull.  Not to mention it would give me my first chance for Lesser Black-backed Gull which has become quite common on the coast.  The visit started well enough – a boat was dredging the channel, and the stirred-up sediments attracted a nice flock of gulls.  Here’s a pic of the dredge and the south jetty in the distance.

But the gulls at the dredge were all Laughers.  And the birds on the south jetty were just Pelicans and Great Black-backs.  Then I spent more than an hour doing a Seawatch, but the only thing that was notable was a nice flight or Red-throated Loons.  Though I did have one Long-tailed Duck flyby – I need that one in NC though not in VA.  At least there were several Lesser Black-backed Gulls loafing on the beaches nearby (statebird #4).

I’ve now seen this expanding species in most of its regular eastern states, and have seen it in 9 states across the country as a rarity.  And to think this was quite a rare species throughout the US not too many years ago.

The last stop of the day was at Little Island Park with its fishing pier - another good spot for a seawatch.  I spent about 90 minutes watching the ocean from the end of the pier, but had even less than at Rudee Inlet.

As I got back to the car I felt pretty happy with 4 new VA statebirds on the day.  That is until I checked my VA Needs Alert once again – the Western Kingbird was indeed seen again that day.  It was too late to give it a try now.  If only I had checked it before I left Rudee Inlet I would have gone after the Kingbird instead of going to Little Island Park.  Then again if it’s still being seen through Saturday I could give it a try on Sunday.  Yet another miss that I would need to try for later in the weekend.

December 11 – Outer Banks, NC

This was my first day to bird with the CBC group covering portions of Pea Island and Bodie Island.  Unfortunately, my limited list of NC statebird targets got even shorter by the time of the trip since the Hudsonian Godwit was last seen on the 7th.  Plus the long-staying Eurasian Wigeon had not been reported for several days, and American Wigeon numbers had dropped.  I started the NC portion of my trip with a realistic expectation that I might not get any new NC statebirds.  But I still looked forward to birding this area which is one of the best birding spots in the country. 

We started the day in the middle of Pea Island with our first stop targeting the maritime sparrows.  Here we had great looks at Nelson’s and Saltmarsh Sparrows (I missed the Seaside) and Marsh Wrens, and had a calling Virginia Rail.  Next we moved north to Pea Island NWR seeing excellent numbers of waterfowl such as 600 Snow Geese, 1400 Tundra Swans, 450 Gadwall, 900 Pintail, and 5000 Redheads.  Anyone for a few Redheads at North Pond?

Then there were the American Wigeon.  There was a smattering of Wigeon in South Pond and New Field Pond, and I looked at each of them in hopes of finding their red-headed cousin.  Then when we got to North Pond there were several hundred Wigeon scattered through the pond.  Certainly critical mass for a Eurasian.  Since that was quite possibly my only realistic target for the day, I focused on trying to pick out a Eurasian in the flock.  Most of the Wigeon were at the far western side of the pond which was more than 2,000 ft away.  But despite watering eyes and the great distance, I finally found a Eurasian Wigeon, pointing it out to everyone in the group.  At least I got 1 new NC statebird.  The Wigeon are in the far back portion of the impoundment in this picture.

Later we took a trail along the southern end of North Pond and got closer looks.  Here’s a closer phonescoped pic of the Eurasian.

One of our other stops was the observation platform at the north end of South Pond where the Hudsonian Godwit had been for about a week.  But it had been almost a week since it was last seen and we came up empty.  Though I still looked for the Godwit at each of our stops in the vicinity.

After lunch we headed to Oregon Inlet finding several nice birds, like a pair of Purple Sandpipers and a Great Cormorant near the bridge.  We also saw the spot where the Snow Bunting foraged for about a week earlier in the month – long gone of course.  A long walk to the jetty at the inlet didn’t yield much, but it was great to understand how to bird another hotspot in the area. 

The last stop of the day was at Jennette’s Pier, a long fishing pier that extends nearly 1,000 feet out into the ocean.  We had good numbers of birds passing by especially Brown Pelicans and Gannets.  And as we approached sunset a nice flock of gulls accumulated on the water in front of us, including a few Lessers and 1 Bonaparte’s.  We were excited for a while as a couple fishing boats passed by with large clouds of birds behind them, but we couldn’t pick out anything unusual.

I ended the day with 71 species.  And even though I only added 1 NC statebird, I had a great time re-learning many of those great local birding hotspots.

See my next post for a summary of the latter half of my birding trip.