Flickers, Warblers and a Wheatear oh my!

September 25^th and 26^th were two wonderful days for bird watching at Kiptopeke. While we had plenty of raptors, the small birds were the real stars yesterday and today. 

On Wednesday, 9/25 there were 1,101 Northern Flickers counted, most of which flew by in the early morning. Also, there was a large group of diverse passerines spotted in the area, the majority of which were Northern Parulas, American Redstarts, Black-and-white Warblers, and Red-eyed Vireos. Some of the highlights of the group that we saw from the platform were 2 Brown Thrashers, 1 Eastern Phoebe, and 1 Traill's Flycatcher. But the raptors weren’t going to sit back and be outdone… we had our first Red-shouldered Hawk of the season! There were 436 raptors total on this date. 

Northern Parula (Megan Murante)

American Redstart (Megan Murante)

Black and White Warbler (Megan Murante)

Brown Thrasher (Megan Murante)

Northern Flicker before flying directly over the platform (Megan Murante)

Merlin scratching it's head before a meal (Megan Murante)

Today, September 26th, we had 320 raptors migrate through, 22 of which were Peregrine Falcons. It was a relatively slow day, but we had some nice views of the peregrines as they flew by. The highlight and a lifer for many of the individuals who went to see it (myself included) was a Northern Wheatear that was spotted by the pier at Kiptopeke. It was thrilling to see it here since it is uncommon in Virginia. We were very lucky that it decided to linger around at the same jetty for the entire afternoon!

Sharp-shinned Hawk with a full crop (Megan Murante)

Peregrine Falcon (Megan Murante)

Northern Wheatear (Megan Murante)

Northern Wheatear trying to catch a snack (Michael Ferrara)

Hopefully we have a similarly amazing day this Saturday for the Kiptopeke Challenge and Outdoor Exploration day!

-Megan

Outdoor Education At Kiptopeke

One important part of Coastal Virginia Wildlife Observatory is environmental education! Whenever visitors come to the platform, we love to talk to them about our jobs and why we are conducting a hawk watch at Kiptopeke. In addition to that, we are participating in Kiptopeke State Park's Outdoor Exploration Day, which is this coming Saturday, September 28th. The event is at the picnic area between 9:00am and 3:00pm. Anna Stunkel and I will be at the Hawkwatch Platform, hosting a "mini" Kiptopeke Challenge (with bird coloring pages!). Additionally, I will be leading the weekly early bird hike at 9:00am. Michael Ferrara will be assisting with the butterfly enclosure by the butterfly garden, where visitors can see local species of butterflies and chrysalises. We are looking forward to seeing many of you there! 

The butterflies and chrysalises arrived at the park yesterday and were released into the custom enclosure built by the park. Inside they have plenty of flowers, such as mist flower, for the butterflies to feed on. One of the park rangers made a time-lapse of the butterfly release into the enclosure, click here to see the video! Anna Stunkel helped make signs that are displayed in the enclosure that describe the life cycle of Monarch Butterflies.

Butterflies inside the enclosure in front of sign illustrated by Anna Stunkel. 

Besides special events, our daily activities typically involve education. Below are some photos and descriptions of some of the research and education opportunities we have provided so far this season.

The Educator/Intern Megan Murante shows kids at the platform one of our brochures that has life size images of the most common butterflies on the Eastern Shore.

Our Monarch Biologist, Michael Ferrara explains the Monarch Migration to Visitors by the Butterfly Garden.

Megan Murante explains why we are counting hawks at Kiptopeke and shows what species we see using the platform sign.

Michael Ferrara tags a Monarch at the platform in front of visitors, and discusses the importance of tagging butterflies on the migration route.

Tagged Monarch butterfly right before Michael does assessment of fitness. He checks weight, wing condition, and sex.

Educator/Hawkwatch Intern Megan used the Park's "limo" to give a tour to participants of the University of Virginia's conference on coastal issues, held nearby this past weekend. One of the participants, with an interest in Monarch migration, wants to partner with the CVWO and the State Park on a project to record wildlife sounds. 

-Megan

Titmice at the Hummingbird Feeder?! Last weekend's updates!

This weekend was a great one for seeing plenty of birds (and a few other little critters)! 

Here is an update containing the highlights from the end of last week and the weekend! 

Thursday, 9/19

On Thursday we had good cool weather and a steady flight throughout the day. There were 673 raptors in total, composed of a good mix of the different species we see here. There were 71 Broad-winged Hawks, 191 Sharp-shinned, 54 Cooper’s Hawks, 161 American Kestrels, 80 Merlins, and 88 Ospreys. 

