Birder's Blog

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  • Ruth Ann Dean Memorial Birdathon Registrants

    Friday, May 11, 2012 9:53 AM | Sandy Sagalkin (Administrator)

    The hearty souls that registered for this year's birdathon.  Good luck to all of you.

    Sandy Sagalkin, Birdathon Coordinatory


    Ruth Ann Dean Memorial Birdathon 2012


    White-eyed Weary-o’s

    Joette Borzik

    Chuck Parker

    Tufted Turkeys

    Bob Dean

    Stan Corwin Roach

    Chickadees

    Dawn Lewis

    Megan Lewis

    Rylee Sauter

    Oldsquaws (Birdathon and Big Sit)

    Bruni Haydl

    Lynne Wiseman

    Tess England

    Off on a Lark

    Deb Hale

    Carol Del Colle

    Bill Hale

    Calle Hale

    Odd Ducks

    Donna Graham

    Rosemary Evans

    Lame Ducks (Big Sit)

    Jane Vanderhook

    Jean Neely

    The Maryland Yellowthroats

    Dave Weesner

    Pol Heiney

    Sandy Sagalkin

    Persimmon Lane

    Diana Mullis

    A.W.Palmisano

    Xbirders

    Dave Myles

    Kim Myles

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  • PVAS Bird Walk to Flowing Springs Park, Jefferson County

    Friday, May 11, 2012 7:39 AM | Sandy Sagalkin (Administrator)
    PVAS sponsored a birdwalk yesterday at Flowing Springs Park in Jefferson County.  The sun was out but the wind chilled us down as we walked along the spring.  Both Baltimore and Orchard Orioles were in full display and song, with nest building activity going on.  The Yellow Warblers and Indigo Buntings also provided some colorful displays.  The full list included 35 species  as follows:

    Great Blue Heron
    Canada Goose
    Mallard
    Turkey Vulture
    Red-tailed Hawk
    Mourning Dove
    Chimney Swift
    Northern Flicker
    Willow Flycatcher
    Eastern Phoebe
    Eastern Kingbird
    Northern Rough-winged Swallow
    Barn Swallow
    Blue Jay
    American Crow
    American Robin
    Gray Catbird
    Northern Mockingbird
    Brown Thrasher
    Cedar Waxwing
    European Starling
    Warbling Vireo
    Yellow Warbler
    Northern Cardinal
    Indigo Bunting
    Field Sparrow
    Song Sparrow
    Red-winged Blackbird
    Common Grackle
    Brown-headed Cowbird
    Orchard Oriole
    Baltimore Oriole
    House Finch
    American Goldfinch

    Sandy Sagalkin
    Sharpsburg, MD
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  • PVAS Bird Walk to Stauffer's Marsh Nature Preserve

    Tuesday, May 08, 2012 7:01 PM | Sandy Sagalkin (Administrator)
    Greetings, 
       This morning from 7:00 am to about 10:30 am,  Sandy Sagalkin and I led a group of about 15 birders on a Potomac Valley Audubon bird  walk around Stauffer's Marsh in Berkeley County.  The weather was much nicer than we had anticipated, since rain was in the forecast.  However, the rain held off until just after we broke up, giving us a very dry and comfortable morning of excellent birding.  The Snowy Egret, a very cooperative Wilson's Snipe,  and several other shorebirds were among the highlights of this trip.  Both Orioles were present and two warbler species gave us great looks as they sang their songs- Yellow Warbler and Common Yellowthroat.  Catbirds and Red-winged Blackbirds were by far, the most abundant species.  Toward the end of our trip, a few raptors made their appearance.  All in all, a wonderful day of IMBD birding. The following is a complete list of the 40 species seen and/or heard at the marsh this morning. 
        Canada Geese 


        Mallard 

        Great Blue Heron 

         Snowy Egret 

        Green Heron 

        Turkey Vulture 

        Red-shouldered Hawk 

        Red-tailed Hawk 

        Killdeer 

        Solitary Sandpiper 

        Spotted Sandpiper 

        Greater Yellowlegs 

        Least Sandpiper 

        Wilson's Snipe 

        Mourning Dove 

        Chimney Swift 

        Ruby-throated Hummingbird 

        Belted Kingfisher 

        Red-bellied Woodpecker 

        Pileated Woodpecker 

        Eastern Phoebe 

        Great Crested Flycatcher 

        Eastern Kingbird 

        Blue Jay 

        American Crow  

        Tree Swallow 

        Barn Swallow 

        Carolina Wren 

        Gray Catbird 

        Brown Thrasher 

        Cedar Waxwing 

        Yellow Warbler 

        Common Yellowthroat 

        Northern Cardinal 

        Song Sparrow 

        Red-winged Blackbird 

        Common Grackle 

        Orchard Oriole 

        Baltimore Oriole 

        American Goldfinch 

              Happy birding, 

                 Carol Del-Colle 

                  Summit Point 

                   Jefferson County 
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  • PVAS Bird Walk on C&O Canal

