August 2019
THE SISKIN
Newsletter of the Northern Virginia Bird Club Vol. 64, No. 3 — August 2019
www.nvabc.org
NVBC GENERAL MEETING—WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 8 PM
Program: Ghana: West Africa’s great new birding destination Speaker: Joanna Taylor
This past spring Mary Scala and Joanna Taylor visited Ghana, West Africa, a friendly, stable country, on a three-week birding tour managed by Field Guides. West Africa has lagged behind east and south Africa as a birding and tourist destination, but Ghana is one of the first countries in the area to embrace the idea of eco-tourism and the infrastructure necessary to support it. The country has a lot to offer the birder. Ghana has both rain forest with a wonderful canopy walk and savannah and national parks and has over 750 species of birds, many of them endemic to west Africa. The star of the show is the White-necked Rockfowl, Picathartes gymnecephalus. Picathartes is a two species genus and very difficult to locate. A nesting colony is being carefully guarded by a nearby village and the birds are easy to see. There are also many species of Hornbills, Bee-eaters, Kingfishers and others to delight the eye.
Joanna Taylor is a longtime member of the NVBC and has been a member of the Board of the club for about 25 years. She is retired from the Department of State and lived next door to Ghana in Togo for two years where she birded extensively. Both she and Mary Scala volunteer at the bird banding station at Occoquan NWR. Mary Scala was a Peace Corps volunteer in Ghana for three years and enjoyed seeing her old stomping ground.
Early bird refreshments start at 7:30 pm. Any contributions of food or beverage will be most gratefully received. There will be a drawing for door prizes. Northern Virginia Bird Club pins will be available for members who would like to buy them ($5 each).
MEETING PLACE: St. Andrews Episcopal Church, 4000 Lorcom Lane, Arlington, 22207.
Presidential Peentings
By Larry Meade
Migration is perhaps the most awesome thing that birds do. They undergo extraordinary journeys as they move north in the spring in search of territory and breeding partners, and back south in the fall for available food. These trips are extremely dangerous and a significant number of birds do not survive them. About 40% of the world’s birds migrate, some traveling thousands of miles. Arctic Terns, for example, can fly as much as 49,700 miles round trip in a year as they travel between the far northern latitudes and the far southern latitudes. They essentially experience an endless summer. In another amazing migration feat, a Bar-tailed Godwit flew for eight days without stopping and traveled almost 7,000 miles in the process. Because of their smaller size, Blackpoll Warblers almost double their weight in order to have enough fuel to fly 2,300 miles non-stop.
As fall approaches, birders await the annual southern migration with great anticipation. Shorebirds are among the first birds to start moving and in August, NVBC will have a trip to Bombay Hook, Delaware, to see them at one of their stopover sites. Songbirds and raptors migrate a bit later and we will look for them at Cape May in October. Of course, we will always be looking for migrating birds on all of our other trips this fall too. I hope you can join us!
World Series of Birding – Guatemalan Tyrannulets
By David Farner
On May 11, I was part of the Guatemalan Tyrannulets birding team competing in New Jersey Audubon’s World Series of Birding. The other three members of the team, John and Rob Cahill and Josué De Leon Lux all live in Guatemala. This was my third attempt at the World Series, this time raising funds for Community Cloud Forest Conservation in Guatemala. We competed in the Carbon Footprint Challenge meaning we could not use motorized vehicles for transportation during the event – only foot or bike. Going into the event we had hopes of doing well but felt the local teams would have the edge on us. We were able to spend four days scouting Cape May giving us a chance to make a plan, learn some songs and find a few good birds along the way and for Josué the chance to add several lifers.
We were fortunate to receive assistance in planning from several folks, including New Jersey Audubon and Cape May Bird Observatory staff prior to the event. All week we talked to other competitors and birders who were happy to see a foreign-based team competing, especially a Guatemalan team. A normal World Series big day begins at midnight; however, we made a tactical decision to wait until 4 am to start. Knowing we’d spend the day biking and hiking we decided that more sleep would leave us in better shape for birding in the afternoon and evening. Early morning scouting during the week hadn’t been all that productive. So we hopped on the bikes and began our day to silence…our expected Chuck-will’s-widows were silent and so was pretty much everything else.
But soon we heard our hoped for Eastern Screech-owl, then headed to Cape May Meadows where the chucks started calling, woodcock began peenting and a Virginia Rail responded to my clapping. We began a seawatch at sunrise and found flyover loons, a distant Parasitic Jaeger and our big prize two distant Brown Boobies. The boobies were found by a competing team, NJ Audubon has changed their rules and encourages sharing of information, so the other team lead by David La Puma found the birds and pointed them out to us. As the day continued we found things we didn’t expect to see and missed some birds we should have found. We made three attempts to find a Barred Owl at the beanery, but no luck (other teams found it). A late-afternoon stop at the Meadows again for Red Knot and another miss. But Josué came through finding a well-hidden Barred Owl at the Meadows. And fortunately, we did get a Great Horned Owl later at Pond Creek Marsh at dusk.
