Prothonotary Warbler

On May 25^th my brother Theo and I decided to do a birding “big day” in Charlottesville City. On the surface it was a strange date to attempt to run up a large bird list, as peak spring migration was already two or three weeks in the past. However, I wanted to investigate the status of several uncommon breeding species in the city, (i.e., common merganser, prothonotary warbler) as well as see what late migrants we could find. Theo and I are relatively new residents of urban Charlottesville City, and so in celebration of the fact that we no longer had to drive long distances between birding sites we decided to limit ourselves to walking on our big day.

We started our day at 5 am, working south along the Rivanna Trail from Meadow Creek towards Riverview Park. We’d hoped to pick up an owl or two pre-dawn, but we were surprised by how quickly the songbirds started singing, obscuring any owl that might’ve called. The first birds we heard were eastern bluebirds calling from the Pen Park golf course across Meadow Creek from us. The bluebirds were soon followed by a cacophony of northern cardinals, American robins, and common grackles which kept us company all the way until dawn.

Eastern wood-pewee. This photo is from later in the day at Pen Park.

As the sun rose, we entered the paved section of Rivanna Trail that leads from River Road (north of the Route 250 bridge) to Riverview Park. The birding was relatively slow, but we did pick up common breeding woodland songbirds like eastern wood-pewee, great-crested flycatcher, white-eyed vireo, and a single common yellowthroat along the river. An orchard oriole sang from the tall trees by the Riverview parking lot.

Once we reached the Riverview Parking lot, we continued into the neighborhood beyond, walking towards the Riverview Cemetery. The cemetery is located on a hilltop, and from it one can see not only the Rivanna River floodplain below but also the mountain ridges beyond. We spent about half an hour in the cemetery, watching for interesting flyovers. Cedar waxwings were abundant flying back and forth between the large junipers and holly trees, and we also saw a Cooper’s hawk and a belted kingfisher. Unfortunately, probably the best bird present was a duck which we failed to identify as it disappeared behind the trees.

As we walked back north along the Riverview Park trail, we encountered a small group of active chickadees, vireos, and gnatcatchers. Hoping the small mixed flock might contain other species, my brother began making “pishing” noises to attract the birds. Suddenly, a chunky, olive yellow bird flitted across the path. Hoping it might’ve been a mourning warbler, we redoubled our efforts. Sure enough, a few seconds later, the mourning warbler popped back up on top of a tangle of grape vines. It had a complete pale gray hood, pink legs, a yellow underside, and the very faintest traces of eye arcs.

Mourning warbler at Riverview Park. Photographed by Theo Staengl.

A little further along the trail, we were startled into stopping by another duck zooming overhead. Like the one at the cemetery we barely had time to get on it before it disappeared behind the trees, but this one’s large size, long neck, light color, and contrastingly dark head were enough to identify it as a female common merganser. Common mergansers have started breeding on the Rivanna River in Charlottesville in recent years, but they’re by no means common, so it was a treat to see one for our big day. An American redstart, a silent Trail’s flycatcher (willow/alder) and a second (!) mourning warbler rounded out our time at Riverview Park.

Female common merganser with chicks. This photo was taken on the Rivanna River near Charlottesville on May 27 2021.

As we crossed Meadow Creek into Pen Park, we simultaneously heard the sharp chip of a blue grosbeak and the melodious trill of a pine warbler coming from the golf course. We were unable to locate the blue grosbeak, but we did eventually find the pine warbler calling from a large pine in the golf course. We furtively edged our way around the golf course and then continued north along the trail next to the river. One of our main targets there was prothonotary warbler, a bird that breeds along the James River but is very scarce in the summer along the Rivanna. However, we’d seen one along that stretch of trail at Pen about a week before, so we hoped it might still be there. One individual also apparently summered there in 2019. Sure enough, as we rounded a bend in the river, we heard the loud “sweet sweet sweet sweet” song of a prothonotary warbler coming from the opposite shore. We scrambled down a steep bank onto a small sandy beach to search for it. Eventually we located it in a tree across the river from us, but I couldn’t manage more than abysmal photos. We did pick up yellow-throated warbler and a pair of mallards though. As we continued along the trail we flushed a gray-cheeked thrush — an uncommon migrant and a city lifer for me.

We emerged from the trails at Pen Park along Pen Park Lane in the Lochlyn Hills neighborhood and decided to walk to Lochlyn Hills Park, which is another spot with a good view of the sky, to eat lunch. In addition to many more cedar waxwings, we saw both red-shouldered and broad-winged hawks as we were eating.

Unfortunately, after lunch the birding slowed down significantly. We walked back along Meadow Creek towards Melbourne Road, and then up the trail along the John W. Warner Parkway towards Greenbrier Park. At Greenbrier we added wood thrush and pileated woodpecker to our day list, but nothing else. We finished the day sky watching at McIntire Park without adding anything new.

