On April 24, a group of five headed to the Locher Tract and later, up Petite's Gap to the Parkway to see what was about.  Locher was loaded with Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers, along with a Great Crested Flycatcher, Louisiana Waterthrush, Red Winged Blackbirds, Blue Headed Vireos and several more of the usual suspects. We decided to drive up Petite's Gap in search of Warblers and weren't disappointed with good looks at a Black Throated Green and the songs of several more. The highlight of that drive may have been the unexpected sound, and sight of a Ruffed Grouse as it left a small clearing on the road just after we stopped to look around. Next week we're thinking perhaps one more try at a lower altitude, unless the canopy fills in a lot more this week. Perhaps the Chessie Trail.  We leave from the old K-Mart parking lot at 7, and everyone i

The Rockbridge Bird Club will host a potluck dinner at Boxerwood on Wednesday, May 14, from 5:00 to 7:30. You may arrive earlier, at 4:30, for a short tour of some bird-friendly shrubs led by Faith Vosburgh, Boxerwood’s horticulturist. We hope you’ll join us—children and guests welcome, too—to share your birding stories and enjoy the spring beauty of the garden. The potluck will be held at the timber -frame pavilion located near the driveway to the Lodge.

The Club will be providing hamburgers, brats, buns and drinks. We would like to get an accurate count of how many people to expect, and so are asking that you RSVP. We are trying an online program, Sign-Up Genius, where you can RSVP and sign up to bring a dish or assist with the event.

The Bird Club’s Sign-Up Genius page is here. When you click on the link, you will be taken to our potluck page. Here you have 2 options:

1.     Create an account with Sign-Up Genius. This requires providing your name, email address, and a password. Your email address and password will remain private. Once you do this, you can RSVP and decide what item you would like to provide for the event. If you change your mind later, your account lets you edit your RSVP or your item. Sign-up Genius will send you an email reminder 2 days before the event.

2.     Or, use the Sign-Up Genius page without setting up an account. This option requires entering your name and an email address. Your email address will remain private. Then you may RSVP and enter the item you would like to provide. The downside to this option is that you will not be able to change your RSVP/item as easily if you do not have an account. Instead you can just let Betty Besal know what has changed. Sign-up Genius will send you an email reminder 2 days before the event.

The Sign-Up Genius program is used by thousands of groups to organize their events. The program’s creators are very focused on users’ security. While it may take a little of the spontaneity away from having a potluck, we hope that it will help us better organize and enjoy this event, so we do ask that you give it try. If you have had ENOUGH of doing things online, we understand. In that case, just email Betty Besal (bbesal5@gmail.com) and she will “pencil” you in.

Questions about the May Potluck or the sign up process? Please contact Betty  Besal.

See you there!

Betty Besal

So it begins. . . Spring migrants are arriving throughout the county, and for these few days before the trees really leaf out the views can be pretty great.  This means sleep deprived birders can be found all over the area, and they're reporting lots of 'first of the season' sightings.
On April 17th a group of us headed to Moore's Creek Reservoir to see what we might find.  If you haven't been there its a very nice hike - drive out BlueGrass Trail 1.7 miles past where it changes to gravel, then right on Forest Service Rd 3079 for about a mile to the parking area. Highlights included several warblers (including great views of a number of Black and White's circling the trunks of some oaks), and a Red Shouldered Hawk flying over the water. Here's the list of what we saw and heard;
Fish Crow
Red Tail Hawk
Titmouse
Blue Jay
Northern Cardinal
Raven
Louisiana Waterthrush
Cowbird
American Crow
Blue Headed Vireo
Black-throated Green Warbler
Turkey Vulture
Hooded Warbler
Chickadee
Red Shouldered Hawk
Red Bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Ovenbird
Pine Warbler
Black and White Warbler
Carolina Wren
Kingfisher
Blue Grey Gnatcatcher
Ruby Crowned Kinglet
Hairy Woodpecker
Mourning Dove

We're planning to make a regular thing of these Thursday morning outings.  We'll let everyone know where we plan to go and when and where we'll meet each week.

