Prothonotary Warbler Program

Prothonotary Warblers are due back any day from their winter stays in the tropics...volunteers Adrienne Frank, Gary Driscole and I paddled the pristine Dragon Run river today to repair and clean out nest boxes, which are placed over the water. Warbler progress will be monitored throughout the nesting season. The program is a partnership with Friends of Dragon Run and is part of a large Virginia network of hundreds of boxes.

Brian Taber

First Landing Songbird Station

Our First Landing State Park (Virginia Beach) Songbird Banding Station opened at the beginning of March and will run daily, weather permitting, through May. There will be regular updates on our website's First Landing Blog, but I thought I would also show some pictures of a visit there today. Calvin Brennan is our head bander and Ashley Kuflewski is our intern. Here, they are checking mist nets and processing an adult male Dark-eyed Junco.

Brian Taber

Tundra Swans

Tundra Swans come through in early March at College Creek Hawkwatch, sometimes by the hundreds, always a gorgeous sight...these 3 today were lower and closer than the usual high-altitude flocks.

Brian Taber

Hunting Red-tailed

This Red-tailed Hawk at College Creek Hawkwatch today, likely the one from Feb 10 posted earlier, apparently had a small mammal underfoot, as it listened, jumped and stomped around for several minutes in a small marsh after last night's light snow.

Brian Taber

College Creek Hawkwatch Begins

The 16th consecutive late winter/spring hawkwatch at College Creek began today. It's the only regular hawkwatch in VA during this season. It was very hazy today, as the photo shows, unusual for this time of year, but southwest winds and temperatures in the 40s made for a pleasant start. Two birds were tallied coming across the 1 1/2 mile wide James River, a Turkey Vulture and a Red-tailed Hawk. The Red-tailed pictured above was not seen migrating, but welcomed me to the site, atop the only cedar tree there.

The hawkwatch operates daily, weather and schedules permitting, with several volunteers through May. It is generally a morning event, from about 9-1, as birds use the warming air to cross the river. Many other migrants are seen, including swallows, waterfowl and shorebirds. Visitors are always welcome, contact me for other details as needed. It's located on the Colonial Parkway, about 3 miles south of Williamsburg. Information will be regularly posted here, on the VA List Serve and on our Facebook page.

Brian Taber

Snowy Owl!

A Snowy Owl was reported today from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-tunnel...and a photo was forwarded to the Observatory's Facebook page. There have been a number of widespread reports of Snowys in the east in recent weeks.
Brian Taber

50th Anniversary at Kiptopeke

There is now a button on the website Home Page for information about the 50th anniversary of the Kiptopeke Songbird Station this fall...a number of special public events are planned...information will be posted throughout the year.

Brian Taber

Happy Holidays!

Seasons greetings...Happy New Year and thanks to everyone who shared photos and information for the General Blog!

Cold December waterscape from Virginia's beautiful Eastern Shore.

Brian Taber

LeConte's Sparrow

Terrific photo of a rare LeConte's Sparrow, one of two found by Allen Bryan on the Hopewell Christmas Count, December 18th.

Brian Taber

Selasphorus Hummingbird

This western hummingbird, likely a Rufous with all the back coloration, is one of two (!!) Selasphorus hummers now in the yard of John Young and Renee Hudgins, who took the picture, in Virginia Beach.

Brian Taber

Bald Eagle Banded at Kiptopeke

This handsome hatch-year Bald Eagle was captured and banded today at the Kiptopeke Hawk Banding Station, the 3rd ever for the station. Bander Bob Chapman was assisted in processing by Hawkwatcher Kyle Wright.

Brian Taber

Facebook

The Observatory recently created a Facebook page to enhance information sharing...we welcome comments about our programs.

Brian Taber

Final Results for Prothonotary Warbler Boxes in Chesapeake, VA

Shirley Devan here again. Blog Owner Brian Taber invited me to post the final results of the Prothonotary Warbler nest boxes at Northwest River Park in Chesapeake. We had a great season down there. Here are the final data.

