Anhinga seen at Kiptopeke 11/20/06

Here is a picture of a high soaring ANHINGA that passed over the Kiptopeke State Park on the 20th of Nov. It was first spotted by Coastal Virginia Wildlife Observatory's hawkcounter Scott McConnell around 10:45 am and then radioed over to me at the banding station and informed me of the bird. We both got good looks as the bird passed by us.
Here is a picture that Scott took of the bird. It was a distant shot and he zoomed in and cropped this so you can see it a bit better. Not the greatest picture, but one that leaves no questions!
Good job Scott!

More Great Blue Heron Pictures

Here are a few more pictures of the Great Blue Heron that was caught on the 15 Nov. In the picture above are a few of the volunteers of the banding station. Joe Beatty is holding the bird, while Renee Hudgins is happy to be in a picture with a Great Blue, Harry Armistead takes care of the business end, and peeking around the corner is a local resident Bill who walks through the banding station with his wife, Peaches, everyday (Peaches is hiding behind Joe).
The picture below is a bad picture, but it shows a bit of a pulled out wing on the heron. I still can't believe the bird managed to get caught in our small, frail net!

Great Blue Heron banded!! 11/15/06

Well, sometimes you just never know what you are going to catch in the net. And the 15 Nov. was a prefect example! On our 8:45am net run, we happened to catch this Great Blue Heron! Although I am still not sure how it stayed in the net, it was a very quick extraction once we got control of the dagger bill!
So historically, this is actually the second Great Blue Heron to be caught here! The first one came 24 Oct 1969. So it is not often that we catch them and probably a good thing too! The bird was quite calm and really didn't try to get a way as much as I would have thought.
Anyway, this young heron sure made this very slow day, very, very exciting!
And as it may be, this is out second heron species of the season! We caught a Green Heron earlier in the season. Take a look earlier in this blog to see the size difference between this bird and the Green Heron!

Harris's Sparrow at Kiptopeke, 6 Nov.

Here is a picture of the Harris's Sparrow that Scott McConnell (our hawkcounter) found at the bird feeders at Kiptopeke on the 6th of November. This only represents the second coastal record for this species I believe! The first record was in 2003 when two birds were present at the Eastern Shore of Virginia NWR just five miles south of Kiptopeke.
Harris's Sparrows are the largest of the sparrows and is commonly found in the central part of the United States during the winter, centering mainly on my home state of Kansas. Scott too, has seen many of these while he was getting his masters in Oklahoma.
Still one of the most beautiful sparrows in my opinion and a GREAT find here!

Season totals from the 15th Aug through 13 Nov.