    Monday, May 07, 2012 8:01 AM | Sandy Sagalkin (Administrator)
    As part of the International Migratory Bird Day Events, PVAS sponsored a bird walk on the C&O Canal near Shepherdstown.  We had 49 species.  The most interesting were probably the pair of nesting Red-shouldered Hawks carrying food back and forth to the nest.

    Canada Goose  8
    Wood Duck  1
    Wild Turkey  1
    Double-crested Cormorant  1
    Great Blue Heron  2
    Green Heron  1
    Red-shouldered Hawk  2     Seen bringing small rodent to nest in Sycamore tree.
    Mourning Dove  2
    Barred Owl  1
    Chimney Swift  5
    Belted Kingfisher  1
    Red-bellied Woodpecker  5
    Downy Woodpecker  2
    Hairy Woodpecker  4
    Pileated Woodpecker  2
    Acadian Flycatcher  4
    Eastern Phoebe  2
    Great Crested Flycatcher  4
    Eastern Kingbird  2
    Warbling Vireo  12     many singing noisily, one seen building a nest in Sycamore tree
    Red-eyed Vireo  4
    Blue Jay  2
    American Crow  8
    Northern Rough-winged Swallow  3
    Cliff Swallow  80
    Carolina Chickadee  12
    Tufted Titmouse  6
    White-breasted Nuthatch  1
    Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  10
    Wood Thrush  2
    American Robin  4
    Gray Catbird  1
    European Starling  2
    Cedar Waxwing  12
    Prothonotary Warbler  3
    Common Yellowthroat  1
    Northern Parula  3
    Yellow-throated Warbler  2
    Eastern Towhee  1
    Song Sparrow  3
    Northern Cardinal  10
    Indigo Bunting  4
    Red-winged Blackbird  4
    Common Grackle  3
    Brown-headed Cowbird  12
    Orchard Oriole  1
    Baltimore Oriole  10
    House Finch  2
    American Goldfinch  6

    This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)

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  • PVAS Bird Walk at NCTC for NCTC students

    Tuesday, May 01, 2012 4:59 PM | Sandy Sagalkin (Administrator)

    Greetings, 

       Nancy Kirschbaum and I led an early morning bird-walk this morning for some of the participants at the training center for this week.  The early morning thunderstorms had subsided by the time we met on the Commons porch at the National Conservation Training Center (NCTC), leaving us with a very nice overcast morning to do some birding on this beautiful campus. The following 42 species were heard and/or seen this morning: 

        Canada Goose 

        Mourning Dove 

        Rock Pigeon 

        Ruby-throated Hummingbird 

        Red-bellied Woodpecker 

        Northern Flicker 

        Pileated Woodpecker 

        Great Crested Flycatcher 

        Red-eyed Vireo 

        Warbling Vireo 

        Blue Jay 

        American Crow 

        Fish Crow 

        Northern Rough-winged Swallow 

        Tree Swallow 

        Barn Swallow 

        Tufted Titmouse 

        Carolina Chickadee 

        Carolina Wren 

        Blue- gray Gnatcatcher 

        Eastern Bluebird 

        Wood Thrush 

        American Robin 

        Northern Mockingbird 

        Eastern Starling 

        Cedar Waxwing 

        Common Yellowthroat 

        Yellow-rumped Warbler 

        Eastern Towhee 

        Chipping Sparrow 

        Field Sparrow 

        Song Sparrow 

        Scarlet Tanager 

        Northern Cardinal 

        Red-winged Blackbird 

        Eastern Meadowlark 

        Common Grackle 

        Brown-headed Cowbird 

        Baltimore Oriole 

        House Finch 

        American Goldfinch 

        House Sparrow 

           (The Wood Thrush and Red-eyed Vireo were first of the year birds for me.) 

            Happy birding, 

              Carol Del-Colle 

               Summit Point 

                Jefferson County 

          

           
     
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  • Birding 101 Report

    Saturday, April 28, 2012 5:25 PM | Sandy Sagalkin (Administrator)
    All,
      The final field trip for this years Birding 101 class was held at Sleepy Creek WMA in Berkeley county and was rewarded with a wave of warblers (mainly Yellow-rumped) that kept all of us in place for about 30 minutes and brought some excellent views of new warblers for the year. The best look was looking DOWN on a Blackburnian Warbler from 10 ft away. Awesome! The class ended with 98 species over the 4 field trips.

