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!

Blue Ridge Young Birders Club Field Trip to Rockfish Valley Trail Fall 2018

November 6, 2018November 7, 2018 / Ezra Staengl / 3 Comments

On October 14th I lead a trip for the Blue Ridge Young Birders Club to the Rockfish Valley Trail, a local birding hotspot in Nelson County. I had high hopes for the trip, as the Rockfish Valley Trail tends to be a very productive place for finding uncommon and rare migrants in the fall, with Philadelphia vireo and Lincoln’s sparrows often present. Only a few weeks previously I’d had one of the best mornings of birding in my life there, finding Philadelphia vireo and blue-winged, Connecticut and mourning warblers. Around this time of year last year, my brother and I had two marsh wrens. Six young birders attended the trip.

We walked under Route 151, doing our best to avoid getting our feet wet in the water overflowing from the South Fork of the Rockfish River. The day was cool and cloudy but not unpleasantly so. We encountered a large flock of song sparrows in a dense tangle of pokeweed and began scanning them for Lincoln’s. We didn’t find any Lincoln’s in that flock but saw a few swamp sparrows. As we were walking along a mowed path through a dense, brushy field, a tiny, bright yellow bird dropped out of a tree and into the grass. Curious about what this could be so late in the year, we went to investigate. The bird popped up onto a low branch of a black walnut tree for a few seconds, and I saw it was a Wilson’s warbler.

We continued around the loop towards the back of the field, where we encountered more sparrows. I put my binoculars up to one and saw that it had a yellowish malar, gray supercilium and a yellowish breast covered in super fine, dark streaks — a Lincoln’s sparrow. I think everyone got on the bird, although it soon hopped back down into the brush.

A flock of purple finches flew over and landed in the branches of a leafless oak. We soon began hearing more purple finch calls, and several other flocks joined the first. By the end of the day we counted 34 in small flyover and foraging flocks. It was still early in the year for purple finches and seeing them in these numbers was encouraging for a good winter for them in our area.

Purple Finch (Haemorhous purpureus)

As we rounded the bend in the path a flock of birds flew up into a tree. One appeared to be a Catharus thrush, which my brother got on and said looked like a gray-cheeked. We slowly crept to the other side of the tree so as not to scare the thrush again and saw that it was indeed a gray-cheeked thrush. We re-found the Wilson’s warbler and a late Eastern wood-pewee nearby.

Once we got back to the top of the loop where we first saw the Wilson’s warbler, we paused for a bit to listen. I heard a yellowthroat chipping in a large patch of common mugwort, so I went to investigate. I found the yellowthroat and a couple of palm warblers, and I was just about to return to the group when Baxter called that he thought he had a Connecticut warbler. The group assembled behind him and we slowly advanced towards the bird, which was entirely obscured by the dense mugwort. I got a brief glimpse of the bird through the vegetation and saw a large warbler with a pale gray hood and a thin eye ring. Suddenly the bird lifted off and flew to the end of the mugwort patch, followed a second later by a similar looking bird. There were two of them! Chaos ensued as everyone tried to see the birds while we debated their ID’s. Eventually we cornered the two birds in a corner of the mugwort patch, and everyone got a decent look. Their eye rings, although fairly extensive, were not complete, making them mourning warblers, not Connecticuts. Finding two of them was still extremely exciting, and it was a Nelson County high count. We photographed a beautiful blue-headed vireo in a willow along the river on our way back towards the cars.

Blue-headed Vireo (Vireo solitarius). Photo by Baxter Beamer.

The next location for the trip was State Route 610, a quiet mountain road that can sometimes have good migrants. When we arrived the area was totally quiet. We had to walk down the road for five minutes before we even heard a bird, which was a pileated woodpecker. I did not give up hope, as I’d birded up here many times before when it first appeared very slow but then incredible bird activity occurred in explosive bursts. Sure enough, a few minutes later the forest suddenly rang with a cacophony of warbler chips, and birds could be seen moving in every tree. The vast majority of the warblers were blackpoll, but we also found several other species including Tennessee, Cape May, bay-breasted, pine and black-throated green. Kinglets were also present in high numbers — we had fifteen golden-crowned and five ruby-crowned on a small stretch of road. I spotted a red-eyed vireo, which was beginning to get late, as well as another blue-headed vireo.

Rockfish Valley Trail and State Route 610 did not let us down!

Bird Finding in Virginia: Greenbrier Park

June 27, 2018June 27, 2018 / Drew Chaney / Leave a comment

Located in the Greenbrier neighborhood on the north side of Charlottesville, Greenbrier Park has the fourth-most species of any eBird hotspot in the City of Charlottesville, and some of its best birding. Park entrances are located at the intersection of Greenbrier Drive and Kerry Lane, the end of Jamestown Road, and the Brandywine Drive bridge over Meadow Creek. There is street parking on Brandywine Drive, Greenbrier Drive, Jamestown Road, and Kerry Lane. The hotspot encompasses both Greenbrier Park itself, on the east side of the Brandywine bridge, and the section of the Rivanna Trail that runs through city property from the west side of the Brandywine bridge to Hydraulic Road. Habitats in the park include floodplain forest, upland forest, fields, swamp forest, and marsh.

