More Spring Birding in Hampton Roads

Spring bird migration in Virginia is now over, so it’s likely that any birds you see for the next couple of months are breeding birds that will be here all summer. Right now is the best time to go out and look for these birds; the weather is still cooler on most days, insects are not as numerous or voracious as they will be soon, and many birds are still singing to attract mates or claim breeding territories, making them easier to find.  Additionally, most birds are still in fresh breeding plumage and are at their most stunning; as the summer wears on their feathers will wear down and their colors become duller.

I went on two particularly productive birding field trips in the latter half of May, to Mackay Island N.W.R. near Knott’s Island, N.C., and to Paradise Creek Nature Park in Portsmouth. The photo at the top of this posting is of an adult male Common Yellowthroat I saw at Mackay Island. Yellowthroats are a type of warbler that is common in Virginia, and you will hear them at almost any wet or marshy area. They are usually hidden away in the reeds or grasses, but if you’re lucky one might pop out into the open to check you out.

Most of the habitat at Mackay Island is wetlands and freshwater marshes, which are actively managed for waterfowl, shorebirds, rails, and wading birds like herons, egrets, ibis and the like. Below are photos of some of these birds that I took when I went to Mackay on May 15:

This Glossy Ibis is coming in for a landing at the wetlands near the Visitors Center. 

The photo below is of the same bird, feeding.

Greater Yellowlegs

Little Blue Heron

Mackay also has fields and eastern pine hardwoods forests, which attract songbirds like Orchard Orioles, Great-crested Flycatchers, Indigo Buntings, Blue Grosbeaks, Summer Tanagers and many other species. Below is my photo of one of the common summer residents, the magnificent Eastern Kingbird:

The visitor center at Mackay has wetlands and ponds that attract several species of swallows including Purple Martins and Tree Swallows (below). It’s hard to tell whether these swallows are fighting or flirting:

Paradise Creek Nature Park in Portsmouth is a very new park that provides a sliver of good bird habitat in the middle of an older suburban neighborhood and an industrial area near the Jordan Bridge. A sliver is enough, though, to attract some beautiful birds. Here are some that I saw there last Saturday:

The Blue Grosbeak is a common summer resident in Virginia. It likes open, weedy fields. 

This is the same species as the bird pictured at the top of this posting, a Common Yellowthroat. This first-spring male is not yet in its full adult plumage.

One of everyone's favorite birds is the stunning Indigo Bunting

As bird activity starts to wane after spring migration, insect activity increases. I realize that more people are interested in birds and bird photos than they are in dragonflies, damselflies and butterflies, but I get very excited about finding and photographing them. Many of my field trips for the next few months will be centered on finding dragonflies and damselflies in particular. My next blog post will go into some detail about some of our local species, but in the meantime, let me give you a taste of the diversity in the patterns and colors of some of our damselflies; they are truly one of the jewels of the insect world!

Immature female Citrine Forktail 

Southern Spreadwing

 Male Blue-tipped Dancer. The female, below, looks nothing like the male.

Two pair of Orange Bluets in tandem. The male clasps onto the back of the female's head prior to mating.

Some Spring Birding in Hampton Roads

Springtime is a very active time of year for birds and bird watchers. Most of the winter birds and waterfowl have left Hampton Roads to head north to their breeding grounds, but there are new arrivals every day of birds that spent their winter south of us and are returning north to their breeding grounds. Some stay in Virginia to breed, like the industrious little Barn Swallow, above, that is collecting mud and sticks for its nest, and some species are just passing through our area as they continue to their breeding grounds further north of us. For bird watchers, every day is an adventure, and no two days are the same. Here are some of the bird photos I’ve taken this April and so far in May.

A few Great Egrets (photo above) do winter here in Hampton Roads, but in early spring they are supplemented by more birds that have arrived from the south. Great Egrets are communal breeders, and gather in “rookeries” where they nest literally side by side. It surprises some people to learn that they do nest in trees and not on the ground. They are very loyal to their historic rookeries and return to them year after year.