Bob Biersack

Here's a report from Alexia about the club's outing to Brushy Hills on April 19. 

A small group met at 7 am at Town Spring and explored for birds, Paul Cabe leading along with his son Lock (founder of the Kids' Bird Club).  Below is the list of species heard and/or seen.  We were especially delighted to hear a wood thrush singing, first of the season for most of us.  

Several times along the trail we heard ovenbirds "teacher"-ing but couldn't find them; as Paul remarked, they tend to stay still while singing and, without movement, are hard to spot.  Then, towards the end of our walk, Lock saw an ovenbird perched on a branch, not making a sound, moving only its head as it occasionally looked around!  The rest of us were one by one able to pick it out against the dry-leaves background.  

Broad-winged hawkRed-tailed hawk
Red-bellied woodpecker
Downy woodpecker (including a pair foraging together)
Northern flicker
Pileated woodpecker
Blue-headed vireo (heard)
Blue jay
American crow
Tufted titmouse
Carolina chickadee
White-breasted nuthatch
Carolina wren
Blue-gray gnatcatcher
Eastern bluebird
American robin
Wood thrush
Black-throated green warbler (heard)
Ovenbird
Northern cardinal
Eastern towhee
White-throated sparrow
Brown-headed cowbird
American goldfinch

Alexis Smith

Dick Rowe has also reported on some late week birding;

I did a little birding on Thurs and Friday afternoons.  On Thursday I visited Old Farm Rd Pond and Sky Farm (both are private spots).  At OFRP, there were 3 female Ring-necked Ducks, several Swamp Sparrows, 3 Yellow-rumped Warblers, lots of Tree and Rough-winged Swallows, and 2 Pied-billed Grebes.  The grebes are interesting because in 2011 a pair nested there.  Go to this link and scroll down to see the photos of the PBGR at OFRP.  They represent one of the few, nesting records for PBGR in the mountains and valley region of VA.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/vmibiology/sets/72157626122644696/

On Thrus, Kerry Kilday located a White-eyed Vireo at McCormick’s Farm.  I went up there this afternoon to  look for it.  I found it along the nature trail where it parallels Marl Creek.  There were a number of Ruby-crowned Kinglets there and a single Solitary Sandpiper at the back pond, which is now full.  Kerry found 3 SOSA there yesterday.  In addition there were several Blue-gray Gnatchers there.  Last weekend I found 2 Purple Finches there, but none were seen or heard today.

I’ve posted some photos of the White-eyed Vireo, Swamp Sparrows, and Pied-billed Grebes on the Flickr site, if you are interested.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/vmibiology/

Dick Rowe

After completing Donna Finnegan's 'Birding by Ear 101' on April 8, a group of 13 birders met at Boxerwood on Saturday to work on Professor Rowe's Birding by Ear 102.
Kerry Kilday and Dick Rowe led us through the nature center finding lots of great birds. It was a great example of birding by ear, with several identified as they sang in the distance.  There were others we were able to seek out and get glimpses after someone recognized the song, and also some great examples of songs and hints we heard about from Donna.

Here is the list of what we saw and heard;

Ruby-crowned Kinglet – heard also seen by some
Eastern Meadowlark - heard
Field Sparrow - heard
Song Sparrow - heard
Carolina Wren - heard
American Crow - heard
Chipping Sparrow - heard
House Finch – heard
Common Grackle - heard

Northern Cardinal – Heard/Seen
Tufted Titmouse – Heard/Seen
Mourning Dove Heard/seen

Blue Jay
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
American Robin
Eastern Bluebird
Green Heron
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Tree Swallow
Carolina Chickadee
European Starling
Brown Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
American Goldfich
Chimney Swift (first of the season fur us)
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Brown-headed Cowbird

I returned home yesterday after a long weekend away to discover three beautiful bluebird eggs in one of the nest boxes I’ve been monitoring; today, the hen laid a fourth. I am wondering what effect tonight’s below-freezing temperature might have on the eggs. Will they freeze and not be viable? Does cold in some way stunt embryonic development? I’ve been googling for information, but coming up with little that's relevant. Most temperature studies are focused on heat. Does anyone in the club know? 

