Trip report: Fair Lakes, Virginia, USA, june 2000

July 9, 2000

Sjaak Schilperoort, Voorschoten, The Netherlands; sjaak@xs4all.nl

Trip description

From June 27 to July 3, 2000 I have made a business trip to Fair Lakes, Virginia. The early mornings, evenings and the weekend of 1-2 July were free for birdwatching. During the week I paid early visits (6:30-8:00) to Huntley Meadows, Dyke Marsh, and Great Falls (twice). Returning from Huntley/Dyke to Fairfax (town) turned out to be very time-consuming due to traffic congestions. Dyke Marsh was somewhat disappointing, noisy and only a few birds, though part of this could be due to the rainy weather. On saturday I went to Shenandoah, visiting Thompson Wildlife Management Area on the way to, and the famous Culpeper location on the way back. On sunday I revisited Huntley Meadows, went to Mason Neck (had yet to see my first bald eagles, and succeeded there) and Hunting Creek.

Birding wasn't always easy. Especially walking through the woods and swamps was quite a frustrating experience. The birds were so hard to spot that picking up bird sounds went very slowly. In the end I recognized species like american redstart, wood thrush, carolina wren and tufted titmouse, and so could concentrate on all unknown sounds, but there were still a lot of these! Next time I'll listen to a tape beforehand and try to join some organized walks.

Sites visited

Literature

Bird species list

In the following list dates are in ISO format (yymmdd).