    A brief stop at Stauffer's Marsh on the way home gave a few of us the first Yellowlegs of the class (both species along with a Green Heron)


    * = First of Year

    Notables:

    Common Loon                   1 (fly over)
    *Green Heron                   1

    Killdeer                      4
    Solitary Sandpiper            1
    Greater Yellowlegs            2
    *Lesser Yellowlegs             8

    Eastern Whip-poor-will        1

    Ovenbird                      4
    Worm-eating Warbler           7
    Black-and-white Warbler       2
    American Redstart             5
    *Cape May Warbler              1
    Cerulean Warbler              1
    *Blackburnian Warbler          1
    Yellow-rumped Warbler        60+
    Black-throated Green Warbler  4


    Good Birding,
    Matt Orsie - Summit Point
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  • PVAS Bird Walk at NCTC

    Saturday, April 28, 2012 1:10 PM | Sandy Sagalkin (Administrator)
    PVAS sponsored a bird walk at NCTC this morning.  The Bald Eagles delighted the group, coming in and out of the nest, feeding the eaglets, and, generally, putting on a show.  We walked along the Riverview Farm Trail which provides very good views of the eagles.  We also saw a Northern Mockingbird harassing a Red-shouldered Hawk, and a pair of Red-tailed Hawks.  There were Orchard and Baltimore orioles on Sagamore Hill.  A stop by the Potomac River gave way to a frenzy of five species of swallows feeding off a new hatch.  We had 44 species in all:

    Great Blue Heron
    Canada Goose
    Wood Duck
    Common Merganser
    Bald Eagle
    Red-shouldered Hawk
    Red-tailed Hawk
    Mourning Dove
    Rock Pigeon
    Chimney Swift
    Red-bellied Woodpecker
    Hairy Woodpecker
    Pileated Woodpecker
    Eastern Kingbird
    Tree Swallow
    Northern rough-winged Swallow
    Barn Swallow
    Bank Swallow
    Cliff Swallow
    Blue Jay
    American Crow
    Carolina Chickadee
    Tufted Titmouse
    White-breasted Nuthatch
    Carolina Wren
    Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
    Eastern Bluebird
    Hermit Thrush
    Wood Thrush
    Northern Mockingbird
    European Starling
    Warbling Vireo
    Yellow-rumped Warbler
    Northern Cardinal
    Chipping Sparrow
    Field Sparrow
    Song Sparrow
    Red-winged Blackbird
    Eastern Meadowlark
    Brown-headed Cowbird
    Orchard Oriole
    Baltimore Oriole
    House Finch
    American Goldfinch

    Sandy Sagalkin
    Sharpsburg, MD
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  • PVAS Bird Trip to Shenandoah River

    Wednesday, April 18, 2012 12:57 PM | Sandy Sagalkin (Administrator)
    On this dreary, rainy morning, we changed our venue from Altona Marsh to the Shenandoah River.  I had been looking forward to going to the marsh to see the American Bittern that had been reported.  

    At the river (Bloomery and John Rissler roads, we had a couple FOYs, including a Yellow-throated Vireo and a Great Crested Flycatcher.  Other notables were:

    Double-crested Cormorants
    Wood Ducks
    Northern Parulas
    Eastern Phoebes
    Yellow-throated Warblers
    Yellow-rumped Warblers
    Tree, Northern Rough-winged and Barn Swallows
    Warbling Vireos
    Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers
    Bald Eagles
    Red-shouldered Hawk

    Sandy Sagalkin
    Sharpsburg, MD  
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  • PVAS Bird Walk at Shannondale Springs WMA

    Saturday, April 14, 2012 2:40 PM | Sandy Sagalkin (Administrator)
    The Potomac Valley Audubon Society sponsored a bird walk at Shannondale Springs WMA.  We had beautiful weather on the walk and some FOS birds, including Northern Parulas, Spotted Sandpiper, Warbling Vireos, and  for some of us, Yellow-throated Warblers and Louisiana Waterthrushes.  We also had FOS sighting of Ken and Patsy Hunter, just back from Florida.  Some of the participants also saw a River Otter.  it's great fun seeing the new arrivals.  We saw 41 species in all including:

