Virginia/Carolina Triplist
May 18th, 2013

Below is the triplist for my spring 2013 visit to Virginia and Cape Hatteras.

Acadian Flycatcher
American Black Duck
American Crow
American Goldfinch
American Robin
American White Pelican
Bald Eagle
Barn Swallow
Black Vulture
Black-Throated Blue Warbler
Black-and-White Warbler
Blue Grosbeak
Blue Jay
Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher
Boat-Trailed Grackle
Bonaparte's Gull
Brown Pelican
Brown Thrasher
Brown-Headed Cowbird
Canada Goose
Carolina Chickadee
Carolina Wren
Cedar Waxwing
Chimney Swift
Chipping Sparrow
Common Grackle
Common Loon
Common Yellowthroat
Cooper's Hawk
Double-Crested Cormorant
Downy Woodpecker
Dunlin
Eastern Bluebird
Eastern Kingbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Eastern Phoebe
Eastern Towhee
Eastern Wood-Pewee
European Starling
Fish Crow
Forster's Tern
Gray Catbird
Great Black-Backed Gull
Great Blue Heron
Great Crested Flycatcher
Great Egret
Greater Yellowlegs
Herring Gull
Hooded Warbler
House Finch
House Sparrow
House Wren
Killdeer
Laughing Gull
Least Sandpiper
Least Tern
Lesser Black-Backed Gull
Lesser Yellowlegs
Mallard
Mourning Dove
Northern Cardinal
Northern Mockingbird
Northern Parula
Northern Rough-Winged Swallow
Orchard Oriole
Osprey
Pileated Woodpecker
Pine Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Prothonotary Warbler
Purple Martin
Red-Bellied Woodpecker
Red-Eyed Vireo
Red-Tailed Hawk
Red-Winged Blackbird
Ring-Billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Royal Tern
Sanderling
Sandwich Tern
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Short-Billed Dowitcher
Snowy Egret
Song Sparrow
Summer Tanager
Tree Swallow
Tricolored Heron
Tufted Titmouse
Turkey Vulture
White Ibis
White-Breasted Nuthatch
White-Throated Sparrow
Willet
Wilson's Phalarope
Wood Duck
Wood Thrush
Yellow-Rumped Warbler
Yellow-Throated Vireo
Yellow-Throated Warbler

Heard only:

Belted Kingfisher
Blackpoll Warbler
Northern Flicker
Ovenbird

Total: 99 + 4 heard only
Warblers: 10 + 2 heard only
Shorebirds: 10 (8 sandpipers, 1 plover, 1 phalarope)

The stars of the show, of course, were my three lifers: Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Wilson's Phalarope, and American White Pelican. White Pelicans are uncommon in the east, huge birds with nine-foot wingspans--significantly more impressive than Outer Banks' common Brown Pelicans. This sighting even got mom excited. Unfortunately, it was very far away, so I have no decent photos to share. See here instead!

For Wilson's Phalarope, likewise, I have no good photos, so I refer you to this video of a group of phalaropes doing what they do best: spinning! Phalaropes' unique strategy for catching food is to create a little vortex in the water, drawing small insects and crustaceans up to the surface.

ETA: make that four lifers. I forgot about Yellow-Throated Vireo.

Birds of Hatteras and Dutch Gap ←

→ It's that time of year