Coastal Virginia Wildlife Observatory: Cooper's and Cottontails! Weekend Updates from 10/17-10/20

We have had a couple of rainy days this week. Anna was able to see a few raptors on Wednesday, 10/16, before the rain really started. On Sunday, the 20^th, the rain was constant until late into the afternoon, so sadly our hawkwatch was forced to take a day off. Thursday and Friday were pretty chilly because we had high winds. However, we were able to have a few really great days this week even with the less than ideal weather!

Thursday, 10/17:

BRRRRRR! Thursday was one of the coldest days yet, with temperatures in the high fifties and low sixties and continuous strong and gusty winds throughout the day. We didn’t have many raptors, but what we were able to see was low and fast because of the wind. The majority of our typical visitors were hunkered down to avoid the wind, so we barely saw any Monarchs or songbirds from the platform. However, we did see one Common Loon.

Thank you to the Williamsburg Master Naturalists for visiting us on this chilly and gusty day. CVWO Pres. Brian Taber and I went on a walk with their group, and thankfully we were protected from the wind by the trees along the trails. Not long after starting our walk we found a good-sized group of birds on the Baywoods Trail comprised of titmice, chickadees, Downy Woodpeckers, and Yellow-rumped Warblers. There was also a Cape May Warbler spotted by CVWO Board Member Nancy Barnhart! Then we continued on to the Raptor Trail where we found Red Fox tracks. We also found even more Yellow-rumped Warblers enjoying the myrtle that line the trail! There have been so many of them flitting around the park over the past week. Once we reached Taylor Pond we saw a mature Bald Eagle, a low-flying Cooper's Hawk, a male Belted Kingfisher, and a Box Turtle!

Red Fox tracks found on the Raptor Trail at Kiptopeke (Megan Murante)

(Plus Brian Taber's foot pointing out the tracks)

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Megan Murante)

Bald Eagle (Megan Murante)

Cooper's Hawk (Megan Murante)

Box Turtle (Megan Murante)

Friday, 10/18:

On Friday we had 157 raptors, which is relatively slow, but we had a very good Bald Eagle flight with 16 total. We noticed that quite a few raptors were hunting or hanging around today rather than travelling south. Perhaps they wanted to take a little break after the gusty winds they had to fly in yesterday, and needed more time to linger around and refuel.

Blue-headed Vireo (Megan Murante)

In the evening, Anna led an "Owl Prowl" event for Kiptopeke State Park, and it was a real hoot! We heard at least seven Eastern Screech-Owls, and we were lucky enough to see one that was a gray morph. In addition to the screech-owls, we also heard two Great Horned Owls duetting. It was spectacular to hear so many owls in just one hour, and I had a nice "conversation" with a few screech-owls- I recently learned how to whistle to sound like a screech's tremolo call, and when I called they called back! I am still a newbie to owl calls, but apparently I am convincing enough for the screech-owls at Kiptopeke!

Saturday, 10/19:

The Early Bird Nature Walk on Saturday is something I look forward to each week, and this week it was especially fun with how much we were able to see. Michael happened to catch a Monarch right by the platform as we were starting our walk, so he kindly gave the group an impromptu tagging demonstration. From there, we continued on to the trails, and almost immediately we saw a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, a Downy Woodpecker, and a Red-bellied Woodpecker. It was exciting to see these three woodpeckers all at the same time! We also saw a large number of Yellow-rumped Warblers along the trail close to Taylor Pond. Right before we reached the pond, there was a rabbit accompanied by a large group of sparrows (mostly chipping and white-throated) milling around on the trail. Once we reached the pond, we found a Ring-necked Duck swimming around, although it quickly moved further away upon noticing us. This duck was one of the early visitors of the duck migration. Hopefully we will have more visitors as we get further into fall. I had several kids join me on my 9:00 am early bird nature walk who told me that the "bunny" was their favorite part from the morning!

Thanks to the Williamsburg Bird Club for visiting us! I hope you enjoyed the walk through the trails as much as I did. While searching for the Lark Sparrow that Brian Taber spotted earlier in the morning, we were able to see several different birds! A group of Yellow-rumps made themselves quite obvious in the patches of Myrtle along the trail (like usual at this time of year)! We also found a Rough Green Snake on the trail and this very friendly snake stuck around to let us view it before slowly slithering away.

Yet another t-pole visitor graced us for over a half hour on Saturday. This time a Cooper’s Hawk decided to utilize the t-pole, and spent a significant amount of time sitting on the pole in the late afternoon. As we were leaving, the Cooper’s Hawk decided it was time for it to leave too, and flew very low in front of (and even lower than) the platform!