Thanks are in order to the many volunteers who have helped launch the Rockbridge Bluebird Conservation Project.  The project has already exceeded its initial goal – to recruit and train volunteers to maintain and monitor a dozen nest boxes along the Woods Creek Trail. This month, two more nest box trails have been added to the effort:  16 boxes on the W&L campus and 6 boxes along a new trail in the Boxerwood meadow. Both will be monitored by Master Naturalists and Bird Club volunteers.

Thanks to David Buckner and Cleve Hickman, who constructed and donated 15 bluebird nesting boxes. Several boxes have been installed at Boxerwood; the remaining boxes were given to volunteers who plan to monitor them on their own property. In return, recipients have made a donation to join the Virginia Bluebird Society.










Earlier this month, volunteers met at Boxerwood to construct predator guards for new and existing nest boxes; Noel guards to prevent cats, raccoons and squirrels from reaching in; and stovepipe guards to thwart snakes. All boxes on the Woods Creek and Boxerwood trails are now equipped with both kinds of predator guards, qualifying them to be listed as bluebird trails with the Virginia Bluebird Society. (The W&L boxes are mounted on light poles, so only Noel guards could be affixed.) Thanks to Deb Gordon, Beverly Bruck, Hank Dobin, Vicki and Lad Sessions, Anne and Dave Buckner, and Laure Stevens-Lubin for their help in making and installing the guards.

Peter Hamel, a Rockbridge Master Naturalist and Park Service ranger, is coordinating monitoring on the Woods Creek Trail. Pete is also working with Elise Sheffield, Boxerwood’s Education Director, to involve Waddell third- and fourth-graders in the project this spring. The kids will take turns helping Pete, Henry Eichelberger and Ashley Coleman monitor boxes along Woods Creek that are adjacent to the school grounds, and will participate in classroom-integrated lessons facilitated by Boxerwood. Mollie Calomeris has volunteered to monitor two other Woods Creek boxes with her children.

Deb Gordon, president of the Rockbridge Master Naturalists, is coordinating nest box monitoring on the Washington and Lee campus, assisted by Vicki and Lad Sessions, Dawn and Tom Peck, and Pat Stange, all Master Naturalists. Thanks to Chris Wise, the facilities manager who heads up W&L’s sustainability program. Chris and his staff mapped all the boxes on campus and readied them for monitoring.

Maury Hanson, a Kendal resident and member of the Rockbridge Bluebird Club, is coordinating nest box monitoring by neighbors at Kendal.

All monitors participating in the Bluebird Conservation Project are using the NestWatch website platform to record and share nest-watching data. NestWatch, a nationwide monitoring program run by Cornell Lab of Ornithology, tracks status and trends in the reproductive biology of birds. The NestWatch website provides resources and tutorials on monitoring protocols;  how to find, identify nests and monitor nests; how to record data, and more.

Bird club members are welcome and encouraged to join our NestWatch “community.” You may monitor nests for any bird species, in nest boxes or in the open.  For more information, please contact Bonnie (bonnie.bernstein@gmail.com).

Bonnie Bernstein, a Master Naturalist, member of the Rockbridge Bird Club, and Boxerwood education volunteer, is directing the Rockbridge Bluebird Conservation Project for Rockbridge Master Naturalists, the Bird Club and the City of Lexington. She will also serve as the online administrator for the Rockbridge NestWatch Community. 


Bonnie Bernstein

On March 12 Kerry Kilday gave the club a great presentation on birding travel beyond Rockbridge.  He focused on the different approaches to birding trips - some organized and some on your own, with excellent insights into the pro's and con's of each. They range from birding festivals with lots of viewing trips and also other events, to special guided trips both on and off shore, as well as just taking advantage of all of the promotional literature out there to plan a trip yourself.

While I can't include the personal stories that added so much to the examples he gave us, I can post the slideshow he put together (which is really good and pretty self-explanatory). NOTE: you'll need Powerpoint to view it, and its a pretty big file, so think about your internet connection when you click to download it.

If you take advantage of any of these options we hope you'll let us know about your own experiences.

There has been some talk the last few days about new birds arriving at feeders in the area.  Even with the (endless) snow and cold, the seasons are actually changing as longer days are joined by new arrivals and familiar songs not heard in months.
Several of us are seeing Fox Sparrows that have been absent for a while (though others have hosted them scratching beneath feeders throughout the winter).