There is a small rookery in a neighborhood on Indian River Road, and despite “people noise” and heavy traffic, a few egrets cling to the few trees that remain from their larger, historic rookery and they continue to breed there. Neighbors have cut down most of the trees because they don’t like the noise and the mess that the egrets make.

But if you get to the rookery early in the morning, ignore the cars and the McDonalds restaurant close by and just watch the egrets, it’s a beautiful experience. They are in their full breeding finery with long, elegant plumes that they show to their best effect as they try to attract mates. Their lores (the area in front of the eye) turn a beautiful shade of green during this time, which only lasts for a few weeks. Above and below are a few photos of some of these spectacular birds. Special thanks to Nancy Neal for alerting me to the location of this rookery.

Yellow-crowned Night-Herons return to Hampton Roads in late March and early April, and are on their nests by mid-April. Below is a photo of one on its nest, high in a tree near The Hague in Norfolk. I worried for this bird; the winds were so strong, the tree was blowing crazily from side to side, and the nest these birds build look so poorly constructed. But I guess they know what they’re doing; the nest remained intact. The Hague is a good place to find Yellow-crowned Night-Herons. At lower tides, you can see them on the stone wall down at the water for food, and at very low tides, they will hunt on the mudflats for crabs.

I went to Fort Monroe in Hampton with a friend on April 26 to see what birds were there. Surprisingly, one of the first birds we saw in the marina was a late Horned Grebe in full breeding plumage! Most of the wintering grebes have already flown north out of Hampton Roads by late April, but this one was hanging on for a few more days:

A few Brown Pelicans spend the winter in Hampton Roads, but far more join them here in the spring and breed on the islands nearby. Brown pelicans are large and impressive, especially in flight, but their plain brown colors are really rather drab – that is, until it’s breeding season! Look at all the beautiful and subtle colors that this pelican, perched on the pilings at Fort Monroe, has acquired in order to attract a mate!

It was a wet spring, and the flooded grassy fields at Fort Monroe hosted a variety of shorebirds that are usually seen along the mudflats at ponds and wetlands. It was a good opportunity to see various sandpipers, both Yellowlegs, and the spectacular American Oystercatcher, below.

Ospreys, also known as “Fish Hawks,”  are abundant at this time of year, and there were several active nests at Fort Monroe at relatively close range. Here are a couple of photographs I was able to take of these beautiful birds.

One of my favorite places to bird in the spring is the Great Dismal Swamp.  During spring migration, there is no other place I know of that has the amount and variety of bird song that I hear there in the early morning (7-8:00); it’s a veritable symphony! You will not see most of the birds because of the dense woods and foliage along the dike trails, so you must learn to “bird by ear” if you want to identify the species that are singing. I actually find this very rewarding, even though it means not getting many bird photos! I did manage to photograph a pair of Summer Tanagers (below) when I was there earlier this week; the first is an “Orange” female, and the second is a 1^st spring male that is molting into his all-red adult plumage.

I tried to go to Mackay Island N.W.R. last weekend, but the refuge was completely closed to traffic due to high water. So I drove around the nearby fields and residential lawns along Muddy Creek Road in Virginia Beach. They were also flooded, which attracted large numbers of Snowy Egrets, Glossy Ibis, and Cattle Egrets, which were nice to see because they have become more scarce in Virginia in recent years. Here’s a photo of one of the strutting, breeding-plumaged Cattle Egrets:

 This is just a taste of the bird activity that is going on around us right now. If you go to any park, pond or woods in the next couple of weeks and just keep your eyes and ears open, I guarantee that you will find something fabulous!

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher in Virginia, a Peregrine and Some Butterflies

It has really been far too long since I posted anything here. My last post, in August, was about some of Virginia’s damselflies, and I promised to write about the dragonflies next, but suddenly it is the end of November, it’s cold and rainy and windy, and it seems totally inappropriate to choose dragonflies as a topic now.

