February 22, 2026 [LINK / comment]

Birding in Virginia (and New York), August 2024

NOTE: This is another "catch-up" birding blog post based on Facebook posts from August of last year. The last such post was on July 4 last year. (!)

August 1: Every year we put our hummingbird feeders out in late July, and sure enough we get "customers" almost right away. I saw my first one here after I got home from hiking the Dowells Draft trail near Braley Pond. There I saw Red-eyed Vireos, an Eastern Wood Pewee, and a White-breasted Nuthatch, but not much else. Too hot! I did encounter a nice rain shower on the way home, at least.

August 2: Along Bell's Lane this afternoon I saw an Eastern Kingbird, multiple Eastern Phoebes, a pair of American Goldfinches in courtship mode, a young Eastern Bluebird, but most importantly, two noisy Red-tailed Hawks. One had been sitting in a nest that I somehow had missed in all my other recent visits. I think I saw a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher zipping about the tree tops, but I couldn't be 100% sure. Back home, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird visited a few times.

August 3: Jacqueline and I went on another BIG hike, this time on the Big Run Loop trail in the Shenandoah National Park, just south of Loft Mountain. We logged six (6) miles total, climbing roughly 840 feet altogether. Thoroughly exhausted! We got lucky with some excellent bird views along the way, including an Acadian Flycatcher, Broad-winged Hawk, Louisiana Waterthrush, Black-and-white Warblers, Eastern Wood Pewees (many!), and even a Hooded Warbler! We also saw a Hairy Woodpecker, many Carolina Chickadees and Tufted Titmice, Eastern Towhees, an American Redstart, and a menacing reptile that will be shown in a comment below!

(Big Run Loop trail, Shenandoah National Park, August 3)

August 7: In the afternoon (hot again) I went for a walk along Bell's Lane, and finally saw the Blue-gray Gnatcatchers that I had there heard before. Also the usual Eastern Towhees, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, etc., but the big surprise was a Willow Flycatcher perched on a low branch on the other side of a row of hedges! I had briefly seen one earlier in the summer (at the end of the field trip led by Penny Warren), but not since then. For a few years, they were a regular presence.

August 9: I went up to the ponds at Mill Place in Verona today, hoping that Tropical Storm Debby might have blown some rare birds into our area. Like a Spoonbill or a Flamingo, perhaps? Well, no such luck, but I did have some nice bird views, including the first Cedar Waxwing I had seen in several weeks. Soon the deep blue male Indigo Buntings will put an end to their breeding season and migrate to the south, not to be seen until next May. I saw American Goldinches both at Mill Place

(Mill Place trail & Staunton, August 9)

August 10: I hiked for about a mile up the Georgia Camp trail (between West Augusta and Ramseys Draft), my first-ever serious endeavor at that location, but I hardly saw any birds. It was pleasant and shaded, at least. On the way back I stopped at Braleys Pond and soon came upon Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, American Goldfinches, Cedar Waxwings, and Red-eyed Vireos. Groups of all four species were foraging very actively.

August 13: I walked around the Mill Place trail this morning, but didn't see much other than American Goldfinches and an Indigo Bunting. Bell's Lane was more active (as usual), with a family of Eastern Bluebirds, a pair of Red-tailed Hawks in the distance, an Eastern Phoebe or two, and a Great Crested Flycatcher, who cooperated with a nice pose for me.

August 18: While in New York City over the weekend, Jacqueline and I had a few bird sightings of note. A Red-tailed Hawk was amusingly perched on top of the namesake statue in Columbus Circle, no doubt preying on the many pigeons in the area. Behind the ferry boat we took to see the Statue of Liberty (and on the island itself) were several Ring-billed Gulls. While atop the pedestal I spotted an Osprey and a Double-crested Cormorant, but couldn't get a photo of the latter.

August 22: It was another good day for flycatchers along Bell's Lane this (very cool) morning: Eastern Phoebes, Eastern Kingbirds, a Great Crested Flycatcher, and a probable Willow Flycatcher (no photo). Also Downy Woodpeckers, a family of four Red-bellied Woodpeckers, the usual Gray Catbirds and Eastern Bluebirds, a distant Red-tailed Hawk, and a surprise appearance by a House Wren!

August 23 ???: Jacqueline and I went for another big hike today, this time along the Falls Hollow trail, which begins along Rt. 42 a few miles before Augusta Springs. It was my first significant visit there this year, and conditions were mild but humid. (Recent rains have benefited the greenery.) We heard and saw multiple Blue-headed Vireos and Acadian Flycatchers, as well as Eastern Towhees, but only one notable cluster of warblers, flitting about the tree tops. ID is hard, given the poor light conditions, but I think that's a Worm-eating Warbler and a Black-throated Green Warbler at the top right. The other two are a Red-eyed Vireo and a White-breasted Nuthatch. On the way back down we heard and saw a couple Louisiana Waterthrushes.

