Trip Highlights

The field work for this 18th annual Little River IBA Count was done on a mild evening (temp mid-70s, mostly cloudy, winds S at 8 mph), followed by a mild, foggy morning and a steamy, hot afternoon (temps of low 60’s rose to 92 degrees by 3:00 pm, light winds becoming stronger in the afternoon).

The compilation get-together was accomplished electronically using Zoom, due to continuing COVID-19 concerns, and though just a few participants took part, we enjoyed the usual spirited conversation about the day’s adventures.

Altogether, there were 7 teams and 12 observers in the field for a total of 64.25 hours.  The hours of effort were down 6.5 from last year, and well below the Count’s average of 72.  The total number of species counted was 103, falling below our average of 111.

Misses of note include, Common Merganser, Common Loon (limited access to reservoir), American Bittern, Cooper’s Hawk (first time missed since 2007), Killdeer, Whip-poor-will (found every year up until 2017), Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (missed only two other years in history of count), and especially White-throated Sparrow (first miss ever).  Near misses, with just one individual found, were Hooded Merganser, Green Heron, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Virginia Rail, Woodcock, Acadian Flycatcher, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Nashville Warbler, and Purple Finch.

High counts were set this year for Great Crested Flycatcher (25), White-breasted Nuthatch (24), Carolina Wren (6) and Rose-breasted Grosbeak (32, twice the Count average of 16).  The Yellow-billed Cuckoo (4) was a second high, with a high count of five individuals in 2007.  And finally, a Screech Owl was identified for the first time since 2010.

Click below to view or download complete count results.

2021 June Count Results

Nine people showed to enjoy this morning’s walk. There were no migrants, but great views of Orchard Oriole and Willow Flycatchers. Photographers were busy!  Tim and Christine got a nice ones of the Orchard Oriole, and Christine also captured Willow Flycatcher, Great Blue Heron with a fish, Green Heron in the branches of a tree, and a stunning shot of our signature bird, the American Goldfinch. More photos of this trip on our Facebook members page!

No report from Tim yet, but MJTash captured some beautiful bird photos on the trip, Pileated Woodpecker, Baltimore Oriole, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Chestnut-sided Warbler and two beauties of Raven. More great photos by MJ on our Facebook members page!

Ten members gathered for the morning walk at Stebbins, with many interested in photography as well as birding.  We identified a total of 49 species. The following is the complete list of birds we identified:

Canada Goose -20
Rock Pigeon -2
Mourning Dove -6
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 1
Virginia Rail -1
Great Blue Heron -1
Eastern Screech-Owl -1
Red-bellied Woodpecker -7
Downy Woodpecker -4
Eastern Wood-Pewee -1
Willow Flycatcher -2
Eastern Phoebe -1
Great Crested Flycatcher -3
Eastern Kingbird -1
Warbling Vireo -10
Red-eyed Vireo -3
Blue Jay -5
Black-capped Chickadee -12
Tufted Titmouse -2
Tree Swallow -5
Brown Creeper -3
Carolina Wren -4
European Starling -10
Gray Catbird -8
Eastern Bluebird -1
Wood Thrush -6
American Robin -12
House Finch -3
American Goldfinch -3
Chipping Sparrow -1
Song Sparrow -2
Swamp Sparrow -4
Baltimore Oriole -12
Brown-headed Cowbird -3
Common Grackle -3
Northern Waterthrush -4
Blue-winged Warbler -1
Black-and-white Warbler -1
Common Yellowthroat -12
American Redstart -8
Northern Parula -2
Magnolia Warbler -2
Yellow Warbler -12
Chestnut-sided Warbler -2
Canada Warbler -2
Wilson's Warbler -1
Scarlet Tanager -2
Northern Cardinal -4
Rose-breasted Grosbeak -8

Four joined in on the walk up the road and enjoyed 17 species of birds.  The prize warblers being the Cerulean and the Worm Eating, were not found, unfortunately.

We did see some beautiful Indigo Buntings and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks.  A hummingbird was our first bird of the day, feeding on some flowers next to the sign in the parking lot.  The American Redstarts and the Red-eyed Vireos were plentiful!  We did see a Scarlet Tanager, however it was the female and not the male.  She’s still pretty though.  It was a sunny start at 55 degrees when we set out around 8:00 a.m., but it was getting hot when we ended close to 11:30. All in all a good day, but would have been even better had we seen our target species!