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August 26, 2013 [LINK / comment]
Fall migration gets underway
Even though the calendar says there's over three weeks of summer still ahead of us, for the birds fall is here already. For example, the first migrating Common Nighthawks of the season have appeard in our area. E-mail reports of various shorebirds prompted me to visit Leonard's Pond (in southern Rockingham County) this afternoon, but the water was high, so there wasn't much mud, and no shorebirds were present. I did get a nice photo of a Mourning Dove, however. On the way home I stopped at Bell's Lane and saw a couple Baltimore Orioles fly into a sycamore tree, and I got a decent photo of an adult male. I also saw a Willow Flycatcher, a Phoebe, and a Least Flycatcher, identified by its small size and clear eye ring and wing bars, which are characteristic of Empidomax flycatchers. Since Least Flycatchers hardly ever nest in this area, it's safe to say it is a southbound migrant.
Some of the afore-mentioned birds can be seen on the newly-update Wild Birds yearly photo gallery page.
Least Flycatcher, on Bell's Lane this afternoon.
Hawk Watch 2013
Another sign of fall is that the Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch has begun. According to Vic Laubach (who shares Coordinator duties with Brenda Tekin), "We've already tallied 172 hawks in the first 10 days of the season, including 10 Bald Eagles, 17 Osprey and 117 Broad-wings. We will be holding an OPEN HOUSE at the hawk watch on Saturday, September 14, from 11 am-2 pm." I look forward to helping out once again this year, as time permits.
Posted (or last updated or commented upon): 27 Aug 2013, 12: 17 AM
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Hits on this page (single blog post) since July 2, 2007: 
Category archives:
(all years)
Baseball
Politics
Latin America
War
Wild Birds
Culture & Travel
Science & Technology
This (or that) year's
blog highlights
January 1, 2013 ~ Happy New Year! / State of the diagrams, 2013
January 7, 2013 ~ Br-r-r! Winter field trip to Highland County
January 21, 2013 ~ Continuity: Obama begins his second term
January 28, 2013 ~ NatsFest 2013: NL East champs!
February 13, 2013 ~ But wait, there's more bird photos!
March 16, 2013 ~ Birding field trip in Waynesboro
March 30, 2013 ~ Day trip to "Waltons Mountain"
April 1, 2013 ~ Play ball! The 2013 season begins
May 31, 2013 ~ R.I.P. YuLee Larner (1923-2013)
June 8, 2013 ~ Nats come from behind, and WIN!
June 30, 2013 ~ Expedition to the top of Elliott's Knob
July 18, 2013 ~ A Midsummer's Day Dream *
July 20, 2013 ~ Various random day trips
July 26, 2013 ~
Nightmare on South Capitol Street: Harper, Zimmerman save Nationals from doom
August 24, 2013 ~ Nats keep bouncing back from total disasters
September 3, 2013 ~ Nats are barely clinging to life
September 30, 2013 ~ Baseball season comes to an end
September 30, 2013 ~ Fall bird migration reaches the peak
December 26, 2013 ~ Catching up with baseball
December 26, 2013 ~ 2013: Republicans keep defeating themselves
December 26, 2013 ~ Hawk watch: Up close & personal
Blog highlights have been compiled for the years 2010-2012 thus far, and eventually will be compiled for earlier years, back to 2002.
Explanation
The "home made" blog organization system that I created was instituted on November 1, 2004, followed by several functional enhancements in subsequent years. I make no more than one blog post per day on any one category, so some posts may cover multiple news items or issues. Blog posts appear in the following (reverse alphabetical) order, which may differ from the chronological order in which the posts were originally made:
- Wild birds (LAST)
- War
- Science & Technology
- Politics
- Latin America
- Culture & Travel
- Canaries ("Home birds")
- Baseball (FIRST)
Also see: My blog practices.
Blog errata (Nobody's perfect.)
