Just stepped out on the porch and listened to the flight twitter of an American Woodcock and a hoo-aw from a Barred Owl Jim Phillips Summers County Pipestem, WV
Plus a Pine Siskin and the usual Purple Finches and American Goldfinches, my first four-finch day in a long time! Photos at https://ebird.org/checklist/S303988461.
Date: 2/24/26 6:51 am From: James Phillips <jimandjudyphillips...> Subject: Fwd: eBird Report - Knob Ridge Road, Pipestem, WV, Feb 23, 2026
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From: <do-not-reply...>wv
Date: Tue, Feb 24, 2026 at 9:49 AM
Subject: eBird Report - Knob Ridge Road, Pipestem, WV, Feb 23, 2026
To: <jimandjudyphillips...>
Knob Ridge Road, Pipestem, WV, Summers, West Virginia, US
Feb 23, 2026 7:30 AM - 9:45 AM
Protocol: Traveling
0.5 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: 19 degrees, 3" new snow
25 species
Canada Goose 2
Mourning Dove 6
Turkey Vulture 2
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 3
Downy Woodpecker 4
Hairy Woodpecker 2
Blue Jay 21
American Crow 3
Carolina Chickadee 8
Tufted Titmouse 7
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Carolina Wren 1
European Starling 35
House Sparrow 2
House Finch 6
Purple Finch 5
American Goldfinch 57
Dark-eyed Junco 12
White-throated Sparrow 10
Song Sparrow 3
Eastern Towhee 1
Red-winged Blackbird 38
Northern Cardinal 17
Date: 2/23/26 5:15 am From: James Phillips <jimandjudyphillips...> Subject: Fwd: eBird Report - Knob Ridge Road, Pipestem, WV, Feb 22, 2026
Jim & Judy Phillips
Summers County
Pipestem, WV
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From: <do-not-reply...>
Date: Mon, Feb 23, 2026 at 8:10 AM
Subject: eBird Report - Knob Ridge Road, Pipestem, WV, Feb 22, 2026
To: <jimandjudyphillips...>
Knob Ridge Road, Pipestem, WV, Summers, West Virginia, US
Feb 22, 2026 7:30 AM - 10:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
0.5 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: 36 degrees, 2" of snow
33 species
Canada Goose 6
Mourning Dove 17
Turkey Vulture 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 3
Downy Woodpecker 6
Hairy Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker 2
Blue Jay 21
American Crow 7
Common Raven 2
Carolina Chickadee 11
Black-capped Chickadee 2
Tufted Titmouse 9
White-breasted Nuthatch 3
Carolina Wren 2
European Starling 37
Northern Mockingbird 1
Eastern Bluebird 2
House Sparrow 2
House Finch 15
Purple Finch 18
American Goldfinch 82
Field Sparrow 2
Dark-eyed Junco 14
White-throated Sparrow 11
Song Sparrow 4
Eastern Towhee 2
Red-winged Blackbird 41
Common Grackle 1
Northern Cardinal 24
It is always amazing and encouraging to see how animals cope with an injury. A few weeks ago, I noticed a Mourning dove with a fluff of feathers sticking up on its back. I assumed it was just some ruffled feathers until I saw it up close on the kitchen window tray. It had definitely been attacked by another animal. A week later, the wound is healing well. Its ability to fly was never impacted. On the same tray, a female Cardinal was perched on one leg. I kept watching her, wondering if she had only one leg. It turned out that her left leg was there but under her horizontally. It must have been broken at the joint in the past. She, too, has managed to overcome this handicap and is doing well. Saw her again today.
The other morning a Raven flew over us. I don't see them very often so I willed it to speak just to be sure. Bless his heart, he did, confirming my ID.
Yesterday afternoon, I checked out Bloomery Rd. There was a mix of Buffleheads, Common Mergansers, Canada Geese and two Black ducks on the Shenandoah. In the area of the falls, a flock of over 100 Ring-billed gulls come flying from upriver. Farther up there must have been around 300 more on the water. That's the most gulls I've ever seen. Another, bigger and tan gull Ianded in their midst. Consulting my Sibley, it was a first year Herring gull.
