Archives,
2009

January 14, 2009 [LINK / comment]

Calliope hummingbird: for real!

To my delight and utter amazement, the Calliope hummingbird that has been reported west of Lynchburg showed up at the designated location not long after I arrived there today. (I had mentioned it in a blog post on Dec. 9.) He spends most of his time perched in a large cedar tree, sometimes chasing other birds that get too close, and every 15 minutes or so he flies down to the feeder on the patio. In spite of freezing temperatures, the tiny thing has survived quite well in the wooded back yard since October at least. Ah, the wonders of Nature. That makes my second life bird in just the first two weeks of the year, and my 382nd overall. I'll probably go back to take some pictures, when the weather improves.

For non-birders, the name "Calliope hummingbird" refers to the series of purple streaks on the bird's throat, resembling the row of pipes in a calliope. Since this particular bird has not yet reached adulthood, the streaks are very faint and gray in color, with a couple tiny purple spots. Excellent close-up photos of the Calliope hummingbird are available from Robert Schamerhorn at iphotobirds.com. He spoke to the Augusta Bird Club last February, displaying some of his best photographic work.

The hummingbird's "hosts," Mary Pat and Fred Morris, are very friendly and very knowledgeable about birds. According to their guest book, about 160 people have paid a visit in hopes of seeing the rare, out-of-place hummer, and every single one did in fact see it. The Morris's deserve hearty thanks for making sure the hummingbird has plenty of nectar, and for welcoming all the birding "pilgrims" to their house. With several bird feeders, a nearby stream, and plenty of trees and shrubs that provide cover, their back yard is like Grand Central Station for birds of all kinds. The highlights today were a Pine siskin, a male Purple finch, and a Downy woodpecker. On the drive back home, I saw a Sharp-shinned hawk patrolling above Interstate 81 near Lexington.

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UPDATE: This news item was mentioned in the Lynchburg News Advance yesterday. The column about "Seeing the signs of spring in January" also mentions that a Western tanager has been seen in Williamsburg recently. Coincidentally, I mentioned to the Morris's that I had a brief flurry of visitors to our back yard in March 2004, when a Western tanager was visiting. It was the first of that species ever reported in Augusta County.

January 20, 2009 [LINK / comment]

More winter ducks, and a Phoebe!

I managed to squeeze in two brief bird outings over the past two days: At the big farm pond on Bell's Lane yesterday, I spotted quite a few duck species, and at the scenic (and currently frozen) Peaks of Otter along the Blue Ridge Parkway late this morning, I saw a Phoebe, which is unusual this time of year:

	Location:     Bell's Lane (Staunton)
Observation date:     1/19/09
Number of species:     12

Canada Goose     60
Gadwall     4
Mallard     6
Northern Shoveler     2
Northern Pintail     2
Redhead     3
Ring-necked Duck     6
Lesser Scaup     15
Ruddy Duck     4
Red-tailed Hawk     1
American Kestrel     1
American Coot     3

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)
	

	Location:     Peaks of Otter Recreation Area
Observation date:     1/20/09
Number of species:     9

Black Vulture     4
Red-shouldered Hawk     1
Downy Woodpecker     1
Eastern Phoebe     1
American Crow     3
Song Sparrow     2
Swamp Sparrow     2
Dark-eyed Junco     20
Northern Cardinal     2

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)
	

January 5, 2009 [LINK / comment]

New year, new birds!

Prompted by an e-mail alert from Allen Larner, I drove over toward the Stuarts Draft area today, Guthrie Road to be exact. This local birding "hot spot" which Allen often patrols is a very rural part of Augusta County, with huge barren fields and very few houses -- almost like you're in the Midwest, except hillier. I didn't see the of Snow buntings that had been sighted, but I did see a pair of small dark birds circling overhead and emitting an odd call. They were small (bluebird sized), chocolate brown, with some kind of markings on the neck or shoulders, pale bellies, and a notched, rounded tail, like that of a Red-winged blackbird. The sky was cloudy, so visibility wasn't very good, and the birds stayed at least 30 yards away from me, making it hard to see details. What was most distinctive was their strange call, consisting of harsh cheeps (tee-uw) interspersed with rapid twittering or rattling. I was stumped. Just as I was about to leave, fortunately, Allen himself showed up and helped me to identify those two birds, which were almost certainly Lapland longspurs. After going through all my field guides back home, I am 95% sure, making that my first life bird of the year, and the 381st total! Here are today's highlights:

• Kestrel
• Red-tailed hawk
• Meadowlarks -- 15+
• Horned larks -- 20+
• Lapland longspurs (prob.; LIFE BIRD!) -- 2

According to YuLee Larner's Birds of Augusta County, the Lapland longspur is a "rare winter visitor," last seen in this area in 2004. So, even though it's not a definite sighting, I put the alert about it (and the Snow buntings, etc.) on the Augusta Bird Club Web site.

I saw a total of eleven life birds last year, the greatest number of new birds that I have seen in the United States in a single calendar year since 2002, which was when we first moved to Staunton.

Energy vs. wildlife in Canada

In the Washington Post two weeks ago there was an article about the threat to certain neotropical migrant birds and other animals posed by tar sands mining in the province of Alberta. Among the many species affected by energy development in that part of Canada are the Connecticut warbler and the Blackpoll warbler. I hope they are setting aside a portion of the new oil revenues for the cause of wildlife conservation.

January 10, 2009 [LINK / comment]

Finally: a Pine siskin!

It seems that winter migrant birds are scarcer than usual this season, except for Juncos, which are abundant as ever. But there just aren't many White-throated sparrows where we live, and no Kinglets of either kind, or Yellow-bellied sapsuckers, or Purple finches as of yet. Today, however, one such bird did make its first appearance this winter outside our window: a Pine siskin, who graciously posed for a few photographs. I hope this is a sign that more winter migrants will be here soon.

Pine siskin, eating thistle (nyjer) seeds outside our window. The yellow feathers in its wing are an indication that it's related to the Goldfinches, which are also fond of thistle seeds.

Pine siskins have been reported in a few localities around Augusta County this winter, but I'm not aware of any previous ones here in Staunton. I saw a dozen or so Pine siskins in South Dakota back in October.

For the first time in a few months, I have updated the Wild Birds USA photo gallery page, as well as the Annual arrival page.

January 12, 2009 [LINK / comment]

Augusta Bird Club Web site

This evening's meeting of the Augusta Bird Club was especially worthwhile, for a variety of reasons. There was discussion about the visiting Townsend's solitaire, a grayish Western-ranging bird that has been seen near the Massanutten resort lately. The featured program at the meeting was a presentation by Dr. Mercedes Foster about her study of the mating behavior and social systems of Manakins, a family of small, colorful, fruit-eating birds that are found in tropical rain forests. Dr. Foster is a Research Biologist who works at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Maryland. She described in detail the challenging conditions she and her co-workers had to endure at the Manu National Park in Peru, which happens to be one of my top hoped-for travel destinations. Some day!

But most important of all (perhaps), I announced some major enhancements to the www.augustabirdclub.org Web site. It now enables club members to post alert messages about rare bird sightings (such as the Townsend's solitaire), without having to go through the Web master (me). The club members were very appreciative, and it's a real pleasure for me to be able to apply my creative energies for such a worthy cause. Now if I can only find the time to lead a field trip...

Driving along Route 29 in Nelson County today, I saw three Red-tailed hawks, a Kestrel, and a Red-bellied woodpecker that flew across the road in front of me. With the arctic front coming through in the next couple days, I don't think I'll spend much time bird watching.