August 27: On Bell's Lane on Friday afternoon I once again saw Black-and-white Warblers as well as American Redstarts, but could only get photos of the former. This one is evidently a young male practicing to sing, as his throat was almost all white. Also present was a Great Crested Flycatcher, as well as the usual Indigo Buntings, Eastern Towhees, etc.

August 30: A visit to Montgomery Hall Park this afternoon left no doubt that fall migration is underway! Some of these birds may have been residents during the summer (Ruby-throated Hummingbird, White-eyed Vireo, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and American Redstart), but at least two are definitely transients: Magnolia Warbler (L) and Black-throated Green Warbler (R); I also had brief views of a Chestnut-sided Warbler and a Blackburnian Warbler, but could not get photos. I also saw a Hairy Woodpecker.

(Montgomery Hall Park, Aug. 30)

August 31: Jacqueline desperately needed a break today, so we went for a medium hike (3 miles) to Blackrock Summit in the Shenandoah National Park. Virtually all the birds we saw were in a small area, where we experienced a mini-fallout of warblers and vireos. The Pileated Woodpecker was out back after we got home. Others, clockwise from top center: Worm-eating Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Common Raven, Yellow-throated Vireo (or Pine Warbler?), Blue-headed Vireo, and in center.

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 (2024) page. (I am in the midst of a major reorganization of my bird photos, so that they will be sorted year by year.)

February 8, 2026 [LINK / comment]

Baseball (?) road trip: January 2026

Over the holidays, I made another long drive out to the midwest much like last August, but with fewer scenic detours this time, and of course, no actual games. On the way back east I stopped at two major league stadiums (Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City and Busch Stadium in St. Louis) and one minor league stadium. It was the first time I had stopped to inspect Louisville Slugger Field, home of the Louisville Bats. (Talk about a bad pun!) They are the AAA affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, whose home is about 100 miles upstream along the Ohio River. I learned that Louisville Slugger Field was built into the pre-existing structure that once housed the city's passenger railroad station.

TOP: Kauffman Stadium, with part of (GEHA Field at) Arrowhead Stadium in back, in Kansas City.
MIDDLE: Busch Stadium III, in St. Louis.
BOTTOM: Louisville Slugger Field, in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photos taken January 3 and 4.)

Changes at Kauffman Stadium

A couple weeks ago, the Kansas City Royals announced that parts of the outfield fence at Kauffman Stadium are being moved in. This will reduce the power alley dimensions by about ten feet, but center field (410) and the foul line (330) distances will remain the same. Instead of being a broad, gradual curve the outfield fence will be a straight line from just inside the inner corner of each bullpen to a point roughly 80 feet from dead center field. See MLB.com. This of course is expected to generate more home runs, but whether it will benefit the Royals is anyone's guess. There will probably be fewer triples, which for real baseball fans are more exciting than home runs. So you know what that means -- another diagram revision!

In addition, the Royals definitively ruled out one of the sites for a new stadium they had been considering, on the southeast side of Overland Park, Kansas. I visited the proposed "Aspiria Campus" site last August, and learned that a large portion of the "land" consists of large ponds that would have to be filled in. Unless some of the nearby old Sprint office buildings (before Sprint was acquired by T-Mobile) were to be demolished, there wouldn't be much room for parking, and street access to the nearby I-435 bypass is rather constricted. In contrast, the current site has easy, direct access to both I-70 and I-435, and many acres of parking lots. Another alternative site, just north of Kansas City, fell through when the deadline for voting on a necessary tax increase passed without action. That leaves just the southeast side of downtown Kansas City, adjacent to Union Station, or the current site. Some are hinting that the Royals might end up moving to Nashville, Portland, or elsewhere, but I am highly dubious of those alternatives as real MLB home cities.

Chiefs abandon Missouri

Meanwhile, late in December the Kansas City Chiefs announced their intentions to relocate to Kansas City, Kansas, as of the year 2031 or so. Pending final arrangements with local authorities, they will build a new stadium in the vicinity of the Kansas Speedway. On Thursday of this past week, Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas approved a special bond measure to facilitate the project, but many details are still hazy. See KMBC.com

New ballpark for the Rays?