Our last birds of the day were at Pond Creek where we added a Seaside Sparrow (lifer for everyone but me), common nighthawk, and a real surprise a late-flyby pintail. After dinner we did one last walk around Cape May Point hoping to hear a call from one of our big misses either a towhee or a thrasher but no luck. We decided to call it a day around 10. During the day we had walked about 10 miles and biked about 40 and finished with 140 species. The Brown Boobies turned out to be the difference. We beat David La Puma’s Cape May Bird Observatory team by one bird. If they hadn’t pointed out the boobies we would have tied at 139.
Spring Weekend Trip: Chincoteague, May 17 – 19, 2019
By Elton Morel
After a bit of a trudge down the beach in soft sand, 28 birders set up scopes and lifted binoculars to survey the birds along the shore of Tom’s Cove. Hoping to find the Black Terns found on the previous day’s scouting, we continued our Saturday morning of birding by sifting through the shorebirds at the water’s edge and the large flock of loafing Royal Terns. We quickly found several of our target birds — Marbled Godwits probing the wet sand and Least Terns flying overhead giving their sharp, shrill calls. Soon we spotted a Red Knot in breeding plumage. It took a little while for everybody to get on the bird before it was realized that part of the confusion was that we were looking at two different Red Knots running around amongst the debris along the shoreline separated by some distance. As we were enjoying the Red Knots, we noticed a pair of Royal Terns in the midst of their synchronized courtship display facing each other but slightly offset, dancing together with wings held out and head and bills bobbing up-and-down, then side-to-side.
It was a highly entertaining and amusing scene for us observers. This was just one of the many highlights that members of the Northern Virginia Bird Club experienced on our annual spring trip to Chincoteague over the weekend of May 17 to 19. With the coordinated efforts of my co-leader Larry Cartwright and many sharp-eyed observers, we collectively found 96 species over a weekend of very pleasant weather. Friday afternoon started with a drive around the Wildlife Loop at the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, where we introduced ourselves to the standard fare of shorebirds such as Dunlins and Black-bellied Plovers in breeding plumage, Semipalmated Plovers, Semipalmated Sandpipers, Short-billed Dowitchers, Yellowlegs of both species and a few Least Sandpipers. Long-legged waders were also well represented by Snowy Egrets, Tricolored and Little Blue Herons. Our highlight bird was a lingering male Green-winged Teal.
Our evening outing to find the Chuck-will’s-widow at sunset on Friday night was somewhat successful. We heard a couple of “Chucks” around the Wildlife Loop parking lot and we decided to walk across the entrance road in pursuit of one singing closest to the road. After a long and frustrating search, David Ledwith spotted a “Chuck” perched on a low snag deep in the darkening forest. Only a few observers were able to see the bird before it decided to take flight deeper into the woods. Our activities Saturday morning began well with a singing male Blue Grosbeak in the top of a tree as we started our walk along the boardwalk near the hotel. We enjoyed excellent views of Clapper Rails from the boardwalk, but surely our highlight was a singing Nelson’s Sparrow found in the marsh at the end of the boardwalk.
After viewing the tern colony and Red Knots to the south of the south beach parking lot, we headed to the north beach parking lot where we found a couple of Piping Plovers running around in the dry, white sands. A large merganser sleeping along the shoreline of Swan Cove provided a bit of an identification challenge causing much discussion. We eventually settled on the ID as an eclipse-plumage male Red-breasted Merganser. In the afternoon, our walk around the Chincoteague Island Nature Trail was rather quiet, netting us heard-only Brown-headed Nuthatches and a nice flyover of a Peregrine Falcon. Queen Sound Flats produced the usual breeding colonies of Black-necked Stilts, American Oystercatchers and Common Terns, plus close views of a Clapper Rail furtively running amongst the long grasses along the shoreline. One last drive out to Chincoteague NWR netted us the addition to our list of a single Cattle Egret feeding in amongst a herd of the famous Chincoteague ponies.
Our Sunday morning boat trip with Daisey’s Island Cruises on the Chincoteague Inlet started with rather difficult weather conditions. A low, heavy fog on the water had built up overnight making navigation and viewing conditions difficult. The fog was so bad that our binoculars and eyeglasses fogged up making it almost impossible to see any birds either on the water or along the shoreline. Eventually the fog burned off, however, and a good change in plans by the captain got us over to the marshes along the channel to Black Point Landing where we found the species we were hoping for a flock of about eighty Whimbrels feeding along the shoreline amongst many other shorebirds.
Cape May Fall Weekend
October 25 – 27, 2019
Our fall trip to Cape May will be held from October 25 to 27, 2019. We will be hanging out at the world-famous Cape May Hawk Watch, Morning Flight and visiting other local hotspots such as the Meadows, Higbee Beach and the Cape May Bird Observatory. We will start at 3 pm on Friday and finish up Sunday afternoon with a semi-pelagic on the Cape May Ferry (2:30 pm). Space is limited to 20 people. NVBC membership and registration is required. Registration will open up on Monday, September 9 at 12 noon. If you would like to participate, please email drgerco@hotmail.com no sooner than that date and time.
