Photo: Laughing Gulls, Kurt Gaskill
In this year’s Big Day birding competition sponsored by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a team comprised of four expert birders set the Virginia state record. Congratulations to Greg Fleming, Kurt Gaskill, Tim Hodge and Eric Kershner!
Read all about their amazing 24 hours written by:
Kurt Gaskill
(Thursday pm, April 19) The phone rang: it was Greg Fleming. He was interested in doing a Big Day and had questions about strategies and whether I would join him and his colleague, Eric Kershner. We discussed how the Highland County to Chincoteague route should net the most species – he became persuaded and later, Eric was, too. I said I was interested in joining and that we should get Tim Hodge on-board.
Greg and Eric work for US Fish & Wildlife in the migratory bird program – every other year the national program holds a friendly bird-oriented competition for its staff. This year, 2021, the national program is holding a Big Year competition and one of the categories is a Big Day. This was the genesis of our recent Big Day.
I contacted Tim Hodge – he and I did a few Big Days some time ago and our best result was on May 15, 2014 where we tallied 199 species - and I suggested he join the team because of his depth of knowledge. He agreed and soon after we all Skyped and the strategizing started. Tim did extensive scouting in Augusta and Highland Counties and I scouted east of Richmond and on the Eastern Shore. We chose Thursday to avoid weather, Friday traffic and Mother’s Day.
(Wednesday 11:58 pm, May 5) We position ourselves at the top of the knoll overlooking the Bridgewater Treatment Plant – the clock strikes midnight and the first two species were Canada Goose and Killdeer and were quickly followed by Wood Duck, Blue-winged Teal, Ring-necked Duck, American Coot, Lesser Scaup, Common Merganser, and Ruddy Duck. We missed the Snow Goose and Eared Grebe reported there the day before by Eric and Greg. After that, we took many dark gravel roads and notched Mute Swan, Barn Owl, Least Bittern, Wilson’s Snipe, and Sora plus a few common species like Horned Lark and Yellow-breasted Chat. We were now west bound to Highland Co.
Our first stop was Bramble Hill, which was the O’Brian mountain residence. Pulling up I heard the tooting of a Northern Saw-whet up the slope and Tim also got it but the owl did only one sequence and Greg and Eric missed it. So, we finished up here with American Woodcock and left - the next stop netted Eastern Screech Owl calling close to the car. We started up Laurel Forks Road and the first stop was another tooting Saw-whet but it was distant and hard to hear for all in the group. Fortunately, the third Saw-whet stop was easier – Tim and Greg heard bill clapping as they got out of the car. Playback was initiated and it took about 1.568 seconds for the owl to give the wail call which was easily heard by all as it was less than 50 feet away; so, we all got in the car and sped off. The next stop yielded both male and female Long-eared Owls calling several times (there is a distinctive call for the female, see for example https://www.xeno-canto.org/638905). Straight Fork produced Barred Owls and Whip-poor-wills. To round out the owls, we heard a Great Horned Owl near the W. VA border. (This means nearly all the regular Virginia spring & summer owls are in Highland County. Now, if we only had a breeding Short-eared!)
Roughed Grouse, Kurt Gaskill
Dawn chorus started at this border spot – the first bird was an Eastern Towhee, followed by many species such as Hermit Thrush, Veery, Junco, Golden-crowned Kinglet, and Black-capped Chickadee. As we began our descent, we passed a singing Winter Wren – no longer easy to find up in this area. The species count soon increased: scads of Black-throated Blue, Magnolia, and Black-throated Green Warblers were heard. We found a Wild Turkey roosting 60 feet up in a tree, Ruffed Grouse drumming near a wet patch and nearby were migrant Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Northern Waterthrush; plus, Greg pulled out a Nashville Warbler! Driving further down slope other highlights were Cooper’s Hawk, Purple Finch, Pine Siskin, Black-billed Cuckoo, Blackburnian Warbler, more Ruffed Grouse (a real treat to see two males facing off in the middle of the road), Alder Flycatcher, Baltimore Oriole and Raven. At the edge of Blue Grass Valley, we heard a Vesper Sparrow sing, found Grasshopper and Savannah Sparrows, and heard many Bobolinks. A second visit to Bramble Hill produced Golden-winged Warbler and nearby we found Blue-winged Warbler, Green Heron, Am. Kestrel and Cliff Swallow. A well anticipated stop at Forks of Water produced Orchard Oriole and Warbling Vireo. As we sped towards Augusta County, we found a pair of Broad-winged Hawks, Cerulean and Worm-eating Warblers and Yellow-throated Vireos. Plus, another Golden-winged Warbler!
The drive through Augusta County added Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks, White-throated Sparrow, and Spotted and Solitary Sandpipers. We passed Afton Mtn with 138 species at 11:20 am (we were running late from our time target – does a Big Day team ever hit its time targets?).
