Nelson County Rarity Roundup 2019 Results

October 11, 2019October 13, 2019 / Ezra Staengl / 3 Comments

The results for the first Nelson County Rarity Roundup are in! On October 6, 23 birders from all over Virginia birded in Nelson County, in search of low density fall migrants and to help create eBird data during an interesting time of year in a relatively poorly birded area. The county was divided into 18 randomly drawn territories. Twelve territories received some birding effort, although only six were birded thoroughly for most of the day. Together, all the teams had 113 species, 23 of which were seen by only one team. The rarest bird of the day was a Connecticut warbler found by Drew Chaney and Baxter Beamer at the Three Ridges Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Connecticut Warbler (Photo by Drew Chaney)

Rockfish Valley Trail was productive as usual, with bobolink, two Lincoln’s sparrows, and the county’s fourth record of marsh wren being the highlights. Three of the four previous marsh wren records from Nelson have been in the first two weeks of October, the fourth was in the last week of April. The marsh wren apparently stuck around for at least one day, as Theo and I saw and photographed one at Rockfish Valley Trail on Monday. Elsewhere in the county, highlights included two other Lincoln’s sparrows — one at James River State WMA and one at Democracy Vineyards — as well as a Trail’s flycatcher at the Piney River Railway Trail and abundant gray-cheeked thrushes (8 between all teams). Birds flagged by eBird as late included two yellow-throated vireos, four blue-gray gnatcatchers, two worm-eating warblers, one veery, and one prairie warbler. Between all the teams, we counted 3,594 birds. The most numerically abundant species was cedar waxwing (289), followed closely by blue jay (252) and then by northern cardinal (205). The most numerous sparrow was chipping (92), and the most numerous warbler was common yellowthroat (58).

Common Yellowthroat

Between all the teams, we saw eleven out of the twelve unflagged sparrow species, missing only vesper. We saw 21 warbler species, with the only unflagged species we missed being Wilson’s. We also got all the unflagged raptor species, eleven, including the three falcons. Notable misses included least flycatcher, Philadelphia vireo, fish crow, northern-rough-winged swallow, brown creeper, hermit thrush, purple finch, and summer tanager. Here’s the link to the map of territories, and here’s a spreadsheet with the results. Thanks again to everyone who participated, and I look forward to next year!

Nelson County Rarity Roundup – Volunteers Wanted!

August 16, 2019August 16, 2019 / Ezra Staengl / 6 Comments

The first rarity roundup I participated in was the Virginia Rarity Roundup in the fall of 2018. Held every year in Northampton County, one of the state’s best for birding, this event emphasizes finding state rarities and building the local birding community. It was great birding — my team found an ash-throated flycatcher! — and lots of fun, and it got me thinking about the ways in which the format of the event could be applied to my home county. Obviously Nelson is not Northampton. There are no — or very few — Western, European, or Caribbean birds in the county each fall. However, I believe Nelson is actually one of the better Central VA Piedmont counties for rare and uncommon but regularly occurring migrants, from species like Connecticut warblers and Philadelphia vireos to northern goshawks and golden eagles. There are several eBird lists from Rockfish Valley trail with multiple rare species. Some of the most mouth watering lists are below:

Mourning Warbler. This photo was taken in Highland County.

https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S48719356

https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S11684470

https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S49182860

https://ebird.org/atlasva/view/checklist/S38795337

Rockfish Valley Trail is one of the only places in Nelson that gets regular coverage in migration. Just across the border in Augusta County, State Route 610 also used to get regular coverage, by Edward Brinkley. He reported massive fallouts of migrating songbirds, including some rare species, like golden-winged, blue-winged, and Connecticut warblers, and olive-sided flycatcher. More recently, I’ve had good numbers of birds on foggy days in fall, although nothing yet approaching what he reported. The number and variety of birds that can be observed when an area is thoroughly covered by birders is amazing. Here’s one of Edward Brinkley’s best lists: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S12891616

State Route 610 during the summer.

I wonder how many more rare migrants are out there along the Blue Ridge that we don’t detect? How many more fantastic migrant trap locations like Rockfish Valley Trail and State Route 610 are waiting to be discovered? If birders birded all of Nelson County in one day, how many species and how many individual birds would we find? I think the format of a rarity roundup provides a good way to encourage people to explore and begin to answer these questions.