Leave a comment if you have suggestions - thanks

Bonnie Bernstein

We had a great presentation on April 9 by Donna Finnegan, helping us get a sense of "Birding by Ear."  There was a great crowd and everyone enjoyed her presentation helping us recognize more of what surrounds us every day.

One of the big themes of her presentation was the use of mnemonics and phonetics to help get a handle on recognizing birds by their songs.  She had a list with her that we'll post on the site as soon as we can.  In the meantime, there are several places on the Internet where you can find this kind of list.  A nice one I found today comes from the Fernbank Science Center in Atlanta.

There are also several guides and apps that help with song ID (though they all have the problem of starting with knowing the bird and then hearing the song. . . we need something that lets us record a song and have the app tell us what we're hearing. . .) We'll be adding more posts about these programs and how they work for us.

Wendy also reminded us that some folks will be meeting at Boxerwood on Saturday the 12th at 8 am to practice - everyone is welcome. We'll 'see' what we 'hear.' 

Update - 4/14/2014 - Here is Donna's list of mnemonics and phonetics;



MNEMONICS FOR COMMON BIRDS


Carolina Chickadee--"feebee feebay, chick'adee-dee-dee"

Black-Capped Chickadee--"feebee"

Tufted Titmouse--"peter, peter, peter" or “Here, Here, Here”

White-Breasted Nuthatch--"yank yank"

Carolina Wren--"virGINya, virGINya, virGINya"


Mockingbird--phrases repeated 3 or more times

Brown Thrasher--phrases repeated 2 times

Blue Jay – Jay Jay Jay! (and squeeky clothesline)

American Crow--"caw"     Fish Crow—“Eh eh

-

American Robin--"cheerup, cheerily, cheerily"

Scarlet Tanager – Like Robin with sore throat. Call “CHIP-bird”

Eastern Bluebird--"cheer, cheerful, charmer"

Northern Cardinal--"Right cheer', Right cheer', birdy birdy birdy'"

Rufous-Sided Towhee--"drink-your-teeee'"

White-Throated Sparrow--"poor Sam Pea'body, Pea'body, Pea'body"

American Goldfinch--"per-chik'-o-ree", "baybeee?'"

 

Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher--"spee spee"

Red-eyed Vireo--"look-up, over-here, see-me, up-here"

Yellow-Throated Vireo--same as red-eyed but buzzier

Solitary Vireo--same as red-eyed but slower, sour

White-eyed Vireo -- Chick- a-per-weeo-CHICK

 

FLYCATCHERS:

Great Crested--"wheep! wheep!"

Eastern Phoebe--"feee'-bee"

Acadian--"peet'-suh"

Alder--"fee-bee'o"

Willow--"fitz'-bew"

Least--"che-bek'"

Eastern Wood Pewee--"pee-oo-wee"

 

WARBLERS:

Black-and-White--"wheezy, wheezy, wheezy"

Swainson's--"deeta deeta-whip'-poor-will"

Worm-Eating--insect-like, dry trill

Golden-Winged--"bzz- bzz, bzz, bzz"

Blue-Winged--"bzz-bzz"

Parula--"zeeeee-up!”

Yellow--"sweet sweet sweet, I'm so sweet"

Magnolia--"wheet-wheet'eo"

Black-Throated-Green--"zay zay zay zoo zee?"

Black-Throated Blue--"I am lazeee"

Chestnut-Sided--"please, please, please to meet'cha!"