Stephen Living, VaDGIF Wildlife Biologiest, or I, plus volunteers from CVWO, Williamsburg Bird Club, and Historic Rivers Chapter of VA Master Naturalists, visited Northwest River Park 22 times between April 13 and July 5 – sometimes twice a week – to ensure that as many nestlings and adults as possible were counted and banded. Here are the final numbers:

• 136 PROW nestlings banded
• 17 new PROW females captured and banded
• 3 new PROW males captured and banded
• 55 boxes showed evidence of PROW nest activity (from "sprig of moss" to 2 broods)
• 6 boxes had 2 broods that were banded
• 9 female PROW females banded at Northwest River in 2009 and 2010 were “recaptured” in 2011. Five were banded as adults in 2009; one was banded as a nestling in 2009; three were banded as adults in 2010.

In the original 39 boxes at Northwest River Park since 2008, 38 boxes showed evidence of PROW nesting activity – ranging from “sprig of moss” to two broods.

Many thanks to the organizations who provided start-up supplies, labor, and financial support for this 2011 effort:

• Coastal Virginia Wildlife Observatory
• VA Department of Game and Inland Fisheries
• Virginia Society of Ornithology
• Richmond Audubon Society
• Williamsburg Bird Club and individual Bird Club members
• Members of Historic Rivers Chapter, VA Master Naturalist

The 62 new boxes installed in 2011 showed moderate to no activity, depending on location. Ten of the 23 boxes close to the original 39 hosted PROW nest activity. The farther the boxes were from the original 39, the less activity. Some of the boxes will be candidates for repositioning in 2012, but many will probably remain in position for a second year to give the warblers a chance to find and nest in them.

We’re looking forward to mid-April 2012 when the first Prothonotary Warblers arrive!! Stay tuned.

Golden Eagle at Kiptopeke

This hatch-year Golden Eagle today at the Kiptopeke Hawkwatch was the 2nd for the season.

Brian Taber

Leucistic Red-tailed

This striking partially leucistic Red-tailed Hawk, soaring with a Turkey Vulture, was photographed by Evan Spears in Buckingham County on October 24, 2011.

Brian Taber

Gulf Fritillary

Gorgeous, and rare in VA, this Gulf Fritillary was at the butterfly garden at Eastern Shore of VA National Wildlife Refuge yesterday.

Brian Taber

Trying to Look Like a Stick

This Yellow-billed Cuckoo stayed completely frozen, trying to be unseen, for 10 minutes, just off the trail at Kiptopeke on Oct 9th.

Brian Taber

ANOTHER Unusual Gull

This bird has been at Craney Island, Portsmouth, since spring...studied by a bird survey team in this closed area...not evident in these portraits, is the fact that it is smaller than a Herring Gull...it is whitish, which might suggest Kumlien's Iceland Gull, though it has a very large head and bill, which does not fit that gull...notice that the wingtips and tail in the lowest image from June 23, 2011 are very ragged...and the bird is filthy, from bill to feet, from foraging in dark dredge spoil, but the wings are coming in with some new, rather buffy feathers in the next image up, August 20, 2011 and the bill and feet are cleaned up...and the top two images are from today, October 13, 2011...finally got a flight image, though not crisp, it does show the upperwing pattern....possibly a hybrid Kumlien's and Herring?

Brian Taber

Unusual Gull

In September 2010, a red-billed, red-legged gull was reported from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-tunnel, thought to be an aberrant Laughing Gull and on September 4, 2011, a similar gull, though orange-billed, was seen at the boat ramp at Eastern Shore of VA National Wildlife Refuge...then...the same bird or another, was at the bridge-tunnel on September 23, 2011...then...the same or another was reported in late September from fields on the lower Eastern Shore. The top picture here is from the bridge-tunnel this year and the bottom picture is from the Refuge....notice the wingtip difference...and the mantle color can look quite different depending on the light...the bird, or birds, appeared to have a mantle color similar to nearby Laughing Gulls.

Brian Taber

Swainson's Hawk at Kiptopeke

This Swainson's Hawk, a rare visitor from the western U.S. and rarely photographed in Virginia, flew past the Kiptopeke Hawkwatch late yesterday afternoon and was photographed half an hour later at Eastern Shore of VA National Wildlife Refuge, which is just south of Kiptopeke. Apparently, the bird didn't like the look of the 17-mile wide mouth of the Chesaspeake Bay, as it was heading back north.

