My Birding Life List
Entry Page (50 per Page) - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1
Though it is common terminology among birding enthusiasts, the idea of a so-called "Life List" might not be straightforward to everyone viewing this website. To define it simply, so as not to cause anyone who visits this page to feel left out, a Life List is a written account of all the species of birds one has seen or heard over the course of his/her life. With advances in digital photography, I have decided to add photographs to my species accounts to provide proof of just what I have seen. For my Life List, I only count birds that I have photographed, therefore some birds I have seen in the past are not counted, until I can provide a photograph of one in the wild. For example, I have seen Bobwhites before, but they were so fast, I was never able to photograph them. As such, they do not show up on this list yet. There are around 900 species of birds that can be seen at any point in time in North America (north of Mexico specifically). In summary, this page is my attempt to showcase all of the species that have made it to my list, as well as provide information on each type of bird & a short report of just how the sighting came to be, so I can always remember accurately each of my firsts, please enjoy!
Entry #248 - Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens) - May 16, 2015
Entry #247 - Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteria virens) - May 9, 2015
Entry #246 - Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris) - April 5, 2015
Entry #245 - Yellow-throated Warbler (Setophaga dominica) - April 3, 2015
Entry #244 - Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) - March 6, 2015
After having spotted my first Red-necked Grebe on the first island of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, I wasn't anticipating seeing anything else out of the ordinary. The usual birds like Scaup, and Scoters, and Red-breasted Mergansers were seen all over the island, but, so was another bird I'd never seen before. I watched as the silhouette of a cormorant moved parallel with the shoreline, something that happens often on the island, as the number of Double-crested Cormorants is quite high out on the bridge. However, when this one passed by, I caught sight of the white thigh patch, and then raised my bincoulars to verify. Immediately I knew I had a Great Cormorant, my very first, and was able to get a couple of photographs off before it zoomed out of sight, traveling northward. Great Comorants are larger than our standard Double-crested Comorants, and live along the northern East Coast in winter, with some populations wintering down south to our area & into the Outer Banks as well. They seem to prefer large expanses of open water, and rocky coastlines like the bridge & the bay offer. I may have seen one of these earlier in the year on a bridge support, but couldn't verify since I was driving at the time. So this was the first one I can truly document, and with photographs to boot!
Entry #243 - Red-necked Grebe (Podiceps grisegena) - March 6, 2015
After leaving work on Friday around 3 PM, I had headed up to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel in another attempt to continue adding on to my Virginia Beach list for the year (currently sitting at 115 species of birds). When I'd arrived, the temperature was in the low 20s (F), and it was a bit breezy out of the north/northwest which was driving up a strong swell onto the first island. Right away, there was a large raft of Scaup situated to the east of the first parking stall that I always try to take. While scanning through the birds one by one, trying to find something out of the ordinary...I found something out of the ordinary. Seeing a bird with more upright posture than a duck, and a longer yellow bill I realized I was looking at my first Red-necked Grebe! There have been many reports of these birds showing up in the waters off our coastline in the last couple of weeks, primarily due to the major freeze up of ice on the Great Lakes, and other bodies of water to our north. The worse the conditions are in the winter time, the more likely we are to see some of these irruptive birds. I was very excited to finally tag my first, and I actually saw 4 in total around the island on my walk, possible a 5th that may or may not have been one of the originals and moved.
Entry #242 - Eastern Screech-Owl (Megascops asio) - March 1, 2015
Late on Sunday evening, about 9 PM I received a text message from Ron Furnish, who lives just around a couple of corners in my neighborhood. He had an Eastern Screech-Owl show up on his fence at his house. At the time of the message, I was dozing off on the couch and didn't read it til about 9:30 PM. Fortunately, Ron said that the owl was still present, and so Ruth & I grabbed on some warmer clothes, and I grabbed my camera & we drove over in the hopes of getting a look at it. It had stayed during our drive time, and when we pulled up, we were able to stand within about 15-20 feet of the bird without it getting spooked. Ruth & I watched with Ron & Marie Mullins as it dove to a clear spot on the ground free of snow, grabbed an earthworm in its bill, and then flew up into a nearby tree to feed. I took a few photographs while it remained still on the fence, and though they mostly came out a bit fuzzy, it was just so neat to see this bird that I didn't even care. This is the first time I've ever photographed an owl before, so I'm glad I woke up on the couch in time! I didn't expect to start the month of March off with an owl as the very first monthly species, but I'm surely excited about it kicking it off with a new county, state, and life bird!