Ovenbird--"teacher teacher teacher"

Kentucky--"toree' toree' toree'"

Hooded--"wheeta wheeta WHEET'eo"

Prothonotary Warbler -- Zweet-zweet-zweet

American Redstart -- Tzee, tzee, tzee, tzeeo

 

 

PHONETIC CALLS AND SONGS

 

Bee-buzz--Blue-winged Warbler

Bee-buzz-buzz or Bee-buzz-buzz-buzz--Golden-winged Warbler

I am lazeee or beer beer beer beeee--Black-throated Blue Warbler

Che-bek--Least Flycatcher

Chink--Blue Grosbeak

Chup-chup TZEeeee---Seaside Sparrow

Cu-cu-cu--Black-billed Cuckoo

Fee-bee-o--Alder Flycatcher

Fitz-bew--Willow Flycatcher

Hip-hip-hurrah--King Rail

Jeeee---Wood Duck

Ka ka ka...kowp kowp kowp--Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Keeeeer--Common Tern and Forster's Tern

Kerwee...kerwee--Sora

Kid-ik, kid-ik, kid-ik--Virginia Rail

Killdeer killdeer! - Killdeer

Kip...kip--Common Moorhen

Peent--Common Nighthawk

Peet-suh--Acadian Flycatcher

Peet-weet--Spotted Sandpiper

Please please pleased to meet'cha--Chestnut-sided Warbler

Quick, three beers--Olive-sided Flycatcher

Scaipe--Common Snipe

See-bit see-bit see-bit, see-see-see-see--Nashville Warbler

See-see-see-sisi-see--Brown Creeper

Speee  speee--Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Tee-shaay--Sharp-tailed Sparrow

Tee-si, tee-si, tee-si--Bay-breasted Warbler

Tic-tic, tic-tic-tic--Yellow Rail

Tika, tika, tika-swee, swee, swee-chay, chay, chay--Tennessee Warbler

Vee-a--Gray-cheeked Thrush

Weeta-weeta-weeteo--Magnolia Warbler

Weet-weet-weet-weet--Spotted Sandpiper

Whit, whit--Swainson's Thrush

Zweet-zweet-zweet--Prothonotary Warbler

Yank, yank, yank--White-breasted Nuthatch

A-weet, a-weet, a-weet-teo--Hooded Warbler

Bob white, bob white--Northern Bobwhite

Bubble, bubble, zee--Brown-headed Cowbird

Caw, caw, caw--American Crow

What-cheer, what-cheer, what-cheer, or cheer, cheer, cheer--Northern Cardinal

Cheerily, cheer-up, cheerily--American Robin

Chick-a-dee-dee-dee--Carolina Chickadee

CHIP-burr--Scarlet Tanager

Chick- a-per-weeo-CHICK --White-eyed Vireo

Chink--Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Chuck-will's-widow--Chuck-will's-widowChurr, churr, churr--Red-bellied Woodpecker

Chur-ry, chur-ry, chur-ry--Kentucky Warbler

Chur-wee or Cheer, cheerful charmer--Eastern Bluebird

Conquereee--Red-winged Blackbird

Drink-your-teeeee--Rufous-sided Towhee

Dtzee, dtzee, dtzeet--Eastern Kingbird

Ee-o-lay! --Wood Thrush

Fee-bee, or Fee-blee--Eastern Phoebe

Fee-bee fee-bay--Carolina Chickadee

Here, here, here--Tufted Titmouse

Here I am, over here, see me, where are you?--Red-eyed Vireo

Jay, jay, jay--Blue Jay

Keeeeeer--Red-tailed Hawk

Kee-yer, kee-yer, kee-yer--Red-shouldered Hawk

Kik, kik, kik--Pileated Woodpecker

Kill-dee, kill-dee, kill-dee--Killdeer

Kleeyer--Northern Flicker

Who cooks for you, who cooks for you'all--Barred Owl

Maids, maids, maids, put on your tea, kettle, kettle, kettle--Song Sparrow

Meeoow--Gray Catbird

Poor Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody--White-throated Sparrow

