This field trip has been cancelled due to weather and the coastal flood watch. November’s field trip will be on Saturday, November 16. The Club will head to Grandview Nature Preserve in Hampton for the possible first glimpse of winter-resident ocean birds. Dave Youker will lead us. Participants who wish to carpool should meet at the Colony Square Shopping Center on Jamestown Road by 6:30 AM, for a 6:50 AM departure. If you want to meet at the preserve, we are scheduled to meet Dave at Grandview at 7:30 AM. No advance signup is necessary.
Note: There are no bathroom facilities at the Preserve. Dave tells me the last opportunity is at a 7-11 on Beach Road.
Field trip to the Eastern Shore, 10/19/2019
On Saturday, October 19, fifteen Club members traveled to the Eastern Shore to bird several sites there. The first stop was the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel Scenic Overlook, where the group viewed willets, sanderlings, three gull species, and brown pelicans, among others. We then met Matt Anthony at the Eastern Shore of Virginia NWR Visitors Center. Matt led us through the refuge, to Magotha Road for a possible Sedge Wren (seen later that afternoon by a few members on a return trip!), and finally to Kiptopeke State Park. In total, the group identified 53 species during the trip (plus the Sedge Wren and a few others seen apart from the main field trip). Again, the weather cooperated – the Club is 2 for 2 this fall!
See eBird list
Field Trip to Newport News Park, 9/21/2019
Field trip for the Williamsburg Bird club. Temperatures probably in the low-to-mid 70s, sunny. Birded just north of the ranger station all the way to the interpretive center and back. We also observed three river otters, multiple species of butterflies, and a few types of bees. We had tiger swallowtail, fiery skipper, gray hairstreak, eastern tailed blue and ocola skipper.
See the birds we saw at eBird
May Field Trip: Help with Breeding Bird Atlas Coverage
On Saturday, May 18, the Club decided to use the normal field trip day to “bust those blocks”. Eleven club members split into four teams to conduct the initial surveys for the four open blocks. And the results were quite impressive. On the priority blocks, 18 species were confirmed as breeders. Confirmation was based on an observed activity, such as adult birds sitting on a nest, adults carrying food, observing newly fledged hatchlings, etc. Similar observations were used to classify species as either “probable” breeders or, less definitively, “possible” breeders. The teams identified 15 species as “probable” breeders, and 33 species as “possible” breeders.
And there were a few interesting identifications. Two teams heard northern bobwhites calling. Two teams saw groups of Mississippi kites. A red-headed woodpecker was observed carrying food (“confirmed”!). Eleven warbler species were identified, two categorized as “probable” breeders. In total, the teams identified 78 species.
Field Trip to the Great Dismal Swamp
On Saturday, April 20, fifteen birders from the club traveled to Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife
Refuge for a bird walk with Bob Ake. The heavy showers stopped just as the group arrived at the
parking area at the end of Jericho Lane. Bob then led the group on a walk along Jericho Ditch. Several
warblers were seen, many were heard. A few members of the group were able to catch a fleeting
glimpse of a Swainson’s Warbler as it flew from one well-camouflaged perch to another one even
deeper in the thickets. After the walk, several participants then drove to Lake Drummond, the largest
natural lake in Virginia, within the refuge.