Ornithology
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Pictures from 2003 Trip
I would like to encourage all ornithology students to attend the Virginia Society of Ornithology (VSO) outer banks field trip. We will meet outside Derring Hall at 4:30pm on Friday, February 6th and return to Derring Hall sometime in the evening on Sunday, February 8th. I have reserved 2 -10 passenger vans (I can try to reserve another one if necessary). I think this is an amazing opportunity to spend sometime around lots of great birders, many who are eager to teach. It is also a great opportunity to see lots of birds we simply won't be able to see around here this semester.We will be staying Friday and Saturday night in hotel rooms. The VSO has reserved over 50 rooms. Each room is about $64/night, but we can squeeze several folks (4 or more) into a room. The overall cost will then be around $32/person for lodging for the entire weekend. Please don't let money prohibit you from making this trip. We can work something out moneywise if you really want to join us. Again, please don't let money issues prevent you from missing out on this wonderful opportunity. As far as food costs, there are several inexpensive restaurants around, or, if you prefer (like me), you can bring the majority of your food with you. Either way, you should bring some food for your lunch on Saturday. Since you would have to eat at home anyway, bringing along food adds no additional cost!
Headquarters- The Holiday Inn at Nags Head Beach. Room Rates $64 with tax included; Ocean front rooms.
Address; P.O. Box 308, Kill Devil Hills,
North Carolina, 27948. Phone 252-441-6333, fax 252-441-7779. Make reservations by Jan, 28. Please state you are with the VSO when you call.Check In- When you check in at the hotel, be sure and pick up a schedule of events and a map of the area at the front desk. Other announcements will also be listed in the program.
Here is a tentative itinerary:
Friday:
4:30pm: Meet at Cheatham parking lot
5:00pm: Leave Blacksburg
Saturday:
6:30-7:45am - Breakfast at the hotel, or eat what you brought.
7:45am: Meet in parking lot of hotel and divide into groups.
8:00am: Depart for field trip (remember to dress appropriately and bring lots of extras, it is february with an off-shore breeze, also remember to bring lunch and lots of snacks) Each group will visit all locations, but at different times to minimize disturbance. Locations include: Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge and the beaches of Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
6:00pm: There will be a tally of the observed species.
7:00pm: Have dinner at a restaurant of your choice, or eat what you brought.
Sunday:
6-8:00am: Breakfast at the Hotel, or eat what you brought.
There will be no organized trips on Sunday. We can either bird around in the morning or take off back to Blacksburg depending on the overall mood of the group.
Among the wonderful sites you will likely see, you will probably view some whales, dolphins and seals!
The following is a list of the birds that our group saw on the first and second trips to the Outer Banks.
February 9-11, 2002 - Outer Banks, NC
1) Red-throated loon, 2) Common loon, 3) Pied-billed grebe, 4) Northern gannet, 5) Brown Pelican, 6) Double-crested cormorant, 7) Great cormorant, 8) American bittern, 9) Great blue heron, 10) Great egret, 11) Snowy egret, 12) Little blue heron, 13) Tri-colored heron, 14) White ibis, 15) Tundra swan, 16) Snow goose, 17) Canada goose, 18) Green-winged teal, 19) American black duck, 20) mallard, 21) Northern pintail, 22) Northern shoveler, 23) Gadwall, 24) American widgeon, 25) Hooded merganser, 26) Red-breasted merganser, 27) Turkey vulture, 28) Northern harrier, 29) American kestrel, 30) Merlin, 31) American coot, 32) Black-bellied plover, 33) Killdeer, 34) American oystercatcher, 35) American avocet, 36) Greater yellowlegs, 37) Lesser yellowlegs, 38) Sanderling, 39) Dunlin, 40) Short-billed dowitcher, 41) Ring-billed gull, 42) Herring gull, 43) Great black-backed gull, 44) Forster's tern, 45) Rock dove, 46) Mourning dove, 47) Northern flicker, 48) Pileated woodpecker, 49) American crow, 50) Carolina chickadee, 51) Tufted Titmouse, 52) Carolina wren, 53) American robin, 54) Northern mockingbird,55) European starling, 56) Yellow-rumped warbler, 57) Pine warbler, 58) Northern cardinal, 59) Eastern towhee, 60) Song sparrow, 61) White-throated sparrow, 62) Red-winged blackbird, 63)Eastern meadowlark, 64) Boat-tailed grackle, 65) House finch, 66) House sparrow
February 7-9, 2003 - Outer Banks trip, NC
Birds in bold were seen only from the van on the ride home
1) Red-throated loon 2) Common loon 3) Horned grebe 4) Northern gannet 5) Brown Pelican 6)Great cormorant 7) Double-crested cormorant 8) American bittern 9) Great blue heron 10) Great egret 11) Snowy egret 12) Tricolored heron 13) Black-crowned night heron 14) White ibis 15)Glossy ibis 16) Tundra swan 17) Canada goose 18) Green-winged teal 19) American black duck 20) Mallard 21) Northern pintail 22) Blue-winged teal 23) Northern shoveler 24) Gadwall 25)American widgeon 26) Redhead 27) Greater scaup 28) Hooded merganser 29) Red-breasted merganser 30) Ruddy duck 31) Black vulture 32) Turkey vulture 33) Northern harrier 34) Sharp-shinned hawk 35) Cooper’s hawk 36) Red-shouldered hawk 37) Red-tailed hawk 38)American kestrel 39) Peregrine falcon 40) American coot 41) Killdeer 42) American oystercatcher 43) Greater yellowlegs 44) Lesser yellowlegs 45) Sanderling 46) Short-billed dowitcher 47) Bonaparte’s gull 48) Ring-billed gull 49) Herring gull 50) Great black-backed gull 51) Dovekie 52) Rock dove 53) Mourning dove 54) Great horned owl 55) Short-eared owl 56) Belted kingfisher 57) Red-bellied woodpecker 58) Downy woodpecker 59) Northern flicker 60) Tree swallow 61) Blue jay 62) American crow 63) Fish crow 64) Carolina chickadee 65) Red-breasted nuthatch 66) White-breasted nuthatch 67) Carolina wren 68) House finch 69) American robin 70) Gray catbird 71) Northern mockingbird 72) Cedar waxwing 73) European starling 74) Yellow-rumped warbler 75) Northern cardinal 76) Eastern towhee 77) Savannah sparrow (typical race) 78) Savannah sparrow (ipswich race) 79) Song sparrow 80) Swamp sparrow 81) White-throated sparrow 82) Red-winged blackbird 83) Eastern meadowlark 84) Boat-tailed grackle 85) Common grackle 86) House sparrow