I’ve divided Nelson County into 18 territories of unequal size and shape. They’re drawn somewhat randomly, but I’ve tried to make the boundaries logical and to make it clear what territories the already well established birding spots lie in. My hope is that I can get as many people or teams as possible to commit to bird a territory as thoroughly as possible for the day of Sunday October 6. The territories are humongous compared to the one’s used for the VA Rarity Roundup in Northampton, and have much more private land, so I recognize that thorough coverage will be impossible. The idea is more to use the territories as a broad organizational tool, so birders can split their effort across the county. Some territories don’t have an eBird hotspot in them. Some may not even have public land, which is OK. There’s a lot of barely traveled backroads in Nelson, many of which could prove to be good birding. How many new eBird hotspots can we add?

If you’re a birder, and interested in helping discover birds and birding hotspots in Nelson County and are available on October 6th, please consider covering a territory! Here’s a link to a map of the territories. Covering any of them would be a huge help, although I’m personally most curious about the territories along the Blue Ridge that don’t get birded, like 12 and 13. I also think the territories along the James River, including the one with James River State Wildlife Management Area, could be interesting and productive. Don’t worry if you don’t get your first choice territory, because I’ll be making a text group so we can alert each other to any rarities we find. Once you know which territory you would like, or if you have any questions, contact me at ezraperegrine@gmail.com.

Bird Finding in Virginia: State Route 610

August 10, 2018August 12, 2018 / Ezra Staengl / 7 Comments

Tucked away in the mountains behind the Inn at Afton — also the Rockfish Gap Hawkwatch — lies a fantastic but little birded road for observing songbird migration. State Route 610 is a very quiet road, rarely used by cars that favor the nearby Blue Ridge Parkway. 610 starts as a turn off of 250 just west of where 250 is crossed by Skyline Drive. The road ranges in elevation from about 1,900 feet above sea level to just over 2,400. In my experience, the best section of the road for birding — reached after about three miles — is where it runs parallel and within easy sight of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Before that point it is more developed and lower elevation, and after the two roads diverge, 610 goes into a valley.

Last connection between 610 and the Blue Ridge Parkway. The section of road leading up to this is the best part of the road for migrants.

Be warned that the road spans two counties. The best portion of the road is in Augusta County, even though the eBird hotspot is in Nelson. I submit most of my eBird data from 610 from a personal location in Augusta instead of the hotspot in Nelson in an effort to be accurate about my county lists.

I first learned about State Route 610 by looking on eBird. I saw some of Edward Brinkley’s insane checklists from the 1990’s, containing huge fallouts of migrating songbirds. However, his data stopped before the turn of the century, and since then it had not been eBirded regularly. One morning last fall when I had nothing better to do I decided to check it out, and although it wasn’t spectacular, I had a good morning and made several repeat visits. On multiple occasions I was able to observe songbird fallouts of impressive proportions.

State Route 610

The first portion of State Route 610 immediately behind the Inn at Afton and in Nelson County can hold warbler flocks in migration, and I often give it a quick check to try to get whatever is possible in Nelson. At this point, the road is climbing up wooded slopes into the mountains. There are a fair amount of houses and clearings around them, and this is the point on the road where cars are most likely to be encountered. So far I have not observed any really notable birds here, but warblers I’ve seen here in the spring include hooded, ovenbird, magnolia, black-throated blue and cerulean.

Once I reach the section of road that runs along the Blue Ridge Parkway I usually get out of the car and walk, looking and listening for warbler flocks. I’ve had many species of warblers in the spring — which isn’t even the best season to bird this road — in the trees there, including Tennessee, blackburnian, bay-breasted and plentiful ceruleans. My brother and I also found a black-billed cuckoo there last June. I think the dense second growth scrub that fills the gap between the roads in places may be good habitat for the skulking warblers, like mourning and Connecticut.

Black-billed Cuckoo. Photo by Theo Staengl

In fall, 610 is a fantastic place to bird. I’ve been there when there were so many birds that everywhere I looked I could see warblers flitting in the foliage. In addition to warblers, it’s a great spot for large concentrations of Catharus thrushes. I’ve seen 20 warbler species there in just a couple fall visits. I think if the road were covered more regularly, people might be able to observe fallouts close to the size of the ones Brinkley reported over twenty years ago.