The only new bird our snow brought in was a female Purple finch. The first year White-crowned Sparrow is still here. I thought the Fox sparrow had left, but he showed up Friday to be included in the Great Backyard Bird Count.
The Brown Creeper has been here this afternoon, and I finally saw him eating suet. He went right by the cages before, apparently finding enough food in the bark crevices.
I finally took my Christmas tree down. It looks good on the patio with some snow and Goldfinches and White-throated sparrows foraging for the seeds I'd tossed at it.
Date: 2/20/26 5:27 am From: James Phillips <jimandjudyphillips...> Subject: Fwd: eBird Report - Bellepoint Park, Feb 19, 2026
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From: <do-not-reply...>
Date: Fri, Feb 20, 2026, 4:55 AM
Subject: eBird Report - Bellepoint Park, Feb 19, 2026
To: <jimandjudyphillips...>
Bellepoint Park, Summers, West Virginia, US
Feb 19, 2026 12:25 PM - 12:50 PM
Protocol: Traveling
1.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: rain & fog and 50 degrees
17 species
Canada Goose 10
Mallard 7
Common Merganser 5
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 15
Mourning Dove 3
Great Blue Heron 5 1 in each of 4 nests, 5th bird feeding nearby
Bald Eagle 2 adult, immature
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Blue Jay 3
American Crow 2
European Starling 16
American Robin 11
House Sparrow 22
House Finch 3
American Goldfinch 1
Song Sparrow 3
Northern Cardinal 3
Date: 2/12/26 7:18 am From: James Phillips <jimandjudyphillips...> Subject: Breakfast at our house!
Just looked out at our bird feeders. Happy to see a sharp-shinned hawk plucking a starling! Recently, in the snow I have seen wing brush marks where I assume a screech owl has grabbed a mouse since the mouse tracks ended. Jim Phillips Summers County Pipestem, WV
After many reports in Canaan Valley, six Evening Grosbeaks finally deigned to visit my feeders this morning. Glad I replenished the seed supply yesterday!
Date: 2/9/26 2:48 pm From: Derek Courtney <derek.dana.courtney...> Subject: eBirding and the Ohio River Gulls
Hi, everyone! This is just a note/plea from your friendly neighborhood WV eBird Reviewers. It has been about a decade since we have had a good Great Lakes freeze-up that has driven big numbers of gulls to the Ohio River and beyond. With that push of the usual Ring-billed and Herring Gulls, birders have found good numbers of black-backed gulls as well as a few white-wingers. The difficult part for us, as reviewers, is that gulls can be incredibly difficult to identify. There are multiple age classes, weird molts, hybrids ... and often times the birds are out sitting at a distance on the river. Sorting through the mess can be something straight out of Dante's Purgatory. I am getting like 10 or 15 ID requests every day from gull photos. And while, overall, WV birders have done a really great job at getting good IDs. There are way too many birds being misidentified. And these are just the ones for which we have demonstrable photographic evidence. The descriptions are getting a little lackadaisical as well. "On river" is never an acceptable description in your details section for an uncommon gull. Likewise, "continuing" is no longer working. We are getting LOTS of "continuing" descriptions but then describing individual birds/age classes/etc. that have not been reported, or in some cases really don't match the photos that are subsequently posted.
This is mostly my fault. I have just been too lenient in the review process for birders who I know are really solid at field identification. And also just trying to reduce some of the comments and replies that I and the other reviewers receive. Usually this doesn't present a huge problem, but it really is turning into an in issue for data quality; and one that we can make efforts to resolve.
So from now on, none of the uncommon gulls will be confirmed without photo confirmation. I hate this, and don't want to discriminate against anyone who doesn't have a camera or digiscoping capability, but the Reviewers have discussed it and this seems the safest way forward.