Our hotel for the weekend will be the Sea Crest Inn. A group rate will be negotiated later in July or August. The rate information will be provided to people who sign up for the trip. You will be required to mail a deposit within 7 days of making the reservation. This hotel does not serve breakfast but many of the rooms have a kitchenette. The hotel is in walking distance of the beach pavilion that is our typical Saturday morning destination. To make a reservation, after I have confirmed you can participate, please call the Sea Crest Inn and provide your name and phone number and let them know you are with the Northern Virginia Bird Club. You will be asked to mail a personal check or money order within 7 days of calling. On the check enter the dates you will be staying and NVBC. You will be mailed a reservation confirmation. —Gerco Hoogeweg
Birding South Florida
By Larry Meade
Birders who visit South Florida in late April can experience a fascinating mix of bird species. There are charismatic resident birds like Limpkins, Roseate Spoonbills and Snail Kites which are always fun to encounter. Some of these are established and ABA countable exotics such as Spot-breasted Oriole and Nanday Parakeet. You can also find a variety of birds that are migrating through the area such as warblers, shorebirds and hawks. Finally, South Florida is a hotspot for vagrant birds that wander into the area from their island homes in the Caribbean.
I joined a WINGS tour of South Florida in late April this past spring. WINGS is a well-known birding tour company which has tours just about everywhere that there are birds to be found. This trip was led by Gavin Bieber and Evan Obercian, two experienced and skillful birders. Gavin had the logistics of the trip well in control and was willing to change our route on the fly in order for us to chase down some recently found rare birds. This week-long trip started in Fort Myers and ended in Miami. Our tour group also visited the Everglades, Key West and the Dry Tortugas.
In addition to the many birds and other wildlife that we encountered, we also enjoyed the local culture and cuisine. The seafood and Cuban food were special highlights for me. As a lister, an important incentive for me to take a trip like this is to find life birds, birds that I have not seen before in my life. I set a target for myself of twelve life birds in South Florida, which would get me to an even 650 ABA life birds. When I perused bird lists from previous tours, I realized that this goal was attainable, but not a sure thing.
Listing is only one aspect of birding that gets me traveling to far-flung locales. I enjoy seeing and studying all of the birds, even ones I have seen before. Some of them I have seen, but not photographed, while others are rarely, if ever, seen in Virginia. I am also thrilled to encounter other wildlife that is new to me such as the manatees in the Everglades and the five lifer butterfly species that I found. I don’t want to just give an blow-by-blow recount of what we found each day, so I will just mention a few highlights.
Upcoming Trips and Events (Aug – Nov 2019)
Compiled by Elton Morel
Aug 17: Bombay Hook X-trip (Registration Required) – Larry Meade, Gerco Hoogeweg
Aug 24, 7:30 AM: Huntley Meadows – Ken Hunt
Aug 31, 8 AM: Shenandoah River Campus at Cool Springs Battlefield – Elton Morel
Sep 1, 7 PM: Swift/Nighthawk Watch – Joanna Taylor
Sep 4, 8:30 AM: Long Branch – Tom Nardone
Sep 7, 7:30 AM: Conway Robinson State Forest – Phil Silas, Elton Morel
Sep 11, 8:30 AM: Dyke Marsh – Dixie Sommers
Sep 14, 7:30 AM: Leesylvania SP – Phil Silas, Ken Hunt
Sep 18, 8:30 AM: Fort C F Smith – Jeremy Beck
Sep 21, 7:30 AM: Occoquan Bay NWR – Larry Cartwright, Dixie Sommers
Sep 25, 8:30 AM: Huntley Meadows – Hike & Bike Trail – Dixie Sommers
Sep 28, 7:30 AM: Clifton Institute – Bert Harris, Elton Morel
Oct 2, 8:30 AM: Long Branch – Tom Nardone
Oct 5, 8 AM: Aquia Landing Beach Park – Elton Morel, Phil Silas
Oct 9, 8:30 AM: Bles Park – Jean Tatalias
Oct 12, 8 AM: Leopold’s Preserve – Elton Morel, Toby Hardwick
Oct 16, 8:30 AM: Dyke Marsh – Dixie Sommers
Oct 19, 8 AM: Bristoe Station Battlefield Park – Toby Hardwick, Larry Meade
Oct 24, 8:30 AM: Laurel Hill Equestrian Center – Phil Silas
Oct 25-27: NVBC Cape May Weekend – Gerco Hoogeweg, Larry Meade
Oct 26, 8 AM: Sky Meadows SP – Elton Morel, David Ledwith
Oct 30, 8:30 AM: Meadowood Recreation Area – Larry Cartwright
Nov 2, 8 AM: Silver Lake RP – Toby Hardwick, Larry Meade
Nov 6, 8:30 AM: Long Branch – Tom Nardone
Birdwatchers Store Closing
After six wonderful years we’ve made the difficult decision to close our store. We’re very thankful to the many members of NVBC for supporting our small business in Vienna! We’ll continue to be open until August 15 with sales on our regular seed supply and other remaining inventory so please stop by. After that date, I can be contacted at 703-819-2349 or 2cindydimeglio@gmail.com. Thanks again and happy birding! —Cindy DeMeglio