The crisp black tail band indicates an adult or maybe sub-adult bird. The tail doesn't look so white in some other photos and normally shows grayish banding. The brownish coloration on the belly and pale underwing coverts would seem to indicate an "intermediate" morph. Swainson's are unusual among hawks in having a sub-adult plumage. They also show a wide variety of color types, including reddish, dark, light and intermediate.

Brian Taber

That's a BIG Catfish

This Double-crested Cormorant at the Jamestown Ferry two days ago had quite a time with this big catfish....but got it down!

Brian Taber

White M Hairstreak

This White M Hairstreak, very rare in Virginia and exquisitely beautiful, was at the Williamsburg Botanical Garden today. The Observatory is a Garden partner and helps maintain the butterfly garden section.

Brian Taber

Red Phalarope

Very rare in Virginia, especially in summer, this adult Red Phalarope, molting into basic plumage, was at Craney Island, Portsmouth today. We watched as a low-flying helicopter flushed it somewhere into the nearby James River.

Brian Taber

Ridiculous Legs!

This Black-necked Stilt was at Craney Island, Portsmouth today.

Brian Taber

Purple Martin Youngsters

These young Purple Martins were trying out their new wings at Craney Island, Portsmouth today.

Brian Taber

Prothonotary Warbler Update

Guest Blogger Shirley Devan back with an update on the nest boxes at Northwest River Park in Chesapeake, VA.

Prothonotary Warblers (PROW) typically have two clutches each season. The PROWs at Northwest River Park in Chesapeake are now well into their second clutches and females are still laying eggs as of June 14. Fifty-seven eggs are being incubated as of June 14. Nest boxes that have not been occupied all season now have their first nests.

Since the end of April, Stephen Living and I have banded 59 PROW nestlings, and 18 adults – 3 males and 15 females. A male PROW and newly banded nestling (complete with fecal sac) shown in above photos.

We have “recaptured” 12 individual birds, meaning that they already had bands on them when we captured them. Several have been captured more than once this spring. All are females and were banded in 2009 or 2010 at Northwest River.

Rare Shorebirds

This week, a Red Knot was a bit tardy at Grandview Beach in Hampton and Black-necked Stilts were found nesting at Craney Island, Portsmouth, which is closed to the public.
Brian Taber

College Creek Hawkwatch Season Ends

Thanks to other volunteers Tom Armour, Fred Blystone, Bill Williams and Dean Shostak, we were able to set a new season total of 1811, surpassing the previous high of 1666 set in 2007. The hawkwatch operated from February 9th through May 24th. Our 177 hours were the most in our 15 years and our 85 days were also the most, surpassing the 82 in 2007. We had our best February, 2nd best March, 5th best April and 6th best May. The early season boosted our totals, despite much wind, rain and and cool temperatures and the second half of the season mostly saw very small flights, despite seemingly fine weather for migrating. Our biggest day was the 3rd best ever for the site, 146 on April 3rd.

We recorded 14 species and set new season highs for Turkey Vultures and Ospreys. Northern Harrier was 2nd highest. The single Broad-winged Hawk was the lowest, except for 1998 when none were seen and coverage was less than half of this year.

Totals

Black Vulture 65

Turkey Vulture 1189

Osprey 289

Mississippi Kite 1

Bald Eagle 82

Northern Harrier 41

Sharp-shinned Hawk 49

Cooper's Hawk 10

Red-shouldered Hawk 9

Broad-winged Hawk 1

Red-tailed Hawk 38

American Kestrel 29

Merlin 5

Peregrine 1

Rarities at the site included Glaucous Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Least Bittern, Sandhill Crane on 2 occasions and White-winged Dove.

We see many variations on immature Bald Eagles, including the quite unusual and striking one pictured above.

It's always a pleasure watching birds cross the James River at this site during late winter and spring. If anyone wants further details, please contact me.

Brian Taber

Sandhill Cranes and White-winged Dove at College Creek

Two rarities appeared at the hawkwatch recently....on April 26th, we watched 2 Sandhill Cranes as they circled over Hog island and landed there and today, a White-winged Dove flew past, for one of very few spring records in Virginia.
Brian Taber

New Season Record at College Creek Hawkwatch

Today, Tom Armour, Bill Williams, Fred Blystone and I were on hand as the previous season high total of 1666 (set in 2007) was surpassed. We have been ahead of pace all season, though the last 3 weeks of April saw a very slow migration at the site.
Brian Taber