Pee-O-wee or pee-wee--Eastern Wood-Pewee

Peeeeeeeeee--Broad-winged Hawk

Peent, peent, peent--American Woodcock

Peet-suh--Acadian Flycatcher

Perchickaree or Babeee?--American Goldfinch

Peter, peter, peter--Tufted Titmouse

Chicki-tuki-tuck--Summer Tanager

Plink, plink--Bobolink

Wheep, wheep--Great Crested Flycatcher

Purty, purty, purty--Northern Cardinal

Queedle, queedle, queedle---Blue Jay

Queer, queer--Red-headed Woodpecker

Skeeow--Green Heron

Spring of the year--Eastern Meadowlark

Sweet, sweet, sweet, I'm so sweet--Yellow Warbler

Teacher, teacher, teacher--Ovenbird

Tea-kettle, tea-kettle, tea-kettle--Carolina Wren

Three-a, three-a--Yellow-throated Vireo

Tow-weeee--Rufous-sided Towhee

Tseer, tseer--Red-winged Blackbird

Tzee, tzee, tzee, tzeeo--American Redstart

Veer--Veery

Weesa, weesa, weesa--Black-and-white Warbler

Wheer--Orchard Oriole

Whip-poor-will--Whip-poor-will

Are you awake? me too (6 hoots) --Great Horned Owl

Wicka, wicka, wicka--Northern Flicker

Witchety, witchety, witchety--Common Yellowthroat

Zay, zay, zay, zoo, zee? --Black-throated

Green Warbler

Zeee, zeee--Cedar Waxwing

Zree--House Finch

Zeeeee-up--Northern Parula





List compiled by:

Georgann Schmalz

Atlanta, Ga.



Bob Biersack

Ticks!  They’re here year around, but now their “high season” is coming.  The tiny deer tick sometimes transmits Lyme and other diseases.  How can we avoid tick bites while out birding?  Here’s some information we hope will be helpful, gathered last year from reputable sources (identified briefly in parentheses, and in full at the end of this note):

Tick facts

Deer ticks cling to tall grass, brush, and shrubs, usually no more than 18-24 inches off the ground.  Deer ticks cannot jump or fly, and do not drop onto passing people or animals. They get on humans and animals only by direct contact. Once a tick gets on the skin, it generally climbs upward until it reaches a protected area. (NY)
Most tick bites won't give you a disease, but some can.  It's not clear how long an infected tick must be attached before it transmits a disease (a crawling tick doesn't transmit anything). For Lyme disease, it probably takes one to three days. (Harvard)

How to protect yourself

• Wear light-colored clothing with a tight weave to spot ticks easily.
• Wear enclosed shoes, long pants, and a long-sleeved shirt. Tuck pant legs into socks or boots, and shirt into pants.
• Check clothes and any exposed skin frequently for ticks while outdoors, and check again once indoors. (NY)
• Consider using repellants:  A product containing  20% or more DEET on exposed skin, and/or one containing permethrin to treat clothing. (CDC)
• Walk in the center of trails to avoid contacting vegetation. (NIH)
• Avoid sitting directly on the ground, logs, stone walls, etc. (NY)

After you get home

• Bathe or shower as soon as possible to wash off and more easily find ticks.
• Conduct a full-body tick check using a hand-held mirror.. 
• Examine clothes, gear, and pets. (CDC)

Removing ticks

• Use fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin's surface as possible.
• Pull upward with steady, even pressure. Don't twist or jerk the tick; this can cause the mouth-parts to break off and remain in the skin. If this happens, remove the mouth-parts with clean tweezers. If you can’t remove the mouth easily, leave it alone (the mouthparts by themselves don’t transmit the disease - NY).
• After removing the tick, thoroughly clean the bite area and your hands with rubbing alcohol or soap and water. (CDC)

Symptoms?

If you’ve been exposed to ticks and you develop flu-like symptoms or a rash, see your clinician—even if the symptoms go away on their own.  The symptoms may appear 3 to 30 days after the bite.  A tick-borne infection usually causes no lasting harm if it’s recognized and treated early. (Harvard, NY)  

Sources:

NY - New York State Department of Health

Harvard - Harvard Women’s Health Watch

CDC - Centers for Disease Control

NIH - National Institutes of Health


---compiled and edited by Alexia Smith