The flashes of color as breeding plumage develops (we had an electric goldfinch yesterday) against the backdrop of snow also offer some hope.
Bob Biersack

On Saturday, March 15 12 birders in 4 cars caravanned to Augusta Springs Wetland via the beautiful Estaline Valley. We can report that the newly purchased walkie-talkies worked great, allowing quick notice of sightings and coordination of stops and starts. The weather was near perfect:  real springtime, for a day at least. Highlights included some dazzling maneuvers by two Northern Harriers, two large rafters of turkeys, and great looks at male and female Rusty Blackbirds at Augusta Springs. A good time was had by all. Adrienne Bodie prepared the full lists of species below. -- Kerry Kilday

Canada geese
Mallards
Turkeys (2 separate rafters of them -- see An Exultation of Larks by James Lipton)
Grackles
Red-winged blackbirds
Rusty blackbirds
Starlings
Crows
Mourning doves
Rock doves
Robins
Red-bellied woodpeckers
Downy woodpeckers
Vultures: turkey and black
Bluebirds
Carolina wrens
Winter wren
Meadow larks
Cardinals
Phoebes
2 Harriers
Red-shouldered hawk
Song sparrow
Fox sparrow
White-throated sparrow
Mockingbird
Juncos
Nuthatches
Chickadees
Titmice
Golden-crowned kinglet
Yellow-rumped warbler

March 8, following a VARCOM meeting hosted by Dick at VMI, one of the committee members birded his way out of town and posted his results last night. On the Maury River just south of the Route 60 bridge outside of Buena Vista, he spotted a Red Necked Grebe.  They have been showing up throughout the state, no doubt due to all of the frozen lakes up north.  Thus far, this is the first one spotted in Rockbridge County.
I went by this morning and it was still there in the same place, closer to the bridge than the dam.  It is hanging out with a Pied-Billed Grebe and is close to having full breeding plumage. Also on the river here were 5 American Wigeons, several Mallards, a Great Blue Heron, and Phoebe
Kerry Kilday

We saw just two eagles, and briefly, but nevertheless had a glorious day! Nine of us carpooled Friday night to the friendly, old-timey Highland Inn in Monterey for a delicious supper and cozy overnight: Bob Biersack and Jan Smith, Adrienne Bodie, Judy Hinch, Laura Neale and Chris Wise, Wendy and Steve Richards, and Alexia Smith. Patti Reum, guide for our trip, joined us for supper. In the morning, Diane Holsinger (our tenth group member) arrived and reported an exciting find on a nearby pond: a white-winged scoter. So that became our first stop on a wonderful day of adventuring by car caravan in the northwestern highlands of Highland County. The day was winter-mild and clear, and the vistas of the mountains, their contours outlined by snot, were breathtaking. Chris and Laura spotted our eagle of the day, probably a juvenile golden, soon out of sight over the horizon.
At day's end, eight of us drove to the Swoope area, in Augusta County, in search of short-eared owls. In the failing light we scanned the fields in vain. Then Bob spotted a low-flying shape: it looked and acted like those owls -- but all too quickly disappeared over a rise. Just then, who should appear but expert local birder Alan Larner, who led us along a dirt road and over the rise: there again that shape lifted & flew, from one fencepost to another! Alan quickly set up a scope, with just time for a few viewings before the owl flew off into the dark.
It was a great ending to a great day. And, perhaps typically of such adventures, we went expecting eagles and Mother Nature gave us a look at a sea-going duck on an inland mountain pond and a last-minute thrilling glimpse of a special owl.

--Alexia Smith

The 88th annual Lexington Christmas Bird Count broke a record as well as a tradition. On the 21st of December about 40 volunteers spent an unusually warm count day tallying a record 80 species (the previous high count was 79 species in 1979). 

Dick Rowe, the compiler and coordinator of the event, moved the count day forward from December 26th, the date it has traditionally been held. Since 1974 the count has been centered on Big Spring, located along Rt. 60 west of Lexington.

The unusual species identified this year included a Merlin, spotted in the Rockbridge Baths area; a Common Goldeneye at Big Spring; and 7 Bald Eagles seen at Lake Merriweather. Also of note, there was a large flock of Rusty Blackbirds seen near South River. This species is one that has experienced a notable decline in recent years. You can read Dick’s full report on the Count in the December 31st issue of the News-Gazette