SEASON TOTALS (15 Aug through 13 Nov)
GREEN HERON	1
SHARP-SHINNED HAWK	15
COOPER'S HAWK	3
AMERICAN WOODCOCK	2
MOURNING DOVE	1
YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO	11
EASTERN SCREECH-OWL	1
CHUCK-WILL'S-WIDOW	1
BELTED KINGFISHER	1
RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER	1
HAIRY WOODPECKER	1
DOWNY WOODPECKER	4
YELLOW-SHAFTED FLICKER	6
EASTERN WOOD-PEWEE	12
YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER	7
ACADIAN FLYCATCHER	4
TRAILL'S FLYCATCHER (Willow or Alder)	89
LEAST FLYCATCHER	8
EASTERN PHOEBE	26
GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHER	4
EASTERN KINGBIRD	5
WHITE-EYED VIREO	15
BLUE-HEADED VIREO	14
WARBLING VIREO	1
PHILADELPHIA VIREO	2
RED-EYED VIREO	135
BLUE JAY	47
CAROLINA CHICKADEE	10
TUFTED TITMOUSE	20
RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH	1
BROWN CREEPER	43
CAROLINA WREN	30
HOUSE WREN	47
WINTER WREN	24
GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET	158
RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET	115
BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER	1
VEERY	127
BICKNELL'S THRUSH	2
GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH	38
SWAINSON'S THRUSH	46
HERMIT THRUSH	157
WOOD THRUSH	7
AMERICAN ROBIN	29
GRAY CATBIRD	627
NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD	57
BROWN THRASHER	21
BLUE-WINGED WARBLER	2
TENNESSEE WARBLER	3
ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER	3
NASHVILLE WARBLER	4
NORTHERN PARULA	53
YELLOW WARBLER	13
CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER	3
MAGNOLIA WARBLER	59
CAPE MAY WARBLER	4
BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER	268
YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER	4,335
BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER	4
BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER	1
PINE WARBLER	6
PRAIRIE WARBLER	17
WESTERN PALM WARBLER	24
YELLOW PALM WARBLER	15
BAY-BREASTED WARBLER	1
BLACKPOLL WARBLER	27
BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER	84
AMERICAN REDSTART	435
PROTHONOTARY WARBLER	2
WORM-EATING WARBLER	3
OVENBIRD	69
NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH	82
KENTUCKY WARBLER	1
CONNECTICUT WARBLER	6
MOURNING WARBLER	2
COMMON YELLOWTHROAT	201
HOODED WARBLER	4
YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT	17
SUMMER TANAGER	1
SCARLET TANAGER	4
EASTERN TOWHEE	47
CHIPPING SPARROW	10
FIELD SPARROW	60
SAVANNAH SPARROW	2
FOX SPARROW	4
SONG SPARROW	124
LINCOLN'S SPARROW	1
SWAMP SPARROW	130
WHITE-THROATED SPARROW	271
WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW	2
SLATE-COLORED JUNCO	21
NORTHERN CARDINAL	52
BLUE GROSBEAK	4
INDIGO BUNTING	41
BALTIMORE ORIOLE	4
SEASON TOTAL	8,503

White Brown-headed Cowbird

PLEASE CLICK ON THE BLACK PICTURE BOX!!!!

On my way home on the 25th of October, I found this flock of blackbirds and decided to stop and pick through it to see if I could find a Shiny Cowbird. Well, as I scanned the flock, I panned onto this bird. A WHITE ONE! Sweet! I just love white birds! So I watched this bird for a good 2-3 minutes before it dawned on me that I should try to get a picture of it. So for the next 5 minutes I tried taking pictures of this white Brown-headed Cowbird. Well, let me explain my photographic problems. First off, I only have a Canon Elph. Second, this bird was 100m away. So I used my Binoculars (10X42 Elites) and digi-binoculared the bird. As it turned out, only one picture turned out ok, and it was this one of the bird in flight! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did! Hopefully, I can still find that Shiny Cowbird! ;-)

season total from 15 Aug. to the 2 Nov.

SEASON TOTALS (15 Aug through 2 Nov)
GREEN HERON	1
SHARP-SHINNED HAWK	12
COOPER'S HAWK	3
AMERICAN WOODCOCK	1
MOURNING DOVE	1
YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO	11
EASTERN SCREECH-OWL	1
CHUCK-WILL'S-WIDOW	1
BELTED KINGFISHER	1
RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER	1
HAIRY WOODPECKER	1
DOWNY WOODPECKER	4
YELLOW-SHAFTED FLICKER	6
EASTERN WOOD-PEWEE	12
YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER	7
ACADIAN FLYCATCHER	4
TRAILL'S FLYCATCHER (Willow or Alder)	89
LEAST FLYCATCHER	8
EASTERN PHOEBE	23
GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHER	4
EASTERN KINGBIRD	5
WHITE-EYED VIREO	15
BLUE-HEADED VIREO	11
WARBLING VIREO	1
PHILADELPHIA VIREO	2
RED-EYED VIREO	135
BLUE JAY	38
CAROLINA CHICKADEE	9
TUFTED TITMOUSE	16
RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH	1
BROWN CREEPER	33
CAROLINA WREN	30
HOUSE WREN	47
WINTER WREN	18
GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET	95