THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 15, 1995 TAG: 9502140119
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Coastal Journal
SOURCE: Mary Reid Barrow
LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that the first robin in this area is not the first sign of spring.
Robins have been flocking through here in greater numbers than most folks have ever seen since early January. They come on warm days and on cold days and on that snowy morning last week I saw more robins on one day than I'd ever seen before.
Many of the robins we're seeing are nothing more than local robins flying hither and yon looking for a meal, said Virginia Beach Audubon Society member Betsy Nugent. Some robins that actually migrated down here from farther north could be mixed in, but Virginia robins generally stay around all winter.
``So many folks believe that old adage that a robin is the first sign of spring,'' Nugent said. ``That's only farther north where the robins really do migrate.''
Nugent also can't remember another time when she has seen as many robins as she has seen this year. ``I guess it's the source of food,'' Nugent said. ``They'll eat most any kind of berry.''
But not just any berry will do when there's a choice. Robins seem to discriminate among berries, ranking them in order of deliciousness. In my neighborhood, all the cedar tree's beautiful gray-blue berries are already gone. So are the yaupon holly berries. The American holly's berries are still hanging on to a degree. But ornamental hollies and other berried shrubs are laden and seem to be last on the robins' list of fine food.
Sometimes if you look among the robins, you see other birds too - cedar waxwings, red-wing blackbirds, starlings. Nugent even saw a Baltimore oriole among the robins recently.
There's no mistaking the arrival of a flock of robins and friends. You can hear that clucking chir-up as they feed on nearby trees, even from inside the house. Outside a distinctive rustling of branches and feathers can be heard as the birds try to snag the last berry out toward the tip of the flimsiest of twigs.
Only one outside interference appears to break this preoccupation with dining. It's another sound I also associate with robins, the sickening thud of a bird hitting one of my window panes.
I hear it almost daily now and know it means a sharp-shinned hawk has flown into the yard and captured a robin or another bird in the flock for its dinner. I have never known whether the targeted bird is the one that hits the window or whether it's just one of the many others that also are fleeing in terror.
Then all is silent.
Later, as feathers float to the ground from my rooftop or nearby tree, the robins gather courage and come out of hiding as if they know the hawk is occupied for the time being.
``The hawks are following the source of food, too,'' Nugent commented.
BALD EAGLE UPDATE: Local hawk expert Reese Lukei has seen a pair of bald eagles flying around Stumpy Lake. Since they are flying together, it means the female is not yet sitting on a nest, he said. However because it is eagle mating and nesting season, Lukei wouldn't be surprised if the pair does nest in the Stumpy Lake area.
Last year, the first time eagles have nested in southeastern Hampton Roads in 30 years, a pair produced two young at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The female already is back on the same nest this year. If the Stumpy Lake eagles follow suit, it would appear that southeastern Hampton Roads is once again a destination of choice for the nation's symbol.
Lukei also has seen two young eagles flying around Mackay Island National Wildlife Refuge on Knotts Island. He thinks one is a sub-adult eagle that was injured, rehabilitated and released in the area a couple of years ago when it was a youngster.
The other eagle is still very young, Lukei said, and he speculates it could be one of the birds that hatched at Back Bay Refuge last year. Eagles are known to return to the general area where they are born but they do not mate until they are around 5 years old and have full adult plumage.
P.S. STINGRAYS are the topic of special programming all day Saturday, Sunday and Monday at the Virginia Marine Science Museum. Ray Plus weekend is in honor of Project A Plus students who will be admitted free with a paying adult. Call 437-4949.
YOU CAN STOP at the Visitor Contact Station at Back Bay Wildlife Refuge any time between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m Sunday and watch some of the nature videos they have on file. MEMO: What unusual nature have you seen this week? And what do you know about
Tidewater traditions and lore? Call me on INFOLINE, 640-5555. Enter
category 2290. Or, send a computer message to my Internet address:
mbarrow(AT)infi.net.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MARY REID BARROW
Many of the robins we're seeing are nothing more than local robins
looking for a meal. Some robins that actually migrated down here
from farther north could be mixed in, but Virginia robins generally
stay around all winter.
by CNB