February 2017

The SISKIN
Newsletter of the Northern Virginia Bird Club
Vol. 62, No. 1
February 2017
Inside
Calendar of NVBC field trips, February 11-May 6, 2017
Spring Chincoteague Trip
Youth Birding Scholarship Deadline
April 2017 Board election
Saving Secretive Marsh Birds
Cape May Trip Report
NVBC web site – Tech Talk
Shrike Photographs
Report on Hungary and Czech Republic Trip
To see the newsletter photographs in color, go to www.nvabc.org and click on The Siskin icon.

A reminder to pay your 2017 dues
If not paid, this will be the last issue you receive. The Siskin mailing label shows the year through which your dues are current or “CO” for complimentary. Thanks!

Winter Highland County Trip
Our winter trip to Highland County will be held on the weekend of March 3 to 5 (Friday to Sunday). The trip will be led this year by Gerco Hoogeweg and Beth Moore. We will spend Friday night in Staunton and Saturday night at Monterey in Highland County. There will be an optional birding trip in the Staunton area on Friday afternoon after meeting at the motel at 3 pm. We will travel to Highland County on Saturday morning and spend the remainder of the weekend there.
We plan to arrange a group dinner Friday evening at a local restaurant in Staunton and Saturday night we will stay and dine at the Highland Inn in Monterey. We will carpool in Highland County. The trip will end in Monterey about midday Sunday. Please email Gerco Hoogeweg at drgerco@hotmail.com for more information (hotels, itinerary, meals, etc.) and to sign up. The trip limit is 20 people. Current NVBC membership is required for our weekend trip.
—Gerco Hoogeweg

NVBC GENERAL MEETING—WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 8 PM
What Do Birds Eat?
Examining bird-insect food webs to improve avian conservation efforts
Speaker: Ashley Kennedy
Although insects serve as a vital food source for most terrestrial bird species, we still don’t know much about which insects birds prefer as prey. Every birder knows that birds eat fruits, nuts, and insects but many underestimate the latter. Birds rely on insects during the breeding season and will dramatically change foraging patterns to take advantage of the varied proteins, fats, and nutrients insects provide. Most reference materials provide order-level identification, e.g., beetles and caterpillars. Would a chickadee prefer a smooth, green inchworm or a toxic monarch caterpillar?
To address this need for information, Doug Tallamy’s lab at the University of Delaware has launched a citizen science project inviting birders across the country to contribute photos of birds with insects in their bills. Ultimately the lab hopes to be able to answer questions like, “Do House Wrens in Montana and Pennsylvania prefer the same types of insects?” Currently they have about 3,000 photographs of a desired 10,000 plus. A better understanding of avian food webs will help us better manage landscapes for avian conservation.
Ashley Kennedy is a PhD student in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware. She is also a Northern Virginia native whose interest in birds and insects began right here! Along with her advisor Doug Tallamy, she is investigating birds dietary choices and hopes that a better understanding of “what birds eat” will help guide future bird conservation efforts.
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
Seeing a rare bird is one of the most rewarding experiences that a birder can have. It can be even more exciting if the bird is one that you have never seen before (AKA a life bird). If the bird is what is known as a “mega rarity” the excitement level is dialed up to eleven. Finding one of these birds is in a way akin to seeing a major Hollywood star in person. I know these celebrities exist, but I have never seen them in the flesh, so it’s just an academic knowledge. The same was true for a bird like a Northern Lapwing until someone found one in a farm field in Maryland in 2005 and I went up to see it. It was also true when I drove to Lynchburg to see a pair of Swallow-tailed Kites in 2011. For a birder, experiences like these are never to be forgotten.
When I know that a rare bird is within chasing distance, the feeling of anticipation can be intense. When can I get time to go after the bird? Will the bird still be there? How many of my friends have already seen it? The day finally arrives to chase the bird. Do I have everything I need? Check VA-Bird. Has the bird been seen this morning yet? As I get closer, I feel cautiously optimistic. I have come all this way, so there’s really no choice but to be positive. Following my directions carefully, I look for a crowd of people with scopes and cameras. I find the crowd. I ask if the bird is here. Yes! I park the car and walk back and have the bird in view in short order. This is the ideal scenario, and it sometimes does work out this way. Other times, you have to work harder to get the bird. It is also possible that you might not see the bird that you are looking for at all. That’s life, though.
A rare bird sighting is also an occasion for birders to have a mini reunion. I have reconnected with old friends and made new ones while at the location of a rare bird sighting. It’s also fun to put a face to a name of someone you have never met, but is well know to you on Facebook or VA-Bird. Birders are usually generous in giving directions and helping others to find rarities. This a big part of what makes the birding community so strong.
—Larry Meade

