February 2019

The SISKIN: Newsletter of the Northern Virginia Bird Club
Vol. 64, No. 1 — February 2019
Inside
Calendar of NVBC field trips, February 6 – May 4, 2019
April 2019 Board Election
Common Atlas Coding Boo-boos
Birding in Romania and Hungary, April 2018
A reminder to pay your 2019 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!

Chincoteague Spring Weekend Trip
The Chincoteague Spring Weekend club trip is scheduled for May 17-19 (Friday-Sunday). The trip is limited to 28 people and usually fills up very fast. NVBC membership is required. Registration will open on Wednesday, March 27, 2018 at 6 am. To sign up for this trip, email Elton Morel at eltonlmorel@verizon.net on that date. When signing up, please indicate whether you are interested in the boat trip (fee) on Sunday morning and a Saturday evening group dinner. If the trip is full, your name can be put on a waiting list.
Mid-May is an excellent time to visit the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). Spring shorebird migration is in full swing with most birds in breeding plumage. Most trips tally about 100 species, including such Eastern Shore specialties as Black-necked Stilts, American Oystercatchers, Piping Plovers, Whimbrels, Marbled Godwits, Little Blue Herons, Tricolored Herons, Cattle Egrets, Glossy Ibis, Least, Royal, Gull-billed and Common Terns, Black Skimmers, Clapper Rails, Seaside Sparrows, Chuck-will’s-widows, Brown-headed Nuthatches and Boat-tailed Grackles. Last year’s highlight bird was the Nelson’s Sparrows found along the board walk near the hotel. Other good finds were Red Knots, a lone Western Sandpiper and surprisingly large numbers of White Ibis.
Plans for the weekend include birding the Chincoteague NWR on Friday afternoon starting at 3:15 pm (optional) or on Saturday starting at 7:30 am. Activities on Saturday morning include birding along Beach Road, Swan Cove and Tom’s Cove. We will also visit Chincoteague Island Park Trail, looking for land bird migrants, and Queens Sound Flats, the Chincoteague City mudflats and Mariner’s Point. On Sunday morning, we will board a boat and travel along Chincoteague Inlet then visit Fishing Point at the end of Tom’s Cove and finally Black Point Landing, all the while looking mostly for shorebirds along the mudflats. The cost of the boat trip will be about $35 per person. The trip concludes at noon on Sunday.
We have obtained a special rate of $92.00 per night, including tax, on twenty rooms for Friday and Saturday nights at the Best Western Chincoteague Island Hotel on Maddox Boulevard. A two-night stay is usually required. Hotel reservations must be made by April 18 to get this special group rate. Participants should make their own reservations by calling 800-553-6117 and be sure to say you are with the Northern Virginia Bird Club. Check-in time is 3 pm on Friday, May 17, and a 48-hour cancellation notice is required. Chincoteague NWR is a U.S. fee area. —Elton Morel

NVBC GENERAL MEETING — WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 8 PM
Madagascar’s Biodiversity: Vangas and Couas and Lemurs, Oh My!
Speaker: Libby Lyons
Join Libby Lyons as she describes how she joined her daughter, a lemur researcher, for two and a half weeks exploring the biodiversity of Madagascar in July 2018. Libby will share her photos to illustrate how the biodiversity differs across the island’s dry western tropical deciduous forests, mid- and low-altitude eastern rainforests, and the southern spiny bush forests, with attention not only to birds, but also to plants, lemurs, tenrecs, chameleons, and those masters of camouflage, the leaf-tailed geckos. She will describe endemic groups of birds — couas, asities, mesites, tetrakas, and ground rollers — and her favorite, the vangas, a diverse family that challenges Darwin’s finches in the spectacular diversity of their body size, bill shape and food preferences. She will also touch on the ecology of various lemurs as well as on current efforts to conserve Malagasy biodiversity.
Libby Lyons is a long-time Arlington resident who works on international science cooperation for the National Science Foundation. She takes her binoculars wherever she travels for work. Although her training was in plant science, she now considers herself a bird enthusiast and a lapsed botanist.
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 Peenting
Books and birding seem to go together. I know many birders, including myself, who have extensive book collections related to birds and birding. I always see plenty of browsers at our book exchange table during NVBC meetings. People who are avid readers are generally knowledge seekers who like to learn new things about the world around them. I think that is also usually true of birders. For active birders, field guides are the most immediately useful books to own. In order to understand birds, you need to know what you are looking at. In addition to providing pictures of bird species and pointing out their various field marks, most field guides also provide useful information on range, habitat and behavior. There are many field guides to choose from including National Geographic, Stokes, and Sibley.
There are also books that provide information about the birds and birding locations of specific areas. When I first started birding, I was constantly referring to Claudia Wilds book, Finding Birds in the National Capitol Area. If I am planning a trip, I usually buy a guide to the area that I am traveling to such as one of the ABA guides for individual states. Other books related to birds are not as utilitarian. There are books with a scientific bent such as Where Song Began by Tim Low. There are books about birding adventures such as Mark Obmascik’s famous book, The Big Year. There are also books that can inspire us such as The Bluebird Effect by Julie Zickefoose or entertain us like Tales of a Low-Rent Birder by Pete Dunne. If you choose to be an avid birder, you might want to get ready to expand your library! —Larry Meade

April NVBC Meeting — Election of Officers
Mark April 17 on your calendar for the Northern Virginia Bird Club’s spring meeting. 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.