Entry #241 - Red Knot (Calidris canutus) - February 14, 2015
I took this photograph at Oregon Inlet in the Outer Banks while Ruth & I were on our Valentine's Weekend vacation to the area. We had hiked the jetty trail along the rock wall on the south side of the inlet leading up to where it meets the ocean. I had sighted the bird first as it flew in and landed on the beach with a group of Sanderlings, however, it was quite large, and didnd't have the black legs nor the body markings of a Sanderling. So I kept with it, taking many, many photographs to make sure I would be able to properly ID it at home. My first inkling was that perhaps I was looking at a Red Knot, but I dismissed the thought quickly, knowing how rare they are. Ruth & I had met up with Karen & Tom Beatty later in the day at Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge and I told her I believed I'd seen a Pectoral Sandpiper, basing the ID off the bright yellow legs. However, what I didn't know at the time was that Pectorals are found nowhere near here in winter, and that this bird was indeed the Red Knot I had dismissed as a possibility. Looking through my field guides assisted, as did checking eBird to see if anyone else had spotted a strange yellow-legged shorebird that day at Oregon Inlet. I was one of several people who noted it, but I will say, I had the earliest time on my report, so I was very excited to be the first to log the bird (as far as I know). It was made even more amusing to me as Ruth & I passed a new apartment complex out in Chesapeake along Highway 168 called The Red Knot, almost a sign of what was to come, had I paid attention to it on our way to the Outer Banks, and not just noticed the name on the way home the following day after the sighting occurred.
Entry #240 - Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri) - February 14, 2015
I'm almost positive I have at some point in time, seen a Western Sandpiper before. However, I have never been in a position to positively identify it as such due to their likeliness to many other species, most notably Semipalmated Sandpipers. In winter-time along the East Coast though, the Westerns are the only ones present that fit their look. With its black legs and short curved bill, and size much smaller than the Dunlins in the background, this one is shown to be a Western. The similar Least Sandpiper would have yellow legs, and the Semipalmated Sandpipers are all much, much further south for the winter. I actually did not notice this bird while I was in the field, and it wasn't until I was going through all my trip photographs that I noticed this one and a few others standing out as much smaller than the Dunlins I was photographing. The group of Dunlins (and Western Sandpipers) was located on the small beach on the southeast corner of the Bonner Bridge at Oregon Inlet in Dare County, North Carolina. There is a parking area adjacent to this beach that a lot of birders and fisherman use while visiting the inlet, which is a massive waterway connecting the Pamlico Sound to the Atlantic Ocean. The beach itself is rather small, but usually houses many species of shorebirds, especially in the winter. This particular outing I noted 10 species of shorebirds along the inlet, probably the most I've seen in one outing there to date. I'm glad to finally add this difficult to identify species to my life list, and with a photograph as proof.
Entry #239 - Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) - January 17, 2015
Entry #238 - Common Eider (Somateria mollissima) - December 13, 2014
Entry #237 - Purple Finch (Haemorhous purpureus) - November 28, 2014
Entry #236 - Canvasback (Aythya valisineria) - November 23, 2014
Entry #235 - Nelson's Sparrow (Ammodramus nelsoni) - October 17, 2014
Roughly one month after I had my first sighting of a Saltmarsh Sparrow up at Pleasure House Point, I found myself seeing a very similar bird. This time, it was a Nelson's Sparrow. These two species are very similar in appearance, and were once considered the same species (Sharp-tailed Sparrow), before being split into different species, first known as Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow and Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow, though now having dropped the 'Sharp-tailed' portion. The main way to tell the difference is that the Nelson's has a very buffy/orange colored chest, and mostly unmarked white stomach while the Saltmarsh lacks the orange chest mostly, where it's all white and black/brown streaks on both chest and stomach (see photos of both below since I happened to see them one entry after another). Many reports of these showed up on eBird in the days before I spotted and photographed this one. I had assumed people were being a bit presumptuous about the sparrows they were identifying as Nelson's, but I did end up see quite a few of them along the tidal shoreline, probably 10-12 of which I'm guessing most if not all were Nelson's. They and the Saltmarsh both winter in the area so hopefully I'll get continued looks at them in the future. They definitely show off a lot of color, and prove that sparrows aren't just little brown birds as is the common misconception.