Chincoteague Spring Weekend Trip
The club’s spring trip to Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) will be held on the weekend of May 19-21 (Friday to Sunday), 2017. The trip is limited to 28 people. A complete description of the trip will be in the April 2017 edition of The Siskin. This is a very popular weekend trip, so sign up early. To sign up, call Elton Morel at (703) 553-4860 or email him at eltonlmorel@verizon.net. NVBC membership is required.
—Elton Morel

Youth Birding Scholarship Opportunity
Deadline: February 1, 2017
Please help spread the word about the Val Kitchens Memorial Young Birder Scholarship for 2017. The Club is seeking applicants from 13 to 18 years of age for a grant of up to $500 to attend a birding activity. See all the information for applying on the website. For more information, contact David Farner at 443-643-6141 or Ghazali Raheem at 703-563-3810.

April NVBC Meeting – Election of Officers
Mark April 19 on your calendar for the Northern Virginia Bird Club’s spring meeting. Bill Young will be the guest speaker. The program will appear in the next issue of The Siskin. Also on the agenda is the election of club officers and directors for two-year terms that begin July 1. If you are interested in serving on the NVBC Board or have suggestions to make to the Nominating Committee, please send an email to lgmeade@gmail.com. The Nominating Committee will present a slate of candidates and there will be an opportunity for club members to make nominations from the floor.

Saving Secretive Marsh Birds
Learn about secretive marsh birds and how we can help. Some marsh birds, like the King Rail, Virginia Rail, Sora, Least Bittern and American Bittern are difficult to detect, often hidden in dense vegetation. Wetland-dependent, marsh birds have adaptations like cryptically-colored plumage that helps them be secretive. Secretive marsh birds are in decline across their range and are designated in need of conservation in most states. Because they are hard to find and see, there is relatively sparse information available on their ecology.
Patrice Nielson, a University of Maryland PhD. candidate and Northern Virginia resident, surveyed for secretive species at 51 points in 25 marshes in the Washington, D.C., area in 2013, 2014 and 2015. She modeled the presence of secretive marsh birds as a function of habitat characteristics. Among many findings, she found that secretive marsh birds were using both restored and natural marshes, marshes with and without invasive plant species and marshes with a variety of dominant vegetation species. This program is sponsored by the Friends of Dyke Marsh, Audubon Society of Northern Virginia, the Audubon Society of the District of Columbia, the Northern Virginia Bird Club, and the Virginia Society of Ornithology.

Cape May Fall Weekend Trip 2016
Our Cape May Fall weekend trip was attended by over 24 NVBC members who enjoyed a nice weekend driving, walking and watching birds. As always, the weather dictated our birding itinerary. Friday’s ferry crossing was rough, but Gannets and a Parasitic Jaeger were good birds to see. A planned trip to a new location in the City of Cape May was changed in favor of a trip to the Hawkwatch on Friday afternoon. The winds were good and so were the birds.
Saturday morning, we walked from the hotel to the pavilion on the beach to see if anything was to be seen there. A group of skimmers and various scoters flew by. Nearby a few Lesser Black-backed Gulls were spotted, but that was about it. Up next was Hereford Lighthouse and Inlet. Birding was excellent there. We found a Red-breasted Nuthatch, both Kinglets, Blackpoll, Palm and Pine Warblers as well as a female Purple Finch. Our beach walk was truly excellent with many shorebirds still present. A Short-billed Dowitcher posed an interesting ID challenge. We also found Dunlins, Sanderlings, Red Knots, Semi-palmated and Western Sandpipers. We saw Northern Gannets too. Most impressive was a large group of over 200 American Oystercatchers. Later we learned that Hereford Inlet is used as a staging area for northern breeding Oystercatchers.
In the afternoon we went to the Cape May State Park and Hawkwatch. Hawk migration was down so we went for our usual walk. Highlights were two male Eurasian Wigeons, Cattle Egrets, many ducks and blue morph Snow Geese. Our last stop of the day was The Meadows. That spot was good for a nice variety of ducks including Wood Ducks, Northern Pintails, American Wigeons and Green-winged Teals. We also found a small group of shorebirds with some nice surprises, including Pectoral, Least and Semi-palmated Sandpipers and via photo ID a few White-rumped Sandpipers.
Sunday morning’s morning flight was weak as expected based on unfavorable wind direction. The local counter was kind enough to show his new tablet with software for counting the birds. It was a Dutch product called Trektellen that allows them to share quickly what they see via the internet whilst the count is still going on. With morning flight being weak, we went for a long walk at Higbee Beach. Initially the birds were quiet, but eventually we found a few pockets full of them. We saw many sparrows including Swamp, Field, Song and Eastern Towhee. The biggest surprises were several Gray Catbirds, a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, a Rusty Blackbird and a Baltimore Oriole. We frequently saw Sharp-shinned Hawks flying by. The ferry ride back was not as eventful as the one on Friday morning. We ended up with a total of 123 species of birds, which is on par for our trip.
—Gerco Hoogeweg