Screenshot of the locations we visited during the big day (in red). Taken from the eBird trip report.

We ended up seeing 66 species of birds (plus the Trail’s flycatcher) and walking a little over 15 miles. Doubtless we could’ve seen many more species had our effort been better timed with spring migration, but it was fun to explore the city during a slightly less frequently birded time of year. We were rewarded with several interesting breeding species, and a handful of uncommon migrants. It’s amazing to me what natural wonders live right outside my door, even though I’m now living in Charlottesville City.

James River State Wildlife Management Area is the eBird hotspot with the third most species in Nelson County, with 132, and many more still waiting to be recorded. It still isn’t getting birded as much as it deserves, with only 67 complete eBird checklists at the time of this writing, but over the last year the coverage has improved. It’s one of the only publicly accessible marshes in the county, which makes it a particularly important spot for local birders to check, especially in migration, when rare marsh birds like rails and bitterns are moving through the area.

There is often hunting at the WMA during the winter, so you may want to wear blaze orange. According to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fishery, Sunday is the only day they never have hunting. One winter day we planned to bird there, but hunters and their dogs lined the road all the way from the entrance to the river. We turned around. Also, as for all state WMA’s, you should purchase an access permit before your trip.

The WMA is located in the eastern part of Nelson County, along the James River. From Lovingston, you can take James River Road (56) most of the way, turning left onto Cabell Road (626) before James River Road reaches the James River at Wingina. After about a mile on Cabell Road, turn right onto a dirt road called Midway Mills Lane. After a few hundred feet, the entrance to the WMA is announced by a sign on the left.

If you follow the main road all the way to its end, you arrive at a small dirt parking lot next to the James River. Sometimes in winter, if it’s very cold, ducks can be seen on the river there. Species I’ve had on the river include common merganser, hooded merganser, and ring-necked duck. Tall silver maples and eastern sycamores grow along the bank of the James, and in the spring both yellow-throated and prothonotary warblers can be heard singing from them.

Entrance to the Marsh Impoundments

One of the best places to bird at James River State WMA is the marsh impoundments, which are located near the end of the main road. The entrance to the path that leads through the marsh is about 30 meters back up the road, and on the left coming from the river. Wood ducks are present in the marsh all year, and in the winter they are often joined by other species of duck. I’ve had ring-necked duck, mallard, and American black duck in winter, and in March and April, blue-winged teal are abundant. Common yellowthroats, orchard orioles, white-eyed vireos, red-winged blackbirds, indigo buntings, and green herons all probably breed, and are common all summer. In spring, northern waterthrush, marsh wren, and warbling vireo are possible. There’s even a record of alder flycatcher and common gallinule from late May in 2010. The marsh can have shorebirds in the spring, but it depends greatly on the water level. If the water is too high, then there is almost no exposed mud and few shorebirds. Greater yellowlegs, lesser yellowlegs, spotted and solitary sandpipers, and Wilson’s snipe have all occurred there in the past. No one has yet found a rail or bittern, but I believe if people continue checking regularly it is only a matter of time.

Marsh Impoundment.

From the end of the marsh it is possible to keep walking on the path, which leads back into the forest. It gets very overgrown, and I’ve found the best way to get back to the road is to walk next to the train tracks that intersect that path. If you follow the tracks, you’ll arrive back at the main road of the WMA just a little bit past the entrance to the marsh impoundment path. Usually the birding isn’t much different from the rest of the WMA along this path, but I’ve had Philadelphia vireo in fall, and rusty blackbirds and yellow warblers in the pools of water along the train tracks.

Continuing up the road, away from the river, but before you get to the train tracks, several large, weedy fields lie to the left. Yellow-breasted chats and northern bobwhites breed in these fields, although the former is much more abundant than the latter. In May, bobolinks can be present. This is also a good area to keep an eye out for red-headed woodpeckers and blue grosbeaks in the field to the left, and listen for pine and prairie warblers singing from the pines on the right.

Yellow-breasted Chat

Past the train tracks the field continues on the left, although it is more overgrown with autumn olive and other invasive species. Blue grosbeaks, yellow-breasted chats, indigo buntings, white-eyed vireos, and common yellowthroats are still fairly abundant though. A power line right-of-way crosses the road about 500 meters west of the tracks, and it can be used to access the field. If you do walk down the right-of-way to the left of the road, you’ll eventually encounter a small pond on your left. In the summer the vegetation is often so high and dense that it’s impossible to see from the right-of-way and nearly impossible to get to, but it might be worth a check in winter and migration. However, the only birds I have seen on it are wood duck, green heron, belted kingfisher, and swamp sparrow, which are all abundant elsewhere in the WMA.