Common Atlas Coding Boo-boos
The third year of Virginia’s Breeding Bird Atlas 2 has ended and year four has just started — as of December 15 Great Horned Owls became fair game. And the third year was a great year for the Atlas in the Northern Region of the state as many priority blocks are now completed (37 out of 59), some difficult-to-find species have been confirmed (e.g., Common Merganser in Fairfax County, American Woodcock in Loudoun County, Horned Lark in Prince William County, and Ruffed Grouse in Fauquier County) and we had 4 fantastic block-busting trips. Now, perhaps like you, I am developing plans for next year. So, I look over Atlas data to develop my species strategy and… wait… I put down Blue Jay as singing? Rookie mistake!!! Arghhh!#@!
Yep, all of us do it on occasion. Those little Atlas coding mistakes slip by. It wasn’t intentional. I was probably a bit busy when I entered the data into the Atlas portal. Or maybe just tired. I can always go back and change the obvious mistakes once I find the time! So, to help me (and maybe you) save time in the future, here is a list of Common Atlas Boo-boos.
The Boo-Boos
All the species observed are not coded on a trip list. This happens more often then you may think; you visit a block but neglect to code some or all the species you see. For example, you may think ‘these are common species and someone else has done it.’ But occasionally, the species remains uncoded for the block and so these are listed as “observed” and never upgraded to a possible breeder. Since you, the observer, are the only person who can add a code, this means all your effort is lost to the Atlas!
Coding a species that is migrating. This happens often. To avoid this mistake, you should consult the Breeding Guidelines Bar Chart to determine the “safe” data range for coding a potential breeding species. Of course, sometimes species exhibit breeding behaviors that confirm breeding has occurred, before the safe date range starts or ends — examples of such behaviors are nest building (B or NB codes) and obviously fledged birds (FL). If you observe these types of situations outside the safe date range, you should add a statement in the notes section to clarify why you are justified in coding the species outside of the safe dates.
Incorrect use of the T code. This code is for a breeding species that exhibits physical behaviors defending its breeding area. It can be directed toward another of its own species (e.g., chasing it) or going after a predatory bird (chasing or harassing hawks, Blue Jays, Ravens, Crows, vultures). For example, a bird singing from perch to perch should not be assigned a T code, but instead consider the S, S7, C, A, or N codes. However, a bird that is actively chasing another can be coded as T.
Recording the “Pair” code for species where the sexes look alike without explanation. Upon review, these will nearly all be “reinterpreted”, and the coding will be downgraded. That’s because it is very difficult to explain why two identical birds are male and female. Consider using a more appropriate code such as S, S7, C, A, T or N.
Coding Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, larids, Double-crested Cormorants and other colonial nesting species as possible or probable breeders. At this time, colonial nesters must be in a known breeding block (i.e. one with a known nesting colony) to support a probable or possible code, otherwise the sighting should be listed as a flyover or just observed.
Coding woodpeckers, nuthatches, and corvids as S for singing or even S7. The vocalizations of these birds are not considered song and so the S or S7 designation cannot be used; instead the appropriate habitat code, H should be used. The loophole is for woodpecker drumming: drumming of woodpeckers is considered advertisement in the same way that song is, and that behavior can be coded as S and, in principle, S7 a week or more later if the same bird is drumming.
Coding a Raptor carrying food as CF. Since raptors can fly long distances, into adjacent blocks (or further if still migrating) you cannot use the CF code unless there are special circumstances. If you believe the circumstances warrant the CF coding, then you should provide the details on the checklist.
Coding raptors and herons nest building as NB. Since many representatives of these species can carry sticks and other nesting material long distances, you should ensure that the target bird lands and is nest building in the target block.
Using the M code. The Virginia Breeding Bird Atlas 2 does not use the M code through a glitch by E-bird, this code shows up on the E-bird portal and, when you convert the sighting to the Atlas portal, it persists. If you enter directly through the Atlas portal, you will not see M as an option. During the review process, the M code gets downgraded to Singing Male (S), which may be to a code that is less than your observation merits.
Reporting observations in the Atlas with no breeding information. This often happens after the breeding season effectively ends in September. Using the Atlas portal, the observer reports a list of species, but no breeding information is present. This skews the Atlas data for the block and the state on effort hours and miles. If you have no breeding information, i.e., you are not adding a code, then you should not use the Atlas portal and instead use the regular E-bird portal (found at ebird.org).
But, even knowing the Boo-boos, I (and maybe you) still make a few. So, when I have some time, especially on these rainy, winter days, I go into my lists through the Atlas portal and correct mistakes. It’s not that hard… and it sometimes evokes pleasant thoughts of a fun birding day several months ago! Lastly, let me suggest that since vultures are a somewhat special case for recording as potential breeders, you should provide a short statement as to why you are reporting a breeding code. In general, a flying vulture cannot be assigned a code except for F (and even then, don’t feel compelled to code every vulture you see as F. Once per block is sufficient.) —Kurt Gaskill

Club Information & Contacts
Join the Northern Virginia Bird Club: Dues for 2019 are $10 for Individual and $15 for Family Membership. Checks should be sent to: NVBC, Attn: Membership, P.O. Box 5812, Arlington, VA 22205-0812.
President: Larry Meade, 703-206-9030
VP, Programs: David Farner, 443-643-6141
VP, Field Activities: Elton Morel, 703-907-9951
Secretary: Diane Marton, 703-527-7360
Treasurer: Jean Tatalias, 703-281-6099
Directors: Jeremy Beck, Tom Nardone, Phil Silas, Dixie Sommers
General Meeting Dates: February 20, April 17, September (tbd), and November (tbd), 2019.
Next Board Meeting: Thursday, February 28, 2019, 7:30 pm at Diane Marton’s home.
Deadline for next Siskin: March 15, 2019.