Williamsburg area, VA 2/26-28/18

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

Newport News Park; February 28

It was cloudy again today, but at least there wasn't any rain in the forecast until the evening. I decided to drive not too far from Williamburg in case the forecast was wrong once again. I had been to Newport News Park several times in previous years. It's a great place to go birding, as long as it's not on a holiday or weekend when the trails are loaded with joggers and cyclists. I saw a good mix of avian species there, and had two highlights. The first was a pair of Brown-headed Nuthatches.

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Brown-headed Nuthatch

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Brown-headed Nuthatch

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Brown-headed Nuthatch

The second highlight was a pair of Carolina Wrens that were fussing about in the leaves. At first, I thought that they might be mating, but then realized that they were actually fighting with each other. I watched them for a couple of minutes as they bit and clawed at each other. I tried to keep them in focus as my camera fired away in high speed burst mode. The following series of photos gives a good idea as to what I witnessed.

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Carolina Wrens

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Carolina Wrens

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Carolina Wrens

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Carolina Wrens

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Carolina Wrens

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Carolina Wrens

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Carolina Wrens

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Carolina Wrens

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Carolina Wrens

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Carolina Wrens

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Carolina Wrens

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Carolina Wrens

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Carolina Wrens

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Carolina Wrens

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Carolina Wrens

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Carolina Wrens

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Carolina Wrens

Well, that was exciting! There were other species of birds at the park as well.

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Gadwalls and American Wigeons

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Gadwall

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Gadwalls

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Gadwall

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Fish Crow

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Ring-billed Gulls

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Ring-billed Gull

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Ring-necked Ducks

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Sharp-shinned Hawk

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Swamp Sparrow

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Swamp Sparrow

I then drove to Guinea Marsh, 16 miles from Newport News Park. I had been there a couple of times in the past. I saw Saltmarsh Sparrows there in November 2015, but was disappointed in March 2016 when I saw that a good part of the marsh grass had been burnt. I hoped that the grass had re-grown and would be a good place to once again see Saltmarsh Sparrows, but the marsh next to the road was covered with trash. All I saw there were a few gulls, Savannah Sparrows, two Killdeers, and a Northern Harrier. After a few minutes, a vehicle drove down the road and stopped. It was a Marine Police officer checking out what I was doing there. Once he learned that I was birding, we had a good chat about birding and police for about 15 minutes (my oldest son is a police sergeant), and then another Marine Police vehicle showed up. The first officer said that it was his back-up. I guess that he had radioed in that he was checking out someone at the marsh, and when he hadn't returned or called in, they sent back-up. Glad that my camera didn't look like a weapon!

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Killdeer

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Northern Harrier

Well, the trip didn't last as long as I had planned for, and I didn't make it to some of the places I wanted to bird, but I still had a good birding outing. Here's my avian trip list (57 species):

American Crow
American Kestrel
American Robin
American Wigeon
Bald Eagle
Belted Kingfisher
Blue Jay
Bonaparte's Gull
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Bufflehead
Canada Goose
Carolina Chickadee
Carolina Wren
Double-crested Cormorant
Downy Woodpecker
Eastern Bluebird
Eastern Phoebe
European Starling
Fish Crow
Forster's Tern
Gadwall
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Great Black-backed Gull
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Herring Gull
Hooded Merganser
Killdeer
Laughing Gull
Lesser Scaup
Mallard
Marsh Wren
Mourning Dove
Northern Cardinal
Northern Flicker
Northern Harrier
Northern Mockingbird
Pied-billed Grebe
Pileated Woodpecker
Pine Warbler
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Red-breasted Merganser
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-winged Blackbird
Ring-billed Gull
Ring-necked Duck
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Savannah Sparrow
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Tufted Titmouse
Turkey Vulture
White-breasted Nuthatch
White-throated Sparrow
Wood Duck
Yellow-rumped Warbler


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