A stop at Observatory Hill in Charlottesville added Bay-breasted, Blackpoll, and Hooded Warblers, Eastern Wood Pewee, and Swainson’s Thrush. In addition, we found a Sutton’s Warbler (a first for some of us). We then booked, stopping east of Richmond along Rt 60 to notch Summer Tanager, White-eyed Vireo, Acadian Flycatcher, Yellow-throated and Prothonotary Warblers plus Chimney Swift. We continued to Blue Bird Farm for the staked-out Snow Goose and then drove across/under Hampton Roads to the start of the CBBT.
Snow Goose, Kurt Gaskill
For the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel (CBBT) our strategy was that everyone - other than the driver (that is, me) - combed the sea and horizon with bins; this resulted in tallies for Northern Gannet, Sandwich Tern, Caspian Tern, Common Tern, Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant and Common Loon. Landfall enabled the driver to glimpse a Caspian Tern. Next stop was Ramp Road for some simple shorebirds, Bald Eagle, Prairie Warbler and an amazing Northern Bobwhite! Driving up to near Magotha Rd and Seaside Rd produced the expected Eurasian Collared Dove. Time was now running late so we skipped several spots and headed straight for Willis Wharf. We arrived at Willis close to 5pm and nearly high tide: we got 2 of the 3 targets (Whimbrel, Gull-billed Tern but missed Marbled Godwit) and spotted a bonus: Bonaparte’s Gull!
Next up: Chincoteague causeway. The oyster bar had, naturally, an American Oystercatcher. And the nesting bushes at Wire Narrows Marsh had all the expected birds: Great and Snowy Egret, Little Blue and Tricolored Heron, Glossy and White Ibis, and Black-crowned Night-Heron; yet the site lacked Cattle Egret. Black-necked Stilts were nearby, plus some shorebirds and the ever-present Boat-tailed Grackles. Next stop was in town for a Brown-headed Nuthatch behind a motel.
Black-necked Stilt, Kurt Gaskill
Arriving at the refuge we went straight for the beach. A quick scan found a small group of Sanderling and Red Knots. I pointed out a Least Tern flying along the beach as well as another gannet. We checked some nearby shorebirds and drove to the wildlife loop. A few more shorebirds to look over but nothing new - then Eric spotted 4 Red-breasted Mergansers swimming behind the shorebirds. We went to the Marsh Trail platform and waited a few minutes for the Yellow Rail to (finally) make a noise and then we left as the Chuck-will’s-widows started up.
Back on the causeway we found one Yellow-crowned Night-Heron through vocalization near the Wire Narrows Marsh nest sites. We stopped for take-away at Sonic and drove to the Saxis area. We had missed Yellow-billed Cuckoo during the day so we tried for it on Marsh Market Road – but no luck (yet, both Night-Herons were heard!). We then drove over to Hammock Rd in the Saxis WMA and pulled out the easy chairs and sat down to listen to the night birds (it’s about 10 pm).
We recommend doing a night visit to Hammock Rd – virtually no traffic and on a cool night the bugs are only at half-strength. The dominant bird is Clapper Rail with a dozen or so Virginia Rails close by. Probably 10 Marsh Wrens and a dozen Seaside Sparrows. We were surprised by a Yellow-billed Cuckoo singing behind us – we heard another two later plus a Black-billed Cuckoo overhead. Eventually Tim pointed out Nelson’s Sparrows singing that we all got on as well as the Saltmarsh Sparrows singing closer to the bushes where it’s a bit drier (only a few of each). We were surprised by the number of Least Bitterns out there – at least 4 and possibly 5. Plus, one American Bittern which “oomp’ed” a few times. A distant Great Horned Owl hooted from a bit south of Saxis town and its juvie also called out. We heard some quacking ducks and Canada Geese from the direction of Saxis. Overhead migrants called out “seet” but no ID could be made. And two Dickcissels overflying called out an hour apart.
The last bird was at 11:45 pm – I was checking email when it sang, perhaps 20 feet from the car. A clear Le Conte’s Sparrow song. The area is somewhat dry – no Virginia Rails or Marsh Wrens or Nelson’s Sparrows were close. All got on the bird, even though it moved 50 feet or more away. We compared vocalizations with Nelson’s but Le Conte’s was a perfect fit. And then the clock struck 12 and we were done.
The final tally was 208 species as a team, with individual totals of 201 to 208. We drove nocturnally 150 miles and in daylight traveled 470 miles. Our big misses on the route were Marbled Godwit, Ruddy Turnstone, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, and Kentucky Warbler.
We could not have had this amazing Big Day without the help of many people. On behalf of my teammates, Eric, Greg and Tim, we extend Special Thank You’s to John Spahr, Vic Laubach, Allen Larner, Penny Warren, Bill Hohenstein, and advice given many years ago by Bill Williams and Bob Ake. Also, we must mention the immense value of the amazing reports, and the reporters (such as the work by Carlton Noll), to eBird (which we did not access during the Big Day) that helped nail down various sites. And a thank you to Jan Frye who helped on the Richmond area scouting.
We wish you all the Best in Birds!
Kurt Gaskill, Tim Hodge, Greg Fleming and Eric Kershner