Tech Talk and Birding
The NVBC web site will feature news and information on Technology, Apps, Software, Optics, Binoculars, Spotting Scopes, and related gadgets as they relate to birding from time to time. Members are welcome to send a paragraph or two of suggestions to Ghazali Raheem, webmaster at rgcomm19@gmail.com. The first in this series features thoughts and ideas from Charles Studholme, owner of One Good Tern, about the Celestron Hummingbird Micro-Scopes. The article can be read at www.nvabc.org/tech-talk-and-birding.
—Ghazali Raheem

Birding in Hungary and the Czech Republic
This past September, NVBC members, Jean Tatalias, Dixie Sommers, and Neal and Pat Gause joined other birders on a cultural and birding tour of Hungary and the Czech Republic. They went on a two-week Victor Emanuel Nature Tours trip led by Rafael Galvez and Balazs Szigeti. These excellent guides were dedicated to spotting and assisting us in viewing birds and other wildlife, doing their utmost to ensure we enjoyed the local food and drink, musical events, and sightseeing. The tour included birding, sightseeing and musical events in Budapest and Prague as well as birding in the countryside’s varied habitats from marshes, steppes and forests.
The group saw or heard 147 bird species. For many of us there were significant numbers of life birds. There were wetlands and marshes with wading birds such as Eurasian Spoonbill and Curlew Sandpipers and passerines including Bearded Reedlings, Penduline Tits and Reed Buntings. We had stellar views of Saker Falcons, Imperial Eagle and Red-footed Falcons. The group found seven woodpecker species, including Black and Gray-headed. Other animals were featured on the tour with a visit to the conservation center for endangered Meadow Vipers, a local naturalist’s nest boxes for Forest and Hazel dormice, and a preserved traditional peasant house that had the added surprise of beams hung with four species of bats.
And of course, culture must include the food. We had Hungarian goulash (a soup there, not a stew) and catfish stew, both made with the locally produced paprika. We enjoyed a banquet of roast pork, chicken, root veggies, and sausage after a tour of a winery. In the lake district in the Czech Republic, we had lots of great fish meals. And for one dinner, the first course was what the guides called fish milk (milt). Actually it was rich tasting and quite good. At our last shared dinner, Rafael asked the group to mention their most memorable moments from the tour. Most of us cited birding experiences including the flock of Great Bustards that was seen flying over a field. Everyone agreed about the small park within the town limits that seemed unremarkable until someone spotted the first Long-eared Owl perched in a tree.

CLUB CONTACTS
President: Larry Meade, 703-206-9030
Vice President, Programs: David Farner, 443-643-6141
Vice President, Field Activities: Elton Morel, 703-553-4860
Secretary: Diane Marton, 703-527-7360
Treasurer: Jean Tatalias, 703-281-6099
Next Board Meeting: Wednesday, March 1, 2017, 7:30 pm, at Diane Marton’s home.
Deadline for next issue of The Siskin: March 15, 2017. Send items to siskineditor@verizon.net.