Entry #234 - Saltmarsh Sparrow (Ammodramus caudacutus) - September 18, 2014
This evening I was up at Pleasure House Point for an after work walk. The tide was in, and actually even higher than typical high tide due to the northeasterly winds we've received over the past few days. As a result of the high water levels, shorebirds were non-existent in the park since they're preferred feeding grounds (exposed tidal mudflats) were completely submerged underwater. However, there was something very positive that came out of the extremely high water levels. While walking along the southern area of the park, just north of the marshy islands, I spooked a pair of sparrows, which at the time I theorized must be the same species. After spooking them several times and trying very hard to get photographs, I finally was able to get one of each bird, just before they flew off into the marshes for good. The first, turned out to be a Seaside Sparrow, making it now my second lifetime sighting, and in the same exact location as the first sighting that occurred last month. The second bird though, turned out to be this beautiful Saltmarsh Sparrow. The high water levels greatly reduced the areas that these sparrows could hide amongst, which gave me a leg up in trying to spot them. In times of low water, they have far more available hiding places, so I will look for them again the next time I'm out at high tide!
Entry #233 - Hudsonian Godwit (Limosa haemastica) - September 1, 2014
This bird is one that is dear to me. When I was a kid and just starting to get interested in birds, I remember trying to figure out what a species of Sandpiper was that I was seeing. I was convinced that what I had seen was a Hudsonian Godwit, but my father refused to believe me because of how ridiculous it sounded. Of course, he was correct, and what I was seeing, I'd later realize was just a Spotted Sandpiper. However, this stuck with me all the way til now, and finally at 30 years old, I got a look at my first real Hudsonian Godwit! This bird was reported the prior day by Keith & Karen Roberts and Karen & Tom Beatty to be in the area around the pumphouse at Mackay Island National Wildlife Refuge. It was my first trip into the refuge, and after a full loop of the impoundments I came back to find not only the 4 individuals mentioned above, but the Hudsonian as well! Just 2 days prior, I had spotted a Marbled Godwit along the beach of Back Bay NWR with Ruth, so this is two godwits now on the weekend, something that has never happened to me before. These birds migrate through the area so there's no telling when I'll find my next one, but it was great to finally see my first.
Entry #232 - Seaside Sparrow (Ammodramus maritimus) - August 17, 2014
My day got started off with trying to track down a birding rarity that was sighted in Virginia Beach's Princess Anne Wildlife Management Area - Whitehurt Tract. Unfortunately, this Ruff, a shorebird from Europe that occasionally is seen along the East Coast in fall, was nowhere to be found. While on my way home from the excursion, the weather started getting really nice, so I figured if I was already out and about, I might as well try to extend my wildlife viewing. I headed up to Pleasure House Point off Shore Drive to see if anything interesting was around. Upon arrival, I figured I'd be in for a slow day since the tide was very high, and no exposed mudflats existed for potential shorebirds to be out feeding on. The standard birds were all around, mainly waders like Great Egrets and Yellow-crowned Night-Herons, but I did get a surprise songbird jumping out of the marsh grasses and quickly disappearing again into another patch. It took a couple passes but the bird finally flushed into a shaded spot, but where I could manually focus in on it with the camera. The ID was confirmed from about 10 photographs but this one posted is the clearest of them. It was a Seaside Sparrow juvenile, a new first for me, and very happy to have it confirmed by Ned Brinkley, while I kept thinking it was a Saltmarsh Sparrow.
Entry #231 - Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga) - August 2, 2014
This is a bird that has been on my radar for quite some time. Last year, a pair of these Anhingas nested on a small freshwater pond on Blackwater Road in Chesapeake, VA, just east of the intersection with Fentress Road. I went out twice last year to try and locate the birds, but both times I missed out. Since today was a cloudy, dreary day and I couldn't get out somewhere on a long hike I decided to finally give it a shot again. Many folks have seen this group of nesting birds this season, so they're are well known around the state since they're some of the only breeding Anhingas in Virginia. I arrived at the pond on the eastern corner in the morning, and after a few minutes of scanning the lake, I finally spotted this female perched about halfway up a large tree. Later, from the southwest corner of the lake, it became obvious that the nest was also in the same tree, and harbored at least 3 juvenile birds. Two other adults, both males, were present at the nest, and at the tip top of the nest tree. I hope to get back on a clearer day when I can make better use of my 400mm lens, which is a bit too short for the distance it needs to cover to photograph these birds. Maybe I'll get lucky and see them in flight, or on another perch around the lake next time.
