Shared by Nancy Houser, as Guest Blogger.

Nothing says autumn is in full swing quite like the inundation of seemingly foreign birds passing through your neighborhood. Whether migrants are departing for warmer weather, or settling down for the winter, it’s still always refreshing (and certainly exciting for birders) to see new plumage in the area.

Mason Neck State Park is no exception to seeing all these foreign birds – it’s actually one of the most popular birding areas in Northern Virginia.

Gorgeous fall foliage outlook from a bird blind on Eagle’s Spur trail

But just as soon as you see them they’re gone with a flit of their wings. It’s sad for only a moment, but much more exciting to think that you were just treated to a “rare” sighting. Now of course, when you stumble across some of the most stunning of sights outdoors, it’s only natural that you never seem to have a camera accessible to capture the moment. But luckily, there were some instances in which we beat the odds and brought our camera along.

Take a look at some of our visitors and year-round residents we’ve seen in these last few weeks:

Palm Warbler foraging at the Visitor Center

Our first migrant of mid-October was the Palm Warbler. Keep an eye out in the lower canopy of trees, shrubs, and even open ground for this bird and its strikingly yellow under tail coverts (right underneath the tail feathers).  

One of several Chipping Sparrows at our Visitor Center

There was no mistaking the bright rufous cap, white supercilium (eyebrow), and black eye line on the chipping sparrows we spotted recently. Though Mason Neck State Park is right near the border of the summer range and year-round resident range, they were most likely passing through to head for the southern United States.

Eastern Bluebird silhouette on an overcast day

A noisy flock of Eastern Bluebirds drew our attention at a tree near our turtle pond the other day. It was no surprise, as they usually hang around the gourds we have along the bank of Belmont Bay. These were most likely some of our year-round residents, but it was still nice to spot them. 

The bird feeder bombarded by American Goldfinches

Another flock of our year-round American Goldfinches came out of nowhere as soon as we put our bird feeders out. Most of them are in the process of molting in their winter plumage, which makes them much more difficult to identify without their bright yellow plumage.

Some of our "resident" Bald Eagles

Mason Neck State Park was originally established to protect Bald Eagles. Though the Mason Neck area has populations of these majestic birds year-round, we still have many migrants that pass through our peninsula during fall migrations. Soon, they will begin their courtship rituals to bring them into breeding season.

Some other visitors we saw but were unable to photograph included the migratory Yellow-Rumped Warbler and Gadwalls. We expect to start seeing more waterfowl soon as more of the mammals, reptiles, and invertebrates begin to settle down for the winter.

If you’d like to know more about the migrants passing by in your area and what days to expect them, check out the following link on regional bird forecasts: http://birdcast.info/forecasts/

Sunset on the Bay

For now, we’ll keep our eyes peeled for more migrants passing our way. And of course, we’ll continue to enjoy our outlook over the bay.

Come on out to Mason Neck State Park, you can enjoy it too. We’re open 8:00 a.m. until sunset daily. Mason Neck State Park is located near Lorton Virginia, only about 20 miles from Washington D.C. Click here for a google map. For more information on the park, please call the office at (703) 339-2385 or e-mail here.