Yesterday, David Raines and I spent the day birding the area of the Breaks
community, and the area around John Flannagan Reservoir. We ended the day
with 60 species.
We began by stopping at an overlook of the tallest bridge in VA in the
Breaks community. The vegetation in the area around the bridge is just
making a comeback and in the low open shrubs and bushes birds were active.
The flash of blue from male Indigo Buntings was one of the first things to
catch our eye. They seemed to be everywhere. Song Sparrows were darting into
and out of the low vegetation. Both Northern Rough-winged Swallows and Barn
Swallows were swooping around us. In the distance we could hear the calls of
a Yellow-breasted Chat. At one point we heard the loud raspy whistle of a
Red-tailed Hawk and looked up to see two of them passing overhead.
Next we birded around the short but beautiful trail at the back of David's
parents' home that David's dad had enjoyed so much in past years. The woods
were ringing with the songs of Wood Thrushes, and both White-eyed and
Red-eyed Vireos could be heard in the canopy of some tall trees. Gray
Catbirds were in some low bushes, eyeing a patch of inviting Black
Raspberries that were just ripening.
The next stop was at the newly formed small wetlands area in the Breaks
community where we found the songbirds very active. Both Baltimore Orioles
and Orchard Orioles were singing. A pair of Orchard Orioles gave chase to a
Robin who came too close to what they must have considered their nesting
tree. Red-winged Blackbirds were abundant, and some were diving into some
tall grass where they probably had nests. Barn and Tree Swallows were busy
scooping up insects over the small ponds, and Northern Flickers, Red-bellied
Woodpeckers and Downy Woodpeckers were seen near excavated nesting holes on
some tall dead trees at the back of the marsh. A couple of Yellow-billed
Cuckoos called from cover nearby, and occasionally a Hooded Warbler could be
heard singing in the woods. In the distance near some houses we could hear
Purple Martins, and upon investigation we found a Purple Martin house with 5
or 6 martins busy carrying mud for their nests from a freshly tilled garden
plot.
After lunch in the Rhododendron Lodge Restaurant at the Breaks Park we
headed over to John Flannagan Reservoir where we hoped to see the pair of
Bald Eagles that are nesting near the lake. We struck out on the eagles, but
not far away at the CC Trail we found both Scarlet and Summer Tanagers
singing, and soon heard the sweet sound of a Swainson's Warbler from down in
the hollow.
It was an excellent day to be out with comfortable temperatures, sunshine
and low humidity when birders get to do what we birders enjoy.
The complete list of the day's species can be seen here.
<https://ebird.org/atlasva/view/checklist/S57381188>
https://ebird.org/atlasva/view/checklist/S57381188
Roger Mayhorn
Compton Mountain.