Entry #230 - Gull-billed Tern (Gelochelidon nilotica) - July 20, 2014
I didn't expect to add a new bird to my life list just walking along the beach on a beautiful sunny day, but that's exactly how it happened! Ruth & I were up at 88th Street beach at the Virginia Beach oceanfront, and I had walked north along the water into Fort Story to take some photos, mainly of the abundant Ghost Crab population on the more isolated beach. I had seen a few Brown Pelicans and Royal Terns, as well as some standard Herring & Ring-billed Gulls. Also, a few Sandwich Terns had flown past, so I was paying attention to the skies with all the activity. When this one flew by, I at first thought it was just another Sandwich Tern, but after reviewing the photographs, I noticed it didn't have the yellow tip to the bill that the adults show. Also, the bill is much bulkier, and shorter than a standard tern's. I quickly realized that it was a Gull-billed Tern and then confirmed via my several field guides and online resources. Very happy to add another to the list today!
Entry #229 - Cliff Swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) - June 18, 2014
This might be a completely new bird to me, not just one I've photographed for the first time. I had always thought all the swallows I was seeing at Turkey Run State Park were Bank Swallows due to them mainly nesting along the banks of Sugar Creek as it flows through the park from east to west. However, after enlarging the photographs and being able to pick out much more color, this one is definitely a Cliff Swallow. The orangish colors around the head, and the large white spot on the forehead are some of the distinguishing marks here, plus it's method of nesting, here right underneath the roadway bridge at the upstream end of the park.
Entry #228 - Bank Swallow (Riparia riparia) - June 18, 2014
The Bank Swallow is a bird I've had to have seen many times before growing up and coming to Turkey Run State Park (near Crawfordsville, Indiana) to canoe & hike the trails. They nest in the banks of Sugar Creek throughout the park. This is the first time though that I've gotten a camera onto one. This swallow is identified by it's brown back of body, and large amounts of white on the underside, especially on the throat, that helps set it apart from the Northern Rough-winged Swallow (a species which might also exist in the park here).
Entry #227 - Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) - June 13, 2014
The Common Goldeneye is a bird that I used to see quite often on the lakes of Minnesota during my summers spent there. However, since I didn't start photographing wildlife until after I moved to Virginia, this group was the very first ones that I'd ever taken a photograph of. This family of 7 ducklings & the mother was seen on a beaver pond down the logging road where I grew up, north of Ely, MN. The Common Goldeneye was actually one of the first birds I ever looked up in a field guide to figure out what it was, after my dad mistakenly referred to it as a Ring-necked Duck and I wanted to know for sure. I was only about 12 or 13 years old at that point, and we had seen it while working on Rich Mochelle's house on Farm Lake, east of Ely.
Entry #226 - Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus) - June 11, 2014
A childhood favorite of mine was the Ruffed Grouse. These beautifully camouflaged gamebirds are pretty common throughout the northern forests where I grew up. This first one I photographed was actually seen right in my dad's front yard in Ely, Minnesota on my recent trip up there. It had actually bedded down in a group of bracken ferns while I was running to get my camera, and it took me being about a foot away from it before it burst into the air and flew to the forest edge and run into the underbrush. I followed it for probably 15 minutes and snapped a lot of poor photographs, but a couple did come out well enough to showcase it here as a new bird on my life list. This species of grouse is known for ruffling up it's neck feathers when it is disturbed, the main reason for it's name. They also have a spiky hairstyle that sets them apart from many other birds. There are two color morphs, gray and red, of which the below is one of the gray type, which is mainly seen in the tailfeathers.
Entry #225 - Spruce Grouse (Falcipennis canadensis) - June 11, 2014
After having arrived in Minnesota two days prior, and spending yesterday out on the water fishing for Walleyes. Today was to be my first long day of hiking, so early in the morning, about 6 or 7 AM I headed down our logging road eastward into the woods. Just before I got to the 1.25 mile hill, I scared up a bird off the ground, and it landed in a nearby tree. It kept walking from branch to branch trying to stay hidden but when I did get a good look at it I could tell right away that it was a Spruce Grouse. I've seen them before, having grown up here, but since my photographs days began after I moved to Virginia, this is the first time I've had the opportunity to photograph one. I took probably a hundred photos of this bird over the next 15-20 minutes as it posed nicely in the tree. It was a little cloudy at the time so the shots were mostly grainy, but a few did comes out really nice, like this one that shows the red comb over his eyes. Grouse are a gamebird in Northern Minnesota and commonly hunted, though I can't remember just what they taste like, I'm sure just a gamier version of chicken since they're called forest chickens by some people.