I have not taken any good field trips this fall, and did not have a singular, amazing outdoor experience to write about; most of my time lately was spent re-roofing my house, remodeling an old bathroom, and dealing with things that required me to stay home much of the time. So I’ll give you a little capsule, a hodgepodge of nature experiences I've had this fall between the roofers and plumbers and such.

The photos above are of  the best bird I saw this fall, without a doubt (“best” in birder-speak means “rare.”) This is a juvenile Scissor-tailed Flycatcher that someone spotted on Virginia’s Eastern Shore in October. I gave chase on the first day I could, and was able to photograph it.  I was not able to get close to the bird; it was on private property, and I will not trespass, nor will I knowingly get so close to a bird that I bother it. So this was a case where I hand-held my long lens, held my breath and tried my best not to move or shake, hoping for the sharpest photo possible under the circumstances! The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher is common in the Great Plains but is extremely rare in Virginia. This individual is a juvenile that was hatched this summer, and it simply migrated in the wrong direction; it went east instead of south. Do a Google image search for this bird and see what this guy will look like when he's grown; you will be amazed at the size of the adult bird’s tail!

I went to the Eastern Shore on a dark day in November with a friend, hoping for some vagrant birds. We had no luck with rarities, but on the return trip, I spotted a Peregrine Falcon perched on a light post. After slamming on my brakes and backing up down the highway, I got some photos, but they were all dark and muddy looking because of the weather. I've never had photo-editing software other than the basic tools that come free with the camera (I've always been unreasonably stubborn about not using “tricks” or "cheating"  to get a better photo than what I took). But my friend took one of the photos and did some work on it with PhotoShop, and when he sent me the result, it blew me away! I immediately decided that I must trash all my principles, buy Lightroom, and start learning how to use it to improve my photos. Here are the before and after results of the Peregrine:

As I do every summer, I did raise and release some butterflies in my yard from caterpillars that I search for and find on the native plants in my garden. I've talk about this before; I collect the caterpillars and house them in screen cages in my garage, where I feed them at least twice a day. After a couple of weeks of doing nothing but eating and pooping, the caterpillar morphs into its chrysalis stage and remains dormant until it emerges as an adult butterfly. This process requires tending to the caterpillars at least twice a day, and is actually a main cause of my not being able to go out on field trips; if you’re not there to clean the cages and feed the caterpillars on time, they will not survive.

Over the past few years I have raised and released over 6000 butterflies of over 20 different species, which is very rewarding. The survival rate of caterpillars in the wild is extremely low, so raising and releasing results in a few more butterflies out there in the neighborhood and the world. This year I was thrilled to raise and release two new species that had never laid eggs in my yard before, the Viceroy butterfly and the Giant Swallowtail.

Freshly-hatched Viceroy butterfly. That's its chrysalis on the right, from which it just emerged.

First the Viceroy: Different butterfly species are dedicated to specific kinds of plants (called “host plants”) when it comes to laying their eggs; they only lay them on the foodplants that the hatched caterpillars will eat.  I had never planted the Viceroy’s host plant before; I had seen a few adults nectaring at my flowering trees and shrubs, but had never found caterpillars until I found them this year on my new Corkscrew Willow. My father died a couple of years ago, and as a memento, I took some of the Corkscrew Willow cuttings from the flower arrangements at his funeral, wrapped them in wet tissue and flew home with them in my suitcase. Once I got home I put them back in water until they rooted, then I planted them in dirt. This year they were large enough to put outdoors in big pots, and they grew into trees that are 6-8 feet tall now. Corkscrew Willows are one of the Viceroy’s host plants, and one or two adults found them and laid their eggs.  Success! (If you plant it, they will come….)