From the Brandywine Drive bridge, you can walk east or west. The east side is generally better for warblers, while the west is better for sparrows. If you go east from the bridge along the trail that runs parallel to Meadow Creek, you will soon reach an intersection with a paved trail that leads across a wooden bridge over the creek. A left turn takes you up a hill to the Kerry Lane entrance, while a right turn over the bridge leads to another intersection. A left takes you on a trail that parallels the one opposite the creek, while continuing straight leads to the Jamestown Drive entrance. Past this point, trails run parallel on each side of the creek, and form a loop at the railroad track that makes the park’s eastern boundary. The section of trail that connects the two sides runs over a tunnel through which the creek passes under the tracks, and is steep, slippery, and overgrown, with a drop into the water below on one side. Fortunately, there is a rock crossing about three-quarters of the way down the trail that is much safer during low water. This entire east side of Greenbrier is very good during spring migration, with species such as both waterthrushes, prothonotary, worm-eating, black-throated blue, black-throated green, and yellow warblers, northern parula, scarlet tanager, Baltimore oriole, veery, and Lincoln’s sparrow recorded here.

Scarlet Tanager

A marsh on the south side of the creek, opposite the rock crossing, is good for migrant green herons and solitary sandpipers. Rusty blackbirds may also be here in the late winter, and the swampy woods on the north side can have wood ducks. Also on the north side of the creek, a backyard that runs down to the trail has feeders which can be good for finches and other songbirds, and a brush pile next to a boardwalk here is good for wrens and sparrows. A dead-end trail just past the marsh on the south side leads you through a moist wooded area with much undergrowth where I have seen American woodcock, white-eyed vireo and barred owl.

On the west side of the bridge, the trail runs along the creek for a short while before crossing it at some rocks where a cable has been put across the stream to hold on to. The woods just after you cross have lots of fallen logs and are great for winter wrens. In fact, Greenbrier is probably the most reliable place for that species that I have been.

Winter Wren

A little farther down, you will reach a gas cut that comes down a steep slope on the left. If you climb the hill through the cut, there is a small trail that goes off to the right. This trail is very good for thrushes and ovenbird, the latter only in migration as far as I know. If instead of going left up the gas cut you take a right from the main trail, you will reach a large, weedy field on your left. This is a fantastic area in the fall and winter, with tons of sparrows. This spot is good for swamp and field sparrows, winter wren, red-shouldered hawk, common yellowthroat, and indigo bunting. I have found willow flycatcher, eastern meadowlark, and American tree sparrow in this field as well. If you continue straight on the trail past the gas cut, you will see upland, oak-dominated woods on your left and floodplain forest on the right all the way down to Hydraulic Road, with some small clearings and woodland trickles. This whole area is excellent for woodpeckers, kinglets, and songbirds in general. Don’t forget to look up every now and then on the trail, as hawks are frequently seen here, as well as the occasional common raven and bald eagle.

Greenbrier Park is one of the best hotspots in Charlottesville, but before I started birding it, I believe there were only about 70 species recorded there. Now at this time of writing, that number is up to 119, with plenty more new species to come. Spring migration is probably the best time to bird at Greenbrier, but winter is quite good as well, and fall migration has the possibility of turning up some good species. Summer is not as active, since most of the breeding birds are common species, but it’s not bad nonetheless. I would recommend Greenbrier to beginner birders looking to see a good diversity of species, and really any birder in Charlottesville looking for a new place to bird.

You can view the hotspot on eBird here: https://ebird.org/hotspot/L1543531?yr=all&m=&rank=mrec

Drew Chaney, a member of the Blue Ridge Young Birders Club, is writing posts about birding locations for this blog. In addition to birds, Drew is passionate about Plants and Odonata.

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!

Fallout at Rockfish Gap

October 17, 2017December 13, 2017 / Ezra Staengl / 2 Comments

As we drove up the long, winding road to the Rockfish Gap hawk watch, the barely risen sun revealed a striking scene in the valley below us. We looked down on a solid layer of dark, heavy clouds. The gap of clear air that we were driving through quickly gave way to more clouds above us, obscuring the taller mountain peaks.

A light drizzle filled the cool air as we reached the parking lot of the Inn at Afton, where the hawk watch is located, and where our young birders club planned to meet for the day’s field trip. Our plan today was to bird the Rockfish Valley Trail, a local hotspot in Nelson County, and than head back up into the mountains and bird the road known as State Route 610, or the Swannanoa road. I was even more excited than usual as today’s trip would be the first time I served as trip leader.

