The unseasonably cold weather was an important factor influencing the birds seen on this spring migration weekend. Scouting day Friday May 18 starting with snow and temperatures in the mid-thirties!  Up at Bear Mountain Farm, there were times that the snowflakes were almost the size of saucers! County snowplows were deployed on the mountain sections of local roads, and snow accumulation at Bear Mountain Farm was 4-5 inches. In the lower elevations, there was cold rain with high winds, making scouting very difficult. It may seem amazing to get a snowstorm interfering with a spring migration count, but that can happen in Highland County! Fortunately nearly all of the snow melted early by the next day.

     Three teams participated in the Golden Chase.   The “Wandering Siskins” team consisted of Kurt Gaskill from Alexandria, Gerry Hawkins from Arlington, and Paul Nasca from Fredericksburg, and they covered both Highland and Bath Counties. The “Migrants” from the Roanoke area were lead by Tad Finnell with members Eunice and John Hudgins, Bob and Andrea Biggs, and Pam and Elly Wefel and their team also covered the two county areas. The team from Bath/Highland Bird Club was Patti Reum, Tom Brody, Sandy Bratton, Sandy and Edmund Hevener, Carol Bandy, Keith Carson and Lucinda Beverage and focused their day on Sapling Ridge, Bear Mountain Farm, and other select areas in Highland/Bath Counties. Members of John Rowlett’s warbler tour group also were in Highland County that weekend and added several species to the cumulative list. 

     Saturday was somewhat warmer, but winds were very high with early morning gusts up to 35 knots, which definitely affected the number of raptors seen and probably the number of birds in general. To quote Kurt, “Nothing was calling at night save for spring peepers and a few sheep”.  The Wandering Siskins started birding around 2:00 am in the pea-soup fog and cold and, as Kurt says, his team was “already slightly discouraged”.  Here are some select notes from the Siskins:

“The Siskins began their survey where Allegheny Rd. meets VA 642.  This location netted a Long-eared Owl during last year’s VSO foray, and it netted us one too”! (Patti had spotted it a week earlier at the same location).  Kurt wrote, “The bird emitted this cat-like whine (did you know that one of the nicknames of the Long-eared Owl is “cat owl”?)”.  Nearby was a Barred Owl and Hermit Thrush. All the regulars were along Allegheny Road- Black-throated Blues and Greens, Blackburnians, Golden-crowned Kinglets. Red-breasted Nuthatches, Veery, Hermit Thrush, Wood Thrush, Least Flycatchers, various woodpeckers, Red-shouldered Hawks and a migrant Swainson’s Thrush (quietly posing).  We picked up the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Yellow-rumped Warbler and Yellow-billed Cuckoo on the Goodall property.  As we sped down 642, we picked up the Canada Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, American Redstart, Black and White Warbler and various woodpeckers along the way. And a Rose-breasted Grosbeak constructing a nest!

In Blue Grass valley, we saw a Red-headed Woodpecker on a fence post and spotted a Vesper Sparrow under it. The fields added the usual birds and our next stop showed us a Loggerhead Shrike carrying food, Cliff Swallows flying side-by-side with Barn Swallows and a surprise – two calling Yellow-breasted Chats on the hillside near the shrike!  On our way to the next stop we spied an amazing Ring-billed Gull on a farm pond – the pond has an area about the size of a garage. This is probably the only May record for this species in Highland County.  Our next stop was Margaret O’Brien’s house, which added Golden-winged Warbler. We went south, hearing a Yellow Warbler in every third yard, spotting orioles flying about, noting a Warbling Vireo behind a church, and a Chimney Swift nearby.  The Bald Eagle was not on the nest on Rt. 220 North.  We went east on Rt. 250, picking up Worm-eating and Pine Warblers. The road south along the Cowpasture River netted Great Blue Heron, Northern Parulas, Prairie Warblers, and a single White-eyed Vireo”.

    “We crossed over the line to Bath County and the Coursey Springs Fish Hatchery produced Wood Duck with babies, Mallard, Tree Swallows, and Spotted Sandpiper.  Plus 20 Common Ravens circling overhead.  And a second year Bald Eagle!  We drove southeast and tried for American Kestrel but came up empty but did add Northern Mockingbird.  With time running out we headed to Lake Moomaw, which had 10 Common Loons during scouting.  Only one Common Loon was there Saturday, but it was joined by an incredible Forster’s Tern!  What was it doing there??!!  We headed north to Bear Mountain, hoping R. 601 would yield up a Horned Lark – but not for us.  So we finished by adding one of the Purple Finches that have been at the Bear Mountain Farm for some time (and bred there this summer)”.

     The Wandering Siskins indicated lots of misses such as Eastern Screech Owl, American Kestrel and Louisiana Waterthrush, yet tallied 22 species of warbler.   The Migrants from Roanoke had a fine outing noting Whip-poor-will and Great Horned Owl in the early morning hours.  John Rowlett’s Field Guides Incorporated Virginia Warblers trip further added to the weekend list with Mourning Warbler on VA 642 in the afternoon of the Big Day plus Grasshopper Sparrow and Broad-winged Hawk.

Missed during the Golden Chase but reported earlier during scouting or within 2 days either side of the event were Broad-winged Hawk, Black-billed Cuckoo, Bank Swallow, Brown Creeper, Cedar Waxwing, Swamp Sparrow, Least Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Greater Yellowlegs, and Winter Wren.  Many of the nocturnal misses (such as Eastern Screech Owl) were most likely due to the strong wind conditions and maybe snow on the ground on the high ridges.  Biggest miss of the event was the Golden Eagle, the target bird, but this species was seen a few days prior on May 15.   

     On Sunday morning, Golden Chase team members gathered at Bear Mountain Farm for brunch and compiled the list of birds that they had seen. Birders shared their interesting and sometimes comical birding stories. The Wandering Siskins tallied the most species reporting 110 species.

     A BIG THANK YOU to all the Golden Chase donors, all the birders who participated, project Partners - the VSO, Drs. Mitchell Byrd and Bryan Watts from the Center of Conservation Biology, Brenda Tekin for her photography, Liam McGranaghan for his photos, Cheryl Gaskill for web design, and Kurt Gaskill for the countless hours of consultation and fund-raising efforts.  IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO MAKE A PLEDGE.   I am currently working with Dr. Todd Katzner to arrange the fitting of a transmitter on a Highland County Golden Eagle within the next year. He is amazed that we have raised  such a considerable sum for this project and is anxious to get a telemetry unit on a Golden Eagle from Highland County!

Patti Reum/Chairperson; Kurt Gaskill/Event Consultant