June 15, 2025 [LINK / comment]
Birding in Virginia, March 2024
NOTE: This is another "catch-up" blog post based on Facebook posts from March 2024. I aim to post one such monthly review blog post per day until I get caught up by the end of this month.
March 2: There were hundreds of robins around Bell's Lane, but what grabbed my attention were the Red-winged Blackbirds (FOY for me!) and Cedar Waxwings. Also appearing: Red-bellied Woodpecker, American Kestrel, and Yellow-rumped Warbler. White-throated Sparrows were out back, as usual.
(Bell's Lane & north Staunton, March 2)
March 3: Another late-afternoon excursion to Bell's Lane yielded a (mostly) different cast of characters compared to yesterday. Robins abounded once again, of course. Other highlights included a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, a Downy Woodpecker, some White-crowned Sparrows, several Eastern Bluebirds, and most striking of all, an Eastern Meadowlark warily perched only a few feet away from an American Kestrel that was having dinner! I also spotted a pair of Red-tailed Hawks, but no Harriers or Short-eared Owls at dusk.
March 9: I saw my first Grackles of the season a couple weeks ago near Grottoes, and yesterday morning one showed up on our back porch. Their iridescent plumage is nice to behold. Blue Jays and a Red-bellied Woodpecker also showed up. As I was leaving my office in the afternoon, I heard and then saw a Yellow-rumped Warbler up in the trees, as well as a Cooper's Hawk overhead.
March 10: Back to Bell's Lane this afternoon, and I was happy to see two different Yellow-bellied-Sapsuckers: M & F! Also the usual American Robins by the dozen, Carolina Chickadees, Blue Jays, White-throated & White-crowned Sparrows, and a lone American Kestrel hovering over the fields.
(Bell's Lane, March 10)
March 12: I never saw my main target bird at Piney Grove nature preserve today, but I think I heard it, at least. "It" would be the famed (and elusive) Red-cockaded Woodpecker, of course. There were dozens of Pine Warblers singing up a storm all over the place, my first ones of the year. Also present were some Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Northern Flickers. But the big highlight of the day was seeing a group of Fox Sparrows at fairly close range, and I even managed to get a decent shot of one. (Some digital editing was required.) It has been well over a year since the last time I saw one of those. On the way back to Richmond in the afternoon I stopped at Dutch Gap natural area, where I saw some Yellow-rumped Warblers, an Osprey (FOY), large numbers of Black Vultures, and an Eastern Phoebe (FOY). Not a bad day at all!
(Piney Grove nature preserve, near Wakefield, VA, March 12)
March 13: Yesterday morning, Jacqueline called my attention to an unusual bird out back, and I was dumbfounded to realize that it was a Fox Sparrow -- the very same species I had seen the day before in the Piney Grove area of southeastern Virginia! Go figure.
March 15: Once again I was startled by an unusual bird in the back yard this morning: in this case a Pileated Woodpecker! In the afternoon along Bells Lane I spotted THREE Eastern Phoebes (recently-arrived, no doubt), some Tree Swallows up high (the first of the year for me), as well as some Yellow-rumped Warblers, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, etc.
March 22: This afternoon I finally made it up to the JMU Arboretum in Harrisonburg, along with Jacqueline, to see the Great Horned Owl nest. It's fairly easy to find, in a sycamore tree near the center of the Arboretum. Amazingly enough, I had not seen this species (in the wild) in at least 15 years! I waited about a half hour for the mother to return and feed the babies, to no avail. Maybe next time. Also present were some Red-bellied Woodpeckers and American Robins. Back in Staunton, we stopped at a few places along Bell's Lane in hopes of seeing Tree Swallows, but had to settle for a Yellow-rumped Warbler and a few Eastern Bluebirds.
(JMU Arboretum in Harrisonburg, March 22)
March 29: While strolling along the big pond at Dulles Airport early this afternoon I saw my first Chipping Sparrow of the season, and my second Field Sparrow. I saw at least 5 or 6 Yellow-rumped Warblers flitting around the bushes, while in the distance were three Double-crested Cormorants. On the way home I stopped at the JMU Arboretum to see the Great Horned Owl nest, and had nice views of a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and a White-breasted Nuthatch.
Additional photos and montages, including individual photos of some of the birds in the above montages, will soon become available on the Wild Birds chronological (2024) page.