    Double-crested Cormorants
    Great Blue Herons
    Canada Geese
    Wood Ducks
    Mallards
    Turkey Vultures
    Osprey
    Bald Eagle
    Wild Turkey
    Spotted Sandpiper
    Mourning Dove
    Red-bellied Woodpecker
    Downy Woodpecker
    Pileated Woodpecker
    Northern Flicker
    Eastern Phoebe
    Blue Jay
    American Crow
    Fish Crow
    Carolina Chickadee
    Tufted Titmouse
    White-breasterd Nuthatch
    Carolina Wren
    Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
    Eastern Bluebird
    American Robin
    Brown Thrasher
    European Starling
    Warbling Vireo
    Northern Parula
    Yellow-throated Warbler
    Louisiana Waterthrush
    Northern Cardinal
    Eastern Towhee
    Chipping Sparrow
    Field Sparrow
    Song Sparrow
    White-throated Sparrow
    Common Grackle
    Brown-headed Cowbird
    American Goldfinch

    Sandy Sagalkin
    Sharpsburg, MD
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  • PVAS Bird Trip to Harpers Ferry/C&O Canal April 4, 2012

    Wednesday, April 04, 2012 12:39 PM | Sandy Sagalkin (Administrator)
    PVAS sponsored a birdwalk along the C&O Canal this morning at Harpers
    Ferry.  16 folks participated (incl. 2 trip leaders) and 2 dogs.  We walked
    1.5 miles westward, to MP 62 and back - which took us all of 3 hours (we
    were a slow bunch). The morning started off a little chilly with overcast
    skies and a blurry sun trying to poke through heavy cloud cover. Eventually
    it succeeded, at least for a little while - by that time we were heading
    back. Bird song and activity increased significantly during that brief
    spate of sunshine. Otherwise, the walk remained relatively quiet.

    Highlights:
    The LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH singing near MP 62 along the canal-side - he
    graciously cooperated by giving us long looks and sticking around the whole
    long while despite our small crowd gazing down at him.

    Adult BALD EAGLE in nest in island tree below the old Hilltop Hotel.

    WOOD DUCKS flying up & down river - a group of 3, another of 5 - and one
    female lounging on a rock mid-river who afforded us all easy views before
    she slipped into the water.

    There was also a very vocal EASTERN PHOEBE who led the walk, staying ahead
    of us on our way west; then seemed to follow us on the way back.

    One participant says he spotted a female INDIGO BUNTING near Lock 34 and
    heard the male singing nearby - but nobody else saw or heard them, even on
    the return trip - too bad!

    Full list of species follows. Numbers are guess-timates in some cases.

    Deb Hale
    Harpers Ferry/Bolivar
    ***********************************************************
    36 Species
    Canada Goose  X     few, but didn't keep count
    Wood Duck  9
    American Black Duck  6
    Mallard  5
    Common Merganser  3
    Double-crested Cormorant  X     20+
    Great Blue Heron  10     flying by in all directions; 1 in the water -
    gorgeous specimen
    Black Vulture  10
    Turkey Vulture  10
    Bald Eagle  2     1 adult in nest below Hilltop Hotel; another adult flying
    up the Shenandoah, seen from The Point in Harpers Ferry
    Red-shouldered Hawk  2     1 heard across the river (along with an A. Crow
    contingent), 1 seen above MD Hts ridge
    Red-tailed Hawk  1
    Rock Pigeon  3
    Downy Woodpecker  2
    Pileated Woodpecker  1
    Eastern Phoebe  1     kept ahead of us on the towpath, followed us on the
    way back
    American Crow  10
    Fish Crow  20
    Northern Rough-winged Swallow  10
    Tree Swallow  30
    Carolina Chickadee  2
    Tufted Titmouse  2
    Carolina Wren  4
    Eastern Bluebird  2
    European Starling  5     on the HF side of the footbridge
    Louisiana Waterthrush  1     up near MP 62 - cooperated wonderfully for us,
    singing continuously, not skittish at all, giving us great long views
    Yellow-rumped Warbler  2
    Chipping Sparrow  1
    Song Sparrow  2
    Dark-eyed Junco  2     on HF side of footbridge
    Northern Cardinal  2
    Indigo Bunting 2
    Red-winged Blackbird  3
    Common Grackle  2
    Brown-headed Cowbird  2
    American Goldfinch  4

    Deb Hale
    Harpers Ferry, WV
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                                             © 2012 PVAS // P.O. Box 578, Shepherdstown, WV 25443 • Phone: 304-676-3397 •
                                           Executive Director, Kristin Alexander / 304-676-3397 kristin@potomacaudubon.org •
                                          Youth Education Director, Ellen Murphy / 304-676-8739 ellen@potomacaudubon.org •