Juvenile Red-Tailed Hawk (Megan Murante)

Merlin (Megan Murante)

Friday, 9/20

The raptor flight in the morning was a little slow, but thankfully there was a nice group of Common Yellow-throats that kept us entertained. They were very close to the platform, hopping around finding insects in the dog fennel field. The accipiter flight picked up in the afternoon, and we ended up having 135 Sharp-shinned Hawks and 20 Cooper’s Hawks.  We had a few very interesting pairs of visitors on this day. Two wheel bugs were on the platform in the afternoon, and two Turkey Vultures landed at the same time on the T-pole close to the platform. 

Common Yellow-throated Warbler (Megan Murante)

Pair of Turkey Vultures on the T-pole (Megan Murante)

Mating Wheel Bugs (Megan Murante)

Saturday, 9/21

On the weekly Saturday morning Nature walk, some of the birds we saw included a Northern Flicker, a Red-eyed Vireo, a Black and White Warbler, a Swainson’s Thrush, and a Pine Warbler. A boy scouts troop joined me for the walk, and they were very eager to find the birds rustling high up in the trees. In addition to listening for and spotting the birds, they were able to help me find a praying mantis, several Fowlers Toads and Spiny backed Orb-weaver spiders. It is great when we have groups coming to the platform and participating in our programs!

Red-eyed Vireo (Megan Murante)

Swainson’s Thrush (Megan Murante)

Pine Warbler (Megan Murante)

Sunday, 9/22

We had a really good flight of American Kestrels and Sharp-shinned hawks on Sunday. There were 123 kestrels and 147 sharp-shins. Some of the birds were really low on this day, providing good views. We also saw a long-tailed Skipper, which isn’t very common on the Eastern Shore. Lately our hummingbird feeder has been attracting more than just hummingbirds. The Cloudless Sulfurs are confusing the hummingbirds by taking their spots on the feeder. In addition to the butterflies, titmice have been visiting them as well! We were finally able to take a photo of the titmice that have been drinking the water from the ant traps above the feeders! 

Sharp-shinned Hawk (Megan Murante)

Long-tailed Skipper (Megan Murante)

Cloudless Sulfur and Ruby-Throated Hummingbird (Megan Murante)

Tufted Titmice (Megan Murante)

Titmouse taking a sip from the ant trap (Megan Murante)

A now quenched titmouse (Megan Murante)

-Megan

Cold Front and Storm System Brings in the Birds!

The past two days at Kiptopeke were filled with hundreds of raptors! A cold front and storm system helped our hawkwatch see the highest total day counts of the season. It is still a little early in the season, but we had over 800 birds each day. 

On Tuesday, September 17th, there were 872 raptors. We had the largest flights of American Kestrels and Merlins yet for this season! There were 303 kestrels and 289 Merlins, and several of them were seen eating dragonflies on the wing. There were a few Merlins that swooped down very low by the platform over the course of the day, likely on the hunt. One Merlin came especially close; it was only a few feet in front of us when it flew past at eye level. 

On Wednesday, September 18th, there were 889 birds. It was another great day for small falcons, with 256 kestrels and 203 Merlins. The numbers of accipiters are starting to pick up, too. We counted 146 Sharp-shinned Hawks and 36 Cooper’s Hawks. We also spotted 22 White Ibises, eight Great Blue Herons, and a juvenile Little Blue Heron. 

Bald Eagle (Megan Murante)

Merlin and American Kestrel (Steve Thornhill)

Kettle of Broad-winged Hawks (Megan Murante)

Sharp-shinned Hawk (Megan Murante)

Cooper's Hawk (Megan Murante)

Merlin (Megan Murante)

Juvenile Little Blue Heron (Megan Murante)

506 Raptors and a Third Mississippi Kite!

Another great day at the Kiptopeke Hawkwatch! We had 506 raptors, one of which was another Mississippi Kite. There were 347 Ospreys, 58 Merlins, and 61 Kestrels. The weather conditions in the morning and early afternoon were perfect for hawk watching. There was plenty of cloud cover and strong East and Northeast winds that caused many birds to fly very low and close to the platform. We also spotted two Common Nighthawks, 14 White Ibises, 3 Snowy Egrets, and 2 Great Egrets. It was such an exciting day and hopefully the numbers will keep increasing as the season progresses!

