Week 3 Summary — Bins & Birds

Week 3

2019 Total: 89 2019 Lifers: 1

Highlight Birds: American Kestrel, American Woodcock, Black Scoter, Surf Scoter

January 13 (Sunday), January 14 (Monday)

There was snow! It was nice to bird in the snow, but these days weren’t extremely productive with birds. I did see a Kestrel perched up on a post and ran over to get a picture, but it flew off before I got close enough. First Kestrel of the year!

Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) — Dark-eyed Junco (*Junco hyemalis*)

January 15 (Tuesday), January 16 (Wednesday), January 17 (Thursday)

Nothing much eventful happening during these days. The usual birds.

January 18 (Friday)

I got a tip from Cortney that she’s been seeing Woodcocks in the area. I decided to spend some more time looking for them specifically. No luck with my walk around. I spent around 30 minutes standing on a stump around dusk near where the Woodcocks were supposed to be and I was hoping to hear their twittering wings as they flew, but I didn’t get it. Maybe I would hear some owls instead and that would be a consolation. No owls. It was very soothing listening to all of the other sparrows and cardinals chip at each other though. A couple minutes before I called it quits, a Woodcock burst out of the shrubs right over me.

European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) — European Starling (*Sturnus vulgaris)*

January 19 (Saturday)

There are still a few more common species that I’m looking for that I’m just missing. Dunlin, Green-winged Teal, Savannah Sparrow, House Finch, Ruddy Turnstone, and the list goes on. I guess its a mix of not looking as hard for them and not being there at the right time, but I figure for most of these I’ll pick them up at some point in the future, if not now.

This was definitely the highlight day of the week, but not because of the birds. I went to the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge to hopefully pick up a few of the birds I knew that I was missing. I knew I needed to spend more time at the beach looking for Scoters and potentially get lucky and pick up an Alcid. I also knew I just needed to try a little bit harder and be a little more patient for these Winter Wrens that I keep seeing logged on eBird. I did my usual cruise with my McDonalds going down towards the beach with my stops at Black Duck Pool and Swan Cove and then ended up at the beach. Very windy and cold. Almost immediately, I saw the little black blobs bobbing up and down on the surf. I zoomed in on them with my camera and each of the rafts of were all Black Scoters. I eventually picked up a couple Surf Scoters.

After the beach, I headed towards the Tom’s Cove visitor center. The main reason I headed for the visitor center wasn’t for birds. I wanted to walk by there because I’m playing Pokemon Go and there were two gyms there. Anyways, I was walking on the boardwalk up to the visitor center, pretty focused on Pokemon, but looking up every now and again to maybe get lucky and catch a Rail, and then BAM a huge chunk of orange in my peripherals. I definitely got startled and jumped a little, but my eyes were locked with this Red Fox that also got startled. It was only about 12 feet away, right besides the boardwalk. We stare each other down for about 15 seconds (both wide eyed and unsure about what to do) and the fox decides to go back to sleep. In awe, I forget that I should probably take pictures of this moment. I eventually get my camera set up and snap a few photos. The fox continued to rest, but looked up at me a couple of times. An awesome encounter. The foxes aren’t super rare, but I spend a lot of time at the refuge and the past year I maybe saw them like 6 times.

I also had a second fox encounter before I left the refuge. This fox had a bird in its mouth and at first glance I just assumed duck, but I zoomed in on my picture and noticed some very distinct lobed feet. It’s a Coot! I’ve seen plenty of American Coots in the past, but I haven’t actually spotted one at the refuge yet. I guess I’ll have to try harder next time I’m there.

Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) with American Coot (Fulica americana) — Red Fox (*Vulpes vulpes*) with American Coot (*Fulica americana*)

Happy Birding!