The other new butterfly species to lay eggs in my yard this year was the Giant Swallowtail (above). This is a southern species that is common in Florida but is decidedly uncommon in Virginia; they do not even occur here most years. One day I noticed a bunch of tiny, newly-hatched caterpillars on a small little Rue plant that I had in a pot. I presumed they were common Black Swallowtail caterpillars, which eat Rue, and I checked them every day or so to see whether they were running out of food and needed to be moved to my Parsley or Fennel plants, which they also eat. I finally noticed that they looked “different,” and realized that these were, unbelievably, about 60 Giant Swallowtail caterpillars! Giants also eat Rue, but not Parsley and Fennel, so I was out of food for them. I called my butterfly friends immediately, and they saved the day when they brought me a potted Citrus tree; in Florida, citrus trees are the most common Giant Swallowtail host plant. I gave away most of the caterpillars, but kept about a dozen that fed on the citrus tree and then went into chrysalis. Most later emerged as adult butterflies, like the one above.

 Young Giant Swallowtail caterpillar. They look like bird poop to predators, 

which is a very effective defense mechanism.

Here he is, several days older. He has lost his slick sheen, but

still looks rather distasteful!

 If bothered, these caterpillars attempt to scare away whatever is bothering them 

by displaying their red osmeterium, or "horns."

 Unlike our other black swallowtail species, the 

Giant Swallowtail's underwings and body are yellow.

Some of the Giants went to Lauren Tafoya, who manages the butterfly house at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens. She does an amazing job there, raising and releasing thousands of butterflies of many species each year. She had a few Giants at the Gardens already, but the ones she added from my yard will expand their genetic base and obviously increase the population. If you go to the Botanical Gardens next spring, you might see some of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the butterfly that laid eggs on the little Rue plant in my little yard.

I Love Photo-Sharing Night at the Library -- Please join us!

Every three months (at the end of each season), a group of nature and wildlife photographers get together at the Chesapeake Central Library where I work to share photos they have taken during the previous three-month period. We enjoy celebrating each season, since the natural landscape and the wildlife are so specific and relatable to each season. We emphasize the nature that we find here in the Tidewater area, but anyone can share any photos they like from anywhere.

Each photog brings up to 20 photos on a CD or a USB device like a flash drive, and we project those photos from a laptop onto the big movie screen in the library's meeting room. Everyone admires and discusses them and we all have fun and learn a thing or two about our local wildlife. Age and level of expertise have no bearing on our photo sharing and fellowship; anyone is welcome to join us and share in the fun, whether they want to show photos or just watch. (We do, however, ask that no children under 12 years of age attend unless accompanied by their parent). We usually have a group of 10-15 people.

So, this is an invitation to anyone who would like to join us at our next get-together on Monday, July 29 starting at 6:00 p.m. We meet at the Chesapeake Central Library at 298 Cedar Road. If you'd like to show some photos, bring up to 20, and a few more if you like, in the event that we have extra time. Please give me a call if you have any questions or would like more information; the number is 757-410-7147. Ask for Karen.

The photo at the top of this entry is an outstanding capture of a Pileated Woodpecker that Tim Fearington showed at our last meeting in April.   What follows are some of the photos that other participants showed at the same meeting. Please enjoy!

 A beautiful Chesapeake sunrise photographed by Bill Niven.

 Chris Williams found this adult Bald Eagle at the Chesapeake Locks Park. Good luck and talent combine for a great photo op!

Nora Leonard took this stunning photo of a doe.

Green Herons like to skulk about in the shadows, but Tim Fearington captured this one 

out in the open.

 Canada Goose and its perfect reflection at Chesapeake's Locks Park, 

photographed by Chris Williams. 

SO pretty. Yellow Iris by Bill Niven.

Spring blossoms (cherry?) photographed beautifully by Nora Leonard.

Tim Fearington found and photographed this Red-Headed Woodpecker at the 

Norfolk Botanical Gardens.

 Another beautiful photo taken at Chesapeake Locks Park by Chris Williams.

 Bill Niven has a new super-zoom camera and was able to get this great shot of 

an Osprey on its nest from a long distance.