Entry #224 - Mourning Warbler (Geothlypis philadelphia) - June 10, 2014
On my first morning after arriving in Minnesota yesterday afternoon for a week long vacation, I got to add a new bird to my lists. I had woken up about 5 AM, and for probably 45 minutes wrestled with my alarm, and the song of a bird singing outside the window. While waiting for Kim to get her fishing gear together, since we were heading out Walleye fishing, I tried to track down the songster that had been singing since dawn. It took a long time to finally spot the little bird against the leafed out trees background, but when I did it was obvious that it was a Mourning Warbler. I've seen these growing up, as they were one of the first warblers I was able to accurately identify from a field guide, but this is the first one I've ever photographed. I chased it around for probably an hour outside as it moved through the tops of some trees in the yard. These guys boast a strong black chest, with gray throat & head against a beautiful yellow belly. Nashville & Connecticut Warblers are both similar, though the Nashvilles lack the black, and the Connecticut have strong eye rings.
Entry #223 - House Wren (Troglodytes aedon) - May 24, 2014
It has been quite a while since my last addition to the list, so I'm grateful to say that I finally got a new one to add! I was up at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge on the Eastern Shore of Virginia over Memorial Day weekend (Saturday & Sunday) with Ruth to reap the benefits of our Comfort Suites rewards' card free one-night stay. We left early (6 AM) Saturday morning from our apartment and headed up to the island, reaching the refuge at about 8 AM. We walked the Wildlife Loop and then grabbed some lunch at Woody's BBQ on Chincoteague Island. Afterwards, Ruth wanted to go to the beach, so I dropped her off there & went and walked the short Woodland Trail hoping to find some of the Delmarva Fox Squirrels that nest in this area. I did in fact find a pair of them, but I also heard a bird singing that I didn't recognize. After much looking around, I finally spotted the little songbird sitting on the end of a branch high up in a pine tree. I couldn't get a real close look since it was so far away, but from the song it was singing, which I later looked up online, and from the shape of the bird, the color being brown overall, and having blackish ridges along the back, I found it to be a House Wren. These birds aren't exactly rare, and are a very common feeder bird in many people's back yards, but its a species that I just haven't seen prior, so it was very nice to get this one crossed off finally after seeing so many photographs others have taken of them!
Entry #222 - Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla) - May 24, 2014
Entry #221 - Sora (Porzana carolina) - April 26, 2014
While walking along the West Dike Trail at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge I got a very awesome surprise, seeing my very first Sora! I saw a bird not much larger than a sparrow hopping around in some shrubbery growing at the edge of the water and when it moved out into the light I could see a yellow bill and black on the face. I knew right away what it was having seen many photographs in field guides and on the internet. I had always thought they were larger birds, like the size of a Clapper Rail, but it turns out they're actually quite small, only about 8" long, or the size of a Virginia Rail. While trying to keep an eye on it in the brush, I noticed some movement next to it while it was stationary, and it turned out that there was not one, but two of them in the shrub! They were incredibly difficult to try and photograph in the dimly lit shade of the shrub and marsh grasses but they stepped into the light a couple very brief times. I tried for about ten minutes to get a good shot, but they eventually got spooked and flew the hundred or so feet across to the other side of the water. They landed in sight, but disappeared off into the marsh very quickly. Some folks in the HRWE had posted some shots from Mackay Island, but I haven't heard of anyone seeing one at Back Bay yet this year in the group at least. Hopefully someday I get another chance at a better photograph, but I could care less since I succeeded in my eyes at being able to just spot one of these very secretive birds, and I got a photograph that can be used as proof of the ID, that is all that matters to me.