Mississippi Kite (Megan Murante)

American Kestrel (Megan Murante)

Male Northern Harrier (Megan Murante)

Red-tailed Hawk (Megan Murante)

SubadultBald Eagle (Megan Murante)

Osprey (Megan Murante)

Our Monarch Biologist, Michael Ferrara, arrived today. He is returning for a second year to Kiptopeke to count and tag Monarchs for CVWO this Fall. Amazingly, he was able to find a tagged Monarch this afternoon!

Michael reaching for a tagged Monarch (Megan Murante)

Hope to see some of you tomorrow at the hawk watch platform for the 9:00 am bird walk (Saturday, 9/14)!  If you aren't able to make it, don't worry! It is a new program that will be held every Saturday in September and October. 

-Megan

Weekend of 9/7 Updates (Another Mississippi Kite!)

We had a wonderful weekend and a spectacular start to the week at the Hawkwatch! Here are a few updates and highlights from the past few days.

Saturday 9/7/19:

Saturday morning started off very well. We had a Yellow-throated Warbler visit us on the platform early in the morning. CVWO has started to have weekly bird walks on Saturday mornings at 9:00 am led by the educator (that's me), so the very first one was this past weekend. During the walk we went to the beach and watched as a very large number of pelicans and gulls followed a boat that was going to check the pound nets. We also ran into a Black Rat Snake perched in a tree! These snakes are very good climbers, and can be found in trees (like the one we found).

Brown Pelicans and gulls over fishing boat and concrete ships (Megan Murante)

Black Rat Snake (Megan Murante)

The majority of raptors seen on Saturday were Ospreys. There were 156 Ospreys and 177 total raptors on this day. Many of the Ospreys came in bursts and in large groups. The largest group was 14 Ospreys.

This day was very exciting in regards to songbirds. First thing in the morning a Yellow-throated Warbler landed on the platform right behind Anna. Then, we also saw a Great Crested Flycatcher, a Yellow-breasted Chat, and a Prairie Warbler. Bobolinks have been continuing to migrate through Kiptopeke, and Steve Thornhill was able to take a great photo of them in flight. 

Bobolinks (Steve Thornhill)

Prairie Warbler (Megan Murante)

Sunday 9/8/19:

On Sunday, we had the highest total day count of 354 raptors. One of those was yet another Mississippi Kite! We also had 255 Ospreys, 41 American Kestrels, 22 Northern Harriers, 15 Merlins, and 4 Peregrine Falcons.

Peregrine Falcon (Steve Thornhill)

Adult male Northern Harrier (Megan Murante)

This weekend there was an increase in the number of American Kestrels and Merlins, likely since we are now closer to the peak of migration season. While American Kestrels and Merlins are quite similar in appearance in some ways, Merlins tend to be more aggressive and are much more likely to be harassing nearby raptors. They are very territorial and will fiercely guard their personal space, but will also chase after other birds during migration. 

Merlin chasing another Merlin (Megan Murante)

In addition to raptors, we saw several notable songbirds on Sunday. There is a small group of chokecherry trees by the hawk watch platform that attracts many songbirds. We saw Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, a Cape May Warbler, an Eastern Wood-Pewee, a Common Yellowthroat, a Blue Grosbeak, and a Red-eyed Vireo. 

Common Yellowthroat (Megan Murante)

Red-eyed Vireo (Megan Murante)

Blue Grosbeak (Megan Murante)

We often have many non-hominid visitors to the platform, especially insects and arachnids. An interaction between the two groups ended poorly for this leaf-footed bug. A jumping spider caught this unfortunate insect and was hanging from a thread attached to the roof of the platform (and almost right over where Anna was watching for raptors).

Bold Jumping Spider with a Leaf-footed Bug (Megan Murante)

Monday 9/9/19:

The high numbers of Ospreys continued into Monday with 134 that migrated through on this day. It was also a good day for kestrels, with a total of 51. By the end of the day there were 223 raptors counted, which made it another very good day for this early in the season.

Osprey (Megan Murante)

Merlin (Megan Murante)

One interesting event that occurred was a group of 3 Bald Eagles flying together, but each one was a different age. In order to determine the age of Bald Eagles, it is important to look at their coloration and their flight feather molt. A typical first year has a dark brown belly and head, while there are white patches on the underside. Younger subadults tend to have more white on the belly and underside of the wings, and maintain mostly brown head feathers. Older subadults have a white head and tail with some brown markings. It takes about four years for Bald Eagles to fully mature and gain adult plumage. At that point they are very distinctive, with a perfectly white head and tail, and brown wings and belly. 

Three Bald Eagles (Megan Murante)

American Redstart (Megan Murante)

Summer Tanager (Megan Murante)