Bird Finding in Virginia: Rockfish Valley Trail

June 16, 2018June 17, 2018 / Ezra Staengl / 3 Comments

Note about this post: On past birding trips I have found bird finding guides extremely helpful. Written by people familiar with local hotspots, these books give the sort of tips and tricks for birding a location that can take many visits to figure out for oneself. Since there is no recently updated bird finding guide to Virginia, I have decided to make an online version through writing posts like this. I will try to publish a new one every week. Soon I will add a page on this blog with links to all the bird finding in Virginia posts that have been published so far. Some of my friends from the Blue Ridge Young Birders Club have agreed to help me on this project. Welcome Baxter Beamer, Tucker Beamer, Max Nootbaar, Ira Lianez and Drew Chaney to the birdsandbuds team! We will stick to our local area for now, as that is where we are most familiar with the birding locations, but I would like to make this a statewide project. If anyone reading this (especially in other parts of the state) would like to contribute articles like the one below, please send me an email.

Just past the town of Nellysford on the Rockfish Valley Highway (151), the Rockfish Valley Trail (RVT) is currently the most birded eBird hotspot in Nelson County. Although there are certainly other locations in Nelson waiting to be discovered by birders, the RVT will remain one of the classics. Driving 151 South, the Rockfish Valley Trail parking lot is on your right immediately after Horizon Village Road and the Bold Rock Cidery.

The Rockfish Valley Trail traverses cow pastures, overgrown fields and floodplain forests. Sections of the trail run along both the South Fork of the Rockfish River and Reid’s Creek.

Section of the Glenthorne Loop Trail.

From the parking lot, the Rockfish Valley Trail runs east and west along the South Fork of the Rockfish River. Although both sides are good, I find that the eastern side — known as the Glenthorne Loop Trail — is usually more productive, especially for sparrows in the fall. To get to the Glenthorne Loop Trail from the RVT parking lot, go under the bridge beneath 151. On the other side of the bridge you will see a large cow pasture to your right and a row of densely planted cedars to your left. Walk down the path between the cedars and the field, watching for eastern meadowlarks and grasshopper sparrows in the field. Once the cedars stop, the path splits off in two directions and crosses an extremely brushy field. During the spring and summer, the willows along the river here are a good place to see orchard orioles, eastern kingbirds and sometimes yellow warblers. In previous Octobers this field has been an amazing spot for sparrows, with large numbers of Lincoln’s and swamp present. I also had two marsh wrens here last October.

The trails eventually meet back up to form the beginning of Glenthorne Loop in front of Reid’s Creek, and from there you can either cross the creek on a bridge into another large field, or continue on the RVT side. This area, behind the brushy field, is a great place for fall warblers. I’ve had multiple blackburnian, blackpoll, bay-breasted and black-throated-green warblers in the early successional forests that border the path here. This is also a great area for olive-sided flycatcher in the fall, although the tree they used to perch on has fallen down. The trail goes back into the woods before coming out next to the cow pasture again, now following Reid’s Creek to the south, and I’ve never found it worth continuing at that point. Other than more grasshopper sparrows, meadowlarks, white-eyed vireos and the occasional warbler, there usually aren’t many new birds there, so I turn around and bird the west side.

If you don’t cross under 151 and instead follow the trail west from the parking lot, you’ll walk in between a large field and a small riparian corridor along the river. Extensive jewelweed patches grow next to the river here, and people often have mourning warblers in them during late August. As you walk this section of trail, scan exposed perches for flycatchers. Many species of Empidonax flycatchers can be found in the fall, including willow, least, yellow-bellied and probably alder. Olive-sided flycatchers are also annual. In the fall, watch for warbling and Philadelphia Vireos in the willows. The trail extends for about a mile before you have to turn around.

Philadelphia Vireo

Good birds seen at the Rockfish Valley Trail include: Olive-sided flycatcher, yellow-bellied flycatcher, least flycatcher, Trail’s flycatcher sp., northern waterthrush, mourning warbler, Connecticut warbler, blackburnian warbler, Wilson’s warbler, blue-winged warbler, black-billed cuckoo, warbling vireo, Philadelphia Vireo, gray-cheeked thrush, Lincoln’s sparrow, marsh wren, dickcissel and bobolink.

The Rockfish Valley Trail is a great place to bird any time of year, but especially in migration. In my opinion September and October are the best months to bird the RVT, as that is when most of the warblers, flycatchers and sparrows are coming through. I hope I’ve inspired you to come out to Nelson County to do some birding!