Entry #220 - Rusty Blackbird (Euphagus carolinus) - April 13, 2014
After quite a bit of time without any new additions to my life list, I finally got a new this weekend. Ruth & I had gone up to Fairfax County this weekend to stay with her mom in Lorton, and to go see the National Cherry Blossom Festival in downtown Washington, D.C. On Sunday, I went hiking at the South Run Stream Valley Park (from Hooes Road near Lake Mercer then upstream to Burke Lake Dam & back...then another 2 or so miles on the downstream side of Hooes Road). After walking about 8 miles I came across what would be my very first Rusty Blackbird. I was on the asphalt path through the stream valley, in a swampy area when several of them flushed from the ground and landed in trees nearby. I at first thought they were Common Grackles, but after a minute I noticed they didn't have any irridescence on the feathers around their shoulders and neck. They were more drab in appearance, and some of them had a very 'rusty' colored back which led to the realization that they must be Rusty Blackbirds. I know from reading online that this species is in severe decline, having lost 90+% of it's population over the last 50 years, and scientists have not yet figured out the cause. In the spring time eBird sponsors the Rusty Blackbird Blitz which is where folks record all their sightings specifically of this bird so that scientists might learn more about them. I'm glad to have been able to add to this list, as I saw about a dozen of them in total on my walk.
Entry #219 - Red-throated Loon (Gavia stellata) - March 15, 2014
This is a bird that I have long been told is extremely common offshore in the Hampton Roads region. Up until today I had never seen one though in person. Countless times I've seen photographs by other area photographers of these, and have even read reports of spotters sighting hundreds of them at Back Bay NWR on the same days that I also was out on the beach and found none. They've been like a ghost for me. I always wondered if they were just out too far in the water for me to spot with my camera's 400mm lens. Today, while walking along the north end of Virginia Beach's oceanfront area, I finally saw my first one, and it was in very close! I don't know if it was the warm weather (70 degrees!) or what that brought it in close to shore, but I'm glad to have finally seen one of these. They look at first very similar to the Common Loons that I've seen for most of my life. Their head is less bulky though, and they appear more snakelike on the water. Still in it's non-breeding, winter, plumage, this one shows off a lot of black and white feathering. In the breeding birds, they have a very vibrant slate gray neck & red front to the neck, giving it it's Red-throated name. These birds should be vacating the area soon, as they breed in the far north. Unfortunately that means we only ever see the non-breeding plumage around here unless we happen to get a straggler or an injured bird that can't make the trek up north.
Entry #218 - Iceland Gull (Larus glaucoides) - March 9, 2014
My first sighting of this one came at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I had just walked up the Dune Trail onto the beach. Right off the bat I could see a large flock of seabirds off to the south. I started walking in that direction and noticed that someone on a bike was heading back towards me so I waited to see if they’d scare all the birds off…and of course they did so I turned around. However, I got to thinking that maybe I’d see something neat in the flock so I again turned back towards them. This time I got around them without scaring too many away and now lined up south of them, I could actually take photos without the sunlight ruining them. While I was standing there taking photos of the Lesser Black-backed / Ring-billed / Herring / Great Black-backed Gulls I saw an all white one fly in over my head and land on the water close to shore. I thought at first it was a Glaucous Gull since I’d recently see one at Rudee Inlet and knew them to be all white. It wasn’t until I got home and reviewed the photos, and sent them off for confirmation that I found out it was an Iceland Gull (Kumlien’s race). The head & bill are very dainty in comparison to the other gulls we have around here. And the body was very light overall with just some dark gray on the primary flight feathers. Thayer's Gulls look very similar to these but have black on the wing tips and a more broad looking head & bill.
Entry #217 - Harlequin Duck (Histrionicus histrionicus) - February 16, 2014
After getting the shot at finding the Glaucous Gull on Friday at Rudee Inlet, my girlfriend Ruth and I had a weekend getaway planned to the Outer Banks for Valentine's Day. The weather wasn't looking too reassuring, but we managed to get out and enjoy the day on Saturday despite overcast conditions, and patches of heavy rainfall. One of the birds I was hoping to see on the trip was the Harlequin Duck, of which some sightings had occurred in the past couple weekends around Oregon Inlet. Harlequins are a species that usually occurs much further north, and prefers fast moving rocky rivers & coasts as it's habitat choice. Oregon inlet is a massive breach in the Outer Banks between Nags Head and Hatteras Island, surrounded by mostly sandy flats and a rock jetty on the south. I couldn't figure out why this might be a place they had chosen to winter, until I saw them for myself. On Sunday morning, I spotted two males underneath the roadway bridge. They were swimming in a swift current that was created by the motion of the tide from the ocean into Pamlico Sound, accelerated by the pylons holding up the bridge. I figure they were here because of the fast moving waters that the bridge actually helps to create at different times of the day. The most striking ducks I've ever seen, they show all sorts of color. I shot photographs under overcast skies, and then headed off to Pea Island NWR. Once there, the sun came out & we again stopped at the inlet, where we re-sighted a group of 5 Harlequins. We were able to sneak up very closely to the group, now near the main jetty east of the bridge, and I proceeded to take about 200 photos, the best one is visible at right.