Also, we are getting lots of really high counts of the typical gulls. Some are going through photos and really making great efforts to do a solid count. But some are identifying huge numbers of gulls from distance without even using a scope. There is absolutely nothing wrong with using a Larus sp. tally for birds that cannot be identified. No one will think less of you. Many of these birds, especially the young ones, can't be identified confidently.
And we also want to remind everyone, that even though we may not confirm your sighting, we will let it go until it appears on the rare bird alert to get word out. And nothing we do as reviewers change your data. If you're confident in your IDs, they stay on your personal list. If you want to string, string on.
Please remember, we are just trying to keep data quality high during this unusual event. Thank you!
Date: 2/7/26 7:35 am From: James Phillips <jimandjudyphillips...> Subject: Fwd: eBird Report - Knob Ridge Road, Pipestem, WV, Feb 6, 2026
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From: <do-not-reply...>
Date: Sat, Feb 7, 2026 at 10:33 AM
Subject: eBird Report - Knob Ridge Road, Pipestem, WV, Feb 6, 2026
To: <jimandjudyphillips...>
Knob Ridge Road, Pipestem, WV, Summers, West Virginia, US
Feb 6, 2026 7:15 AM - 9:45 AM
Protocol: Traveling
0.5 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: 22 degrees, cloudy. Feeding frenzy at the bird
feeders in advance of 3" of new snow.
24 species
Mourning Dove 16
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 3
Downy Woodpecker 6
Hairy Woodpecker 2
Blue Jay 27
American Crow 6
Carolina Chickadee 10
Black-capped Chickadee 1
Tufted Titmouse 8
White-breasted Nuthatch 4
Carolina Wren 1
European Starling 15
Northern Mockingbird 1
House Sparrow 10
House Finch 18
Purple Finch 20
Pine Siskin 2
American Goldfinch 113
Fox Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco 16
White-throated Sparrow 9
Song Sparrow 2
Northern Cardinal 17
Date: 2/7/26 4:52 am From: Jack OConnell <jack...> Subject: Purple Finch Explosion - Greenbrier Co.
I have had roughly a half-dozen purple finches at my feeders through most of the winter. Today at 11 degrees and howling wind I counted 13 purple finches! I am certain that there are more, as some are taking shelter in the adjacent rhododendron patch. While they do eat a lot of groceries, I still enjoy seeing them.
Date: 2/6/26 12:31 pm From: Bruni Haydl <bruni...> Subject: Still here - day three
The first Fox sparrow was joined by another one around noon on Wednesday. Both of them were here all day yesterday. Today, I've seen only one. They've been a wonderful consolation prize for having to deal with the aftermath of the snow storm.
It has been exciting to find several more first-year White-crowned sparrows in addition to the one whose head plumage is changing.
Lots of White-throated sparrows.
Wow! I just looked out and counted 18 male Cardinals. Never have I seen this many. Life is good!
Around noon, another Fox sparrow showed up. Both of them were under the tube feeder all afternoon until after 5:00 o'clock. I really hoped to get a decent photo, but they insisted on staying and scratching under the feeder among the messy birdseed. I even put some seed on the clean snow, hoping to draw them out so I could photograph one of them, but they didn't cooperate. Oh well, I was thrilled to have them here anyway.
Watching and photographing the first year White-crowned on the feeder tray, I noticed the top of his head had some black and white on it. That must be the beginning of changing to the crisp black and white crown. Cool. I've not seen that before.
Date: 2/4/26 6:31 am From: Bruni Haydl <bruni...> Subject: Hooray!
My wish to see a Fox sparrow finally came true this morning. The bird sitting in the back of the quince shrub seemed a little bigger and more strongly colored than the Song Sparrow. Sure enough, it was a Fox sparrow. It has been over six years since I've seen one in my yard. Exciting to say the least. It has been under the feeder for a good 20 minutes, along with the other birds. It is nice to see it next to the White-crowned sparrