August 4, 2024 [LINK / comment]
Birding in Virginia, October 2023
NOTE: This is another "catch-up" blog post based on Facebook posts from last October; the last such blog post was July 25. I plan to get up to date by the end of this month.
October 2 (Saturday): A visit to Bell's Lane late in the morning yielded a variety of warblers, an E. Phoebe, and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Late in the afternoon I visited Montgomery Hall Park and spotted an E. Wood Pewee, a Cape May Warbler (behaving oddly like a flycatcher), a Red-tailed Hawk, and my very first Yellow-bellied Sapsucker of the season!
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Cape May Warbler, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, E. Wood Pewee, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Bay-breasted Warbler, American Redstart, and center, Magnolia Warbler. (Bell's Lane and Montgomery Hall Park, October 2)
October 6: I went to "scout out" the Boy Scout camp area, in preparation for the field trip I will lead there on October 28. En route I spotted a Kestrel east of the Swoope post office. There were a couple dozen Wood Ducks (I think) on the pond, and they really "flew the coop" when a young Bald Eagle and then an adult Cooper's Hawk arrived. Also present were some Killdeers on the dock. Along the hunter access road, I saw young Red-headed Woodpeckers, some Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, and all the other woodpecker species except for Pileated. Along Livick Road on the way home I saw several E. Phoebes, Palm Warblers (bright yellow!), and E. Bluebirds.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Bald Eagle (imm.), Cooper's Hawk, Red-headed Woodpeckers (imm.), E. Phoebe, Palm Warbler, American Kestrel (M), Downy Woodpecker (F), and E. Bluebird. (Boy Scout camp and Swoope area, October 6)
October 9: For a while I didn't see much along Bell's Lane other than robins, chickadees, and even woodpeckers munching on smashed walnuts on the road this morning, but eventually it got interesting. I saw my first Golden-crowned Kinglet of the season, as well as a Ruby-crowned one (blurry photo), and I'm pretty a Yellow-rumped Warbler. (If so, another FOS bird for me.) Bad lighting conditions made it hard to tell for sure. Black-throated Green and Cape May Warblers were also present, if not exactly cooperative with my photographic efforts. Eastern Phoebes, a friendly Song Sparrow, a menacing Red-tailed Hawk, and a Northern Flicker rounded out the day.
October 13: I hurried to Bell's Lane late this afternoon and spotted two recently-arrived migrant species: a Palm Warbler and a Yellow-rumped Warbler! Also an Eastern Phoebe, House Wren, Downy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers, and a stray Red-winged Blackbird in a tree top.
October 16: I had a glimpse of my first White-throated Sparrow along Bell's Lane late this afternoon, but couldn't get a photo. I did, however, manage to capture a Black-throated Green Warbler (with a green caterpillar!) and one of many Yellow-rumped Warblers that were zipping around up in the trees. There were two E. Phoebes along that long wooden fence, as well as some House Finches, Carolina Chickadees, woodpeckers, and the other usual suspects.
October 21: We had our first Dark-eyed Junco and White-throated Sparrow of the season out back yesterday, and I saw several of the latter while strolling along Bell's Lane late this afternoon. Also a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, a Yellow-rumped Warbler, a young hawk of some sort, etc.
October 25: While getting exercise at the Mill Place trail in Verona I had some nice avian photo-op appearances! The Blue-headed Vireo was a particularly nice surprise. It was feeding on the fruits in a persimmon tree. Yum! Also visible were a dozen or so Cedar Waxwings, a White-breasted Nuthatch, and a few Yellow-rumped Warblers. The Great Blue Heron was at the pond behind Hardee's, and the Pileated Woodpecker was out back, here in Staunton.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Blue-headed Vireo, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Pileated Woodpecker, White-breasted Nuthatch, Great Blue Heron, and in center, Song Sparrow and Cedar Waxwing. (Mill Place trail & Staunton, Oct. 25)
October 27: After recycling this afternoon I headed over to Montgomery Hall Park and spent way too much time getting a photo of one of the many newly-arrived White-throated Sparrows. Not much else in the lower area other than an E. Towhee, so I went to the summit and came upon a real bonanza: Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, other woodpeckers, Field Sparrows, Chipping Sparrows, E. Phoebes, and great closeup views of a Blue-headed Vireo and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet -- a male in full display mode!
October 28 (Saturday): Thanks to ideal, unusually warm weather, we had a good turnout for the field trip at the Boy Scout camp: nine people altogether. It was very birdy at the end of the road where we parked, and we came upon a few hot spots while hiking up the Trimble Mill hunter access road. (Full disclosure: I mistakenly identified some goldfinches as Pine Warblers at the beginning of our field trip!) Highlights included a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, two Blue-headed Vireos, a few Palm Warblers, and a pair of elusive Hermit Thrushes. An immature White-crowned Sparrow made a brief appearance, along with a few other sparrow species. There were a dozen or more Ruby-crowned Kinglets, but they mostly stayed high up in the trees, hard to see. We finally saw some of the expected Eastern Phoebes on our way out, but rather surprisingly, no nuthatches at all. As we were about to leave, Deb Kirtland spotted two Gray Catbirds and some Cedar Waxwings, and Antonio Martinez spotted some Red-tailed Hawks, bringing our total species count up to 33. On the way back to Staunton some of us drove along Livick Road in Swoope, where we saw some Savannah Sparrows, with House Finches, more Palm Warblers, and a few others.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Eastern Phoebe, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Blue-headed Vireo, Hermit Thrush, Palm Warbler, and Savannah Sparrow, and in center, American Goldfinch. (Boy Scout camp & Swoope area, October 28)
October 29: Jacqueline and I went hiking in the Shenandoah National Park, from the Blackrock trail head north to the Dundo group campground and back, mostly along the Appalachian Trail. With the unseasonably warm temperatures, there were lots of insects (including noisy katydids), which the birds seemed to like. I saw a nice mixture of recent winter arrivals and late lingerers, with the highlights being Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Downy Woodpecker, Pine Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, both Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets* (the latter being my first one of the season, probably), and my first Brown Creeper of the season!
Additional photos and montages, including individual photos of some of the birds in the above montages, will soon become available on the Wild Birds chronological (2023) page. (I am in the midst of a major reorganization of my bird photos, so that they will be sorted year by year.)