Entry #216 - Glaucous Gull (Larus hyperboreus) - February 14, 2014
Both the listserve for Virginia, and eBird has been buzzing with news of a Glaucous Gull hanging out at Rudee Inlet. The bird, apparently a large, arctic species of gull showing all white feathers showed up a couple weeks ago on the rock jetty protecting Rudee Inlet. I was actually down at Rudee on Saturday morning after my visit to Back Bay, but didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Because of that, I didn't take any photos either (which is atypical for me). When I'd heard about the gull via the internet, I couldn't believe I hadn't taken photos, usually I would have been able to go back through and see if it had showed up. Anyway, after seeing reports throughout the week I finally decided to pack my camera up and bring it to work today. I left work about 3 PM and headed down to the inlet. It took about 15 minutes of scanning the jetty with my 400mm lens before I finally found a gull that looked like it could be something new. It finally stood up briefly, and a Ring-billed Gull flew in and landed next to it to provide a great size comparison for me to make a positive ID off of. I shot a lot of photographs, but at the range (about 800 feet) to the jetty, not many came out very good. This one here is the best I could do, you can see the large size of the bird, and that it has all white feathers outside of the slight gray tinge to the wing feathers. The primaries do not have black tips like most other gull species do.
Entry #215 - Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) - February 9, 2014
After being locked underneath cloud cover all weekend, I had decided not to go out on a long hike this morning since I didn't feel I'd be able to photograph anything I came across. Instead, I decided to head up to East Beach in Norfolk because of reports that have been showing up on eBird & across the web about a small group of 3 Black-headed Gulls that have been spotted out on the tidal flats of the bay. The reports began back on January 20 when Ellison Orcutt posted about locating 3 gulls in this spot & provided some photographs on eBird. I wasn't the only one who was interested in finding these birds, as I talked to 5 other individuals out on the beach that were either on their way to, or had already spotted the gulls. Situated just off the 28th Bay Street groin (large rock wall out in the water) I noticed one of them, mixed in a flock of Ring-billed, Bonaparte's, Herring, and Great Black-backed Gulls. I watched pretty intently for about a half hour and took a lot of photographs of this bird. Now I understand better how to identify them in the future, they are much smaller than the common Ring-billed Gulls, about the same size as a Bonaparte's. Both species have a small amount of black on their cheeks in winter time, but the Bonaparte's has orange legs & a black bill, while the Black-headed Gull has very bright red legs & bill. Having no sunlight today may have actually helped me to get this nice flight photo, as there was no brightness to wash out the beautiful white feathers of the gull!
Entry #214 - Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca) - February 1, 2014
Another week, another new bird to add to my life list! This Fox Sparrow became the 4th new addition to the list in 2014, and hopefully the streak continues as I keep checking out new parks and getting more and more educated each day on bird identification in the field. I've seen a lot of folks in the HRWE facebook group posting photos of Fox Sparrows throughout the winter. It appears they are quite common in the region this time of year, but either I haven't been lucky enough to stumble across them, or I somehow wasn't able to identify them as anything different than the more common Song & White-throated Sparrows that I often see while out hiking. This particular Fox Sparrow was in a small group (maybe 4-5 of them), that was feeding right on the Cape Henry Trail at First Landing State Park. Unfortunately, I was directly west of them moving east, so at the time of day I came across them, the sun was glaring down right in my eyes, and it didn't help that those same sun rays were being bounced all around by the snow on the ground. I wasn't able to get on to the right side of these birds without scaring them into flying away, but this photograph showing the rufous colored streaking on the chest, stomach, and sides, coupled with the large amount of gray on the back of the head, neck, and shoulders is clear enough for me to call this my first positive ID'd Fox Sparrow.
Entry #213 - Field Sparrow (Spizella pusilla) - January 26, 2014
Entry #212 - American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) - January 19, 2014
After spotting the White-winged Scoter at the Chesapeake Bay-Bridge Tunnel, I headed further north across the bridge to the Eastern Shore of Virginia. After crossing the bridge I stopped at the Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge and decided to explore it a little bit, as this was my first time there. I walked a short trail down to an overlook and then drove to the boat landing just to see what was out there. After leaving the park, I decided to take the Seaside Road that many folks have told me is a great place to see lots of species of birds. Driving with my phone's map pulled up I switched off onto a dirt road (Bulls Drive) that looked like it might go down to the tidal marshes of Bull's Bay but instead dead-ended at a small parking area. The parking area turned out to be for the Magothy Bay Nature Area. I had run out of time for exploring and so had to leave, but on my way out I saw one small falcon dive off a powerline and head for the treeline to the south. I had caught a glimpse of the rusty colors on the bird when it made it's dash so I took a long distance photograph just to see if I could verify that it was what I thought. When I checked the camera, this shot was good enough to verify that what I was seeing was in fact a male American Kestrel. Their rusty back & wing feathers, combined with the gray/bluish wing feathers and strong black facial markings make it an easily identifiable bird. The related Merlins are not neary as colorful, showing mainly light & dark streaking on a darker, larger built body and the Peregrines are much larger, with a lot more black on their head. This wasn't the first time I'd ever seen a Kestrel, but it was the first time I got the photograph to prove it. I have seen them in the past in northern Minnesota, and locally along Centreville Turnpike in Chesapeake near the intersection with Volvo Parkway (circa 2006-2007).
Entry #211 - White-winged Scoter (Melanitta fusca) - January 19, 2014
Another beautiful colored sea-faring duck that frequents the East Coast of the United State in winter-time, I spotted my first of the species at the same location as my last entry to this list. When I first noticed the bird, the bright white patch on the back (wing) was readily visible. Also, it had the typical Scoter head shape, very large, bulky bill, and light patches of feathering in front of & behind the eye. Had it lacked the white wing patch, this would have been identified as a Black Scoter female, so this is the distinguishing mark I used to make my identification. Unlike the Long-tailed Ducks I had seen here, this White-winged Scoter wasn't seen in a large flock, but was seen alone as it fed along the large rocks of the man-made South Thimble Island. It was a very windy day, and the swells were moving in from the west. I'd have thought it would choose to feed on the sheltered side of the island but it went against my logic and was spotted out in the roughest waters around the island. After the swells crashed on the rocks, they'd reflect back away from the island causing the inshore water to be extremely choppy. I had a very difficult time getting any quality photographs as it was tough for me to stay perfectly stable against the wind, and the Scoter itself was constantly rising up and down with the incoming waves. I leaned up against the southwest corner of the restaurant building and shot around that corner to where it was, about 50 yeards to the north only about 20 feet or so from the shoreline. At least this position gave me a good vantage, and I don't think my being there frightened it very much as there is a chain linked fence stopping anyone from getting any closer. Also fortunately it was a very bright sunny day and so the water was extremely clear. It was neat to watch it constantly diving down and coming back to the surface, where you'd be able to view it underwater while it was nearing the top of the water column. I finally had to call it quits when I realized I'd taken over 100 photos of it, and my hands were pretty well frozen through.
Entry #210 - Fish Crow (Corvus ossifragus) - January 11, 2014
The Fish Crow is a bird that I know I have encountered many times in the past, but it has always been mixed in with other American Crows and I cannot distinguish them relying solely on the visual. They are quite common along the tidewater marshes of Virginia and I probably have been seeing them ever since 2005 when I moved here. However, today marks the first day that I've actually gotten a photograph of one, as it was making its distinctive call. A typical American Crow has a rather harsh sounding "Caw caw caw", while the Fish Crow exhibits a much more nasal sounding call, almost like an American Crow with a sinus infection must sound (which I hope this was not).
Entry #209 - Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis) - December 27, 2013
These beautifully colored sea-faring ducks were seen off the northern point of South Thimble Island (also referred to as the 1st island), of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel complex off the shore of Virginia Beach, VA. This flock of about 10 or so individuals was dining on fish that frequent the shallows off the islands in winter-time. I had previously seen photographs posted of Long-tailed Ducks in the same vicinity by Keith Roberts on the HRWE facebook group page, and was finally able to catch them close enough to properly identify them and add to my life list.
