The Williamsburg Bird Club will host Mary Elfner, Coordinator of the National Audubon Society’s Virginia Important Bird Area (IBA) program. She will be in Williamsburg Wednesday, February 17 at Millington Hall, Room 150 at 7:30 pm. This is the Williamsburg Bird Club’s regular monthly meeting.

Ms. Elfner will provide an overview of the international IBA program and specific information and status of the Virginia IBA effort in a presentation filled with beautiful pictures of Virginia birds, and what is being done on-the-ground to conserve the Commonwealth’s birdlife.

The IBA program is an international effort to identify, conserve, and monitor a network of sites that provide essential habitat for bird populations. BirdLife International began the IBA program in Europe in 1985. Since that time, BirdLife partners in more than 100 countries have joined together to build the global IBA network. Audubon, the BirdLife Partner in the U.S., has been working since 1995 to identify and conserve hundreds of IBAs all across the United States.

The Virginia IBA program, established in 2003, is administered by the National Audubon Society and the Virginia Audubon Council in cooperation with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and the Virginia Society of Ornithology.

Twelve hearty birders traveled to Dutch Gap Conservation Area in Chesterfield, Va. this morning and we saw 52 species in the swamp and the tidal lagoon. Temperature when we arrived was about 34 degrees but it warmed up nicely to 55 by the time we left about noon. The Monticello Bird Club was also visiting the area.

The list is below as I entered it into eBird. Note that most of the numbers are approximate. I know some of the duck, gull, and Canada Geese numbers are lower than actual.

The bird of the day was the Wilson's Snipe. Many thanks to Lewis Barnett of the Richmond Audubon Society who walked along with us most of the way and alerted us to the snipe when he saw them fly in at the tidal lagoon. I believe everyone got good looks at the snipe through at least one scope.

Other stunners were Wood Ducks in the swamp, Bald Eagle perched in sun on a dead tree, and many Great Blue Herons flying and roosting.

See if you can find all the snipes in this photo (there are five. Click on the photo to make it larger):

Wilson's Snipes (five)

American Kestrel

See more photos, view the list of birds observed, click Read more...

A Downy Woodpecker makes herself at home in a Bluebird box at Beth Morgan's in Williamsburg, Va., January 3, 2010.

Bird ID from Recycle Bin - Photos By Joe Piotrowski
This feature is only on the website and in the electronic version of The Flyer. The answer to this month’s “puzzle” will be given in the next electronic newsletter, as well as on the website.

January's Photo

What is this? Come back next month to find out.

December's Photo

There are Black Scoters

November's Photo

This is a photo of a Barn Swallow.