1 . Double-crested Cormorant - Hypoleucus auritus
000702: saw a colony across the Potomac from Mason neck
2 . Yellow-crowned Night Heron - Nyctanassa violacea
000627: 1 flying at Huntley Meadows (new)
3 . Black-crowned Night Heron - Nycticorax nycticorax
000702: 1 at Huntley Meadows, 1 at Hunting Creek
4 . Green Heron - Butorides virescens
000627 and 000702: appr. 6 at Huntley Meadows, 000630: 1 at Great Falls, 000701: 2 south of Culpeper (new)
5 . Great Egret - Casmerodius albus
000627 and 000702: appr. 6 at Huntley Meadows, 000702: 4 at Hunting Creek
6 . Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias
common
7 . Canada Goose - Branta canadensis
common
8 . Wood duck - Aix sponsa
000627: 1 female and 7 young at Huntley Meadows, 000702: 1 at Mason Neck, Great Marsh trail
9 . Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos
common
10 . Turkey Vulture - Cathartes aura
common. On 000629 and 000630 very approachable at Great Falls
11 . Black Vulture - Coragyps atratus
000701: 2 at Shenandoah (new)
12 . Osprey - Pandion haliaetus
000630: 3 at Dyke Marsh, 000702: 5 at Mason, 8 at Riverside, 1 pair with young at Hunting Creek
13 . Broad-winged Hawk - Buteo platypterus
000701: 1 soaring 10 miles west of Front Royal (new)
14 . Red-tailed Hawk - Buteo jamaicensis
heard at Huntley and other places
15 . Bald Eagle - Haliaeetus leucocephalus
000702: 2 flying over Potomac from Mason, 1 at Great Marsh trail, 1 at Riverside Park (?) (new)
16 . King Rail - Rallus elegans
000627: 1 seen at Huntley Meadows. (new)
17 . Killdeer - Charadrius vociferus
000627: 1 at Huntley Meadows, 000702: appr. 10 at Hunting Creek
18 . Ring-billed Gull - Larus delawarensis
000702: appr. 100 at Hunting Creek
19 . Herring Gull - Larus argentatus
000702: appr. 20 at Hunting Creek
20 . Great Black-backed Gull - Larus marinus
000702: appr. 10 at Hunting Creek
21 . Caspian Tern - Hydroprogne caspia
000702: appr. 10 at Hunting Creek
22 . Rock Pigeon - Columba livia
common
23 . Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura
common
24 . Yellow-billed Cuckoo - Coccyzus americanus
000627: 1 flying past at Huntley Meadows(new)
25 . Chimney Swift - Chaetura pelagica
common (new)
26 . Ruby-throated Hummingbird - Archilochus colubris
000627: 1 female at Huntley Meadows, 000702: 1 at Thompson Wildlife Management Area, 1 male at Shenandoah (new)
27 . Belted Kingfisher - Megaceryle alcyon
000627 and 000701: 1 pair at Huntley Meadows
28 . Northern Flicker - Colaptes auratus
000701: 2 at Huntley Meadows
29 . Downy Woodpecker - Picoides pubescens
common
30 . Eastern Wood-Peewee - Contopus virens
000627: several at Huntley Meadows, 000702: 1 at Mason Neck, Great Marsh trail (new)
31 . Acadian Flycatcher - Empidonax virescens
000627: several at Huntley Meadows (new)
32 . Eastern Phoebe - Sayornis phoebe
000627: 2 at Huntley Meadows (new)
33 . Great Crested Flycatcher - Myiarchus crinitus
000701: 1 at Huntley Meadows (new)
34 . Eastern Kingbird - Tyrannus tyrannus
000627 and 000702: appr. 6 at Huntley Meadows, 000701: 2 at Culpeper (new)
35 . Scissor-tailed Flycatcher - Tyrannus forficatus
000701: breeding pair at Culpeper. I was there 1 hour before sunset and stayed until dusk. Saw one display flight of male. Once the male flew to the nest, after which both birds flew together, in what seems like making courtship. The rest of the time the female was on the nest, with only the tail visible. (new)
36 . Blue Jay - Cyanocitta cristata
common
37 . American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos
common
38 . Common Raven - Corvus corax
000701 appr. 8 at Shenandoah
39 . Tree Swallow - Tachycineta bicolor
common
40 . Northern Rough-winged Swallow - Stelgidopteryx serripennis
common
41 . Barn Swallow - Hirundo rustica
000627 and 000702: appr. 30 at Huntley Meadows
42 . Tufted Titmouse - Baeolophus bicolor
common
43 . Carolina Chickadee - Poecile carolinensis
common
44 . White-breasted Nuthatch - Sitta carolinensis
000702: 4 at Huntley Meadows
45 . House Wren - Troglodytes aedon
000627: 1 at Huntley Meadows, 000629: 2 at Great Falls
46 . Carolina Wren - Thryothorus ludovicianus
common
47 . Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - Polioptila caerulea
000702: 3 at Huntley Meadows
48 . Eastern Bluebird - Sialia sialis
000627: 1 at Huntley Meadows, 000701: 4 in Shenandoah, 4 at Culpeper
49 . Wood Thrush - Catharus mustelinus
000630: 4 at Great Falls, Swamp trail, 000701: 4 at Shenandoah, South River Falls trail (new)
50 . Veery - Catharus fuscescens
000701: 4 at Shenandoah, South River Falls trail (new)
51 . American Robin - Turdus migratorius
common
52 . Gray Catbird - Dumetella carolinensis
common (new)
53 . Northern Mockingbird - Mimus polyglottos
common
54 . Brown Thrasher - Toxostoma rufum
000627: 2 at Huntley Meadows (new)
55 . European Starling - Sturnus vulgaris
common
56 . Cedar Waxwing - Bombycilla cedrorum
000701: 8 at Shenandoah
57 . Chestnut-sided Warbler - Dendroica pensylvanica
000701: 1 at Shenandoah (new)
58 . Hooded Warbler - Wilsonia citrina
1 pair at Shenandoah, South River Falls trail (new)
59 . Worm-eating Warbler - Helmitheros vermivorus
000701: 2 at Thompson, 2 at Shenandoah, South River Falls trail (new)
60 . Ovenbird - Seiurus aurocapillus
several singing at Shenandoah, South River Falls trail, not seen (new)
61 . Louisiana Waterthrush - Seiurus motacilla
000629 and 000630: 2 at Great Falls, 000701: 1 at Shenandoah, South River Falls trail (new)
62 . Common Yellowthroat - Geothlypis trichas
000627 and 000701: several at Huntley Meadows, 000702: 1 at Mason Neck, Great Swamp trail
63 . American Redstart - Setophaga ruticilla
common (new)
64 . Scarlet Tanager - Piranga olivacea
000701: 1 pair at Thompson, 1 male at Shenandoah (new)
65 . Rufous-sided Towhee - Pipilo erythrophthalmus
000701: appr. 10 at Shenandoah (new)
66 . Chipping Sparrow - Spizella passerina
000701: common in Shenandoah, 000702: 1 at Mason Neck (new)
67 . Dark-eyed Junco - Junco hyemalis
000701: appr. 6 at Shenandoah
68 . Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis
common
69 . Indigo Bunting - Passerina cyanea
000701: appr. 20 at Shenandoah (new)
70 . Eastern Meadowlark - Sturnella magna
000702: 8 at Culpeper (new)
71 . Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus
common
72 . Common Grackle - Quiscalus quiscula
common (new)
73 . Brown-headed Cowbird - Molothrus ater
common
74 . Baltimore Oriole - Icterus galbula
000630: 1 at Dyke Marsh (new)
75 . House Finch - Carpodacus mexicanus
common
76 . American Goldfinch - Carduelis tristis
common
77 . House Sparrow - Passer domesticus
common

After feedback from local birder Kurt Gaskill I removed the following observations from the list:

1 . Common Tern - Sterna hirundo
000702: 2 at Hunting Creek (two resting adults, wing tips at tails' end). According to Kurt these were most probably Forster's Terns.
2 . Willow Flycatcher - Empidonax traillii
000702: 2 at Mason Neck, Great Marsh trail. Had close looks at a singing individual, but Empidonax is a difficult family and according to Kurt this species doesn't breed in Mason Neck.
3 . Eastern Warbling Vireo - Vireo gilvus
000702: 1 at Huntley Meadows (from tower). Doesn't occur here, probably a juvenile Red-eyed Vireo

Photographs

My co-worker at Huntley Meadows
Green Heron in Huntley Meadows
Great Falls
Turkey Vultures at Great Falls
Shenandoah
Cedar Waxwing
And another one of Cedar Waxwing
Shenandoah Big Meadows
White-tailed Deer
Breeding location of Scissor-tailed Flycatcher at Culpeper
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher near nest
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher along the road