When I got out of the car, I heard the flight call of several warblers. Dylan, an eight year old who recently started birding with us, quickly joined my brother and me. He pointed to a dilapidated, old road sign above our heads, and said he had seen birds in it. The sign had once read “The Inn at Afton,” but the front had long since fallen off, revealing the sign’s bright interior lights, shining like a beacon to migrating birds. When I raised my binoculars, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. More than 20 wood warblers sat on and near the sign’s lights. Occasionally, another would drop out of the sky and join them, explaining the chips I had heard earlier. Just than, the rest of the trip’s participants pulled up and joined us, making seven young birders total.

We found blackpoll, bay-breasted, black-throated blue, Tennessee, chestnut-sided, yellow-rumped, and black-throated green warblers, northern parulas, and common yellowthroats. We even found a Nashville warbler in the sign.

Nashville Warbler (Leiothlypis ruficapilla), with Northern Parula (Setophaga americana) inside the sign at the Inn at Afton. Photo by Tucker Beamer.

We were excited by what this abundance could mean for the rest of our day. If so many warblers were in such a small area, in such strange conditions, maybe today could be a fallout. Fallout is a condition where due to sudden, severe weather, large numbers of birds migrating at night are forced down in a small area. Fallouts are highly sought-after events for birders, as they can result in rare species and unusual numbers of birds.

As the sun rose, the light revealed a more gruesome scene. Little bodies of black-throated blue warblers and common yellowthroats littered the parking lot, a sad reminder of the many dangers birds face on migration. These birds were probably attracted to the bright light of the sign and the Inn, and met their death by flying headfirst into these obstructions.

My brother and I had scouted the Rockfish Valley Trail the morning before the trip. There had been sparrows everywhere, roving about the abandoned fields and brushy hedgerows in large flocks. We had found five Lincoln’s sparrows, the first two white-crowned sparrows observed in Nelson that year, and tons of song and swamp sparrows. As we scanned the flock, a strange chip suddenly came from the vegetation by our feet. Looking down, I saw a blob of rufous feathers fly into another bush — a marsh wren! Excitedly, we waited for it to make another appearance. We soon found another one, and enjoyed fabulous views of both.

Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris)

It was the highest number of marsh wrens ever observed in Nelson County. I hoped one would stick around for the next day’s field trip.

The thick cloud-cover had not thinned out much as we pulled into the parking lot at the Rockfish Valley Trail, a good sign for songbird activity. We walked under Route 151 towards the Glenthorne Loop trail, which is usually more productive for sparrows. When we arrived at the field I had seen the marsh wrens at the day before, I was disappointed to see that most of the sparrows were gone, and the marsh wrens were no longer present. Even so, we quickly found some swamp sparrows, and two gorgeous white-crowned sparrows. I walked ahead of the main group, and was relieved to have a Lincoln’s sparrow, one of my favorite sparrows, hop out on a branch in front of me. Its gray face, buffy malar and crisp black streaking is so beautiful. I called to the rest of the group, and was very frustrated when it flew off before any of them could get on it. Luckily, we soon found a few more in with a sparrow flock on the Spruce Creek side, and we all had fantastic views.

Lincoln’s Sparrow (Melospiza lincolnii)

As we were wrapping up at the Rockfish Valley Trail, I spotted a small, dark falcon flying quickly overhead. It turned out to be a merlin, which was the first one seen in Nelson County that year. The merlin circled once, giving us a fabulous view, before it shot off down the ridge.

As we drove back toward Swannanoa road and the hawk watch, we felt like we were racing against time. The clouds were finally beginning to give way, and blue holes were appearing everywhere. It was also slowly getting warmer. When we got out of the car at the end of the Swannanoa road, it seemed our fears had been confirmed. The beautiful Fall foliage was silent. A turkey vulture soared lazily overhead.

However, a closer inspection revealed our fears that the birds would no longer be active were unfounded. Warblers slowly foraged every tree, and many were surprisingly close to the road. We quickly found blackpoll, black-throated green, Tennessee, and Cape-may warblers, as well as unseasonably large numbers of black-throated blue warblers.

Cape-may Warbler (Setophaga tigrina). Photo by Tucker Beamer.

As we walked farther down the road, we saw more and more birds. Late wood thrushes feasted alongside more seasonally common Swainson’s thrushes in thick tangles of summer grape vines, laden with purple fruit. We found a late black-and-white warbler and an American redstart. Scarlet tanagers swooped over the road, and black-throated blue warblers chipped over our heads. We eventually also found magnolia, palm, pine, and yellow-rumped warblers.

Our final destination for the day was a golf course in the Old Trail neighborhood of Crozet, where someone had seen a clay-colored sparrow the day before. We had directions to the clump of pokeweed he had been in, and we soon found it. As we arrived, Baxter saw the bird hop down into the dense brush. We waited several anxious minutes for it to return, but we needn’t have worried. It soon returned and sat preening itself on a poke stem while we watched. The clay-colored sparrow was an Albemarle lifer for everybody, and a lifer for Max and Drew.

Clay-colored Sparrow (Spizella pallida)

When I totaled up our day list that evening, I found we had seen 72 species. We had experienced a late Fall migration fallout, and we enjoyed ourselves very much. What an incredible day of local birding!