Somehow, I think I have heard this tune before. Be that as it may, the Tampa Bay Rays announced a proposed stadium just west of Raymond James Stadium and just south of George Steinbrenner Stadium, where they played last year while their erstwhile home stadium was being reconstructed. [It would be built on land currently owned by Hillsborough Community College, on the east edge of Tampa International Airport and about four miles northwest of downtown Tampa.] The plans show an immense fixed-roof stadium with a relatively small capacity of just over 31,000. Well, anything's possible! See MLB.com for the Rays' latest "rosy scenario." At least the Rays' current home at Tropicana Field has been fully repaired, after the massive hurricane damage in the autumn of 2024.

Dodgers win World Series, again

Hopes were high in Toronto as Game 7 of the World Series got underway, especially after the home team Blue Jays scored three runs in the first inning on a home run by Bo Bichette. But as they so often do, the L.A. Dodgers staged a late-game comeback and prevailed once again. On the mound for Toronto was Max Scherzer, whose last start in a World Series Game 7 was in 2019 with the Washington Nationals. That time he pitched 5 innings and gave up 2 runs; this time he pitched 4 1/3 innings and gave up just 1 run. Toronto wasted two big run-scoring opportunities, with runners on second base and nobody out in both the 6th and 8th innings. The second time was more crucial because the Dodgers had just pulled to within one run on a solo homer by Max Muncy. But the ninth inning was one for the ages. With one out, Miguel Rojas smashed a line drive over the left field fence to tie the game 4-4. The painful look in pitcher Jeff Hoffman's eyes was so sad to watch. He knew how close his team was to triumph. In the bottom of the ninth the Blue Jays had two chances to win it all, loading the bases with one out on a hit by pitch. All the needed was a sac fly! But Dalton Varsho hit a weak ground ball to second baseman Miguel Rojas (!), who was able to get the ball home just in time for the force-out. The game would have ended right there if the base-runner's foot had gone just a few inches further. Some blamed Isiah Kiner-Falefa for not taking a bigger lead from third base, but was doing as he was told, not risking getting doubled off. The next batter, Ernie Clement, hit a long fly ball to left-center field, and it looked like the Jays had done done it, but center fielder Andy Pages ran over to grab the ball on the warning track, colliding with left fielder Enrique Hernandez. So it went to the 10th inning and then the 11th, when Will Smith hit a towering homer to left field. It was the first time the Dodgers led in the game, and that's how the 5-4 final score came about. It was widely agreed to be one of the greatest world series of all time, and perhaps one of the best Game 7s ever. Congratulations to the Dodgers!

The Will Smith factor

[Last] year marked the sixth consecutive World Series in which Will Smith was on the winning team -- or that a Will Smith was on the winning team! The Dodgers' Will Smith (a catcher) helped win the World Series in 2020, 2024, and 2025, whereas the other Will Smith (a pitcher) helped win the World Series for the Atlanta Braves, the Houston Astros, and the Texas Rangers. How eerie is that??! (Will Smith the pitcher now plays with the Kansas City Royals.) Here are the last six World Series outcomes:

• 2020 -- LAD 4, TB 2
• 2021 -- ATL 4, HOU 2
• 2022 -- HOU 4, PHI 2
• 2023 -- TEX 4, ARZ 1
• 2024 -- LAD 4, NYY 1
• 2025 -- LAD 4, TOR 3

Underlines denote the teams on which a Will Smith played.

The money factor

Much of the postseason baseball chatter has concerned the huge new contracts the Dodgers have signed with various superstars. Following up on last year's signing of Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers acquired free agent outfielder Kyle Tucker, who batted .266 and hit 22 homers for the Chicago Cubs last year. It's a four-year contract worth about $240 million, which will put the Dodgers into an even bigger luxury tax "bracket." Read Chelsea Janes' article in the Washington Post, whose sports department is evidently in mortal peril after massive staff cutbacks. (That's another story.) Together with Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, et al., it all adds up to a dynasty the likes of which we haven't seen since the 1950s. If the Dodgers keep filling up Dodger Stadium perhaps they can make it all pay off, but it surely makes the sport of baseball in general worse off than before. Will Commissioner Rob Manfred insist that the franchise owners agree to payroll reforms? The current labor agreement expires after this season, and the likelihood of a work stoppage seems to get bigger all the time.

RFK Stadium is no more

Right around New Year's Day, demolition work on RFK Stadium was essentially completed. One or two steel beams might have been in place during the first couple days of this year, but all that is left now are a few piles of rubble. It's hard to believe, but the complete and utter destruction of that grand old palace really has come to pass.

Meanwhile, in Santa Clara...

A major sporting event took place this evening at the home of the "San Francisco" 49ers, [Levi's Stadium,] about 40 miles southeast of their nominal home city. Congratulations to the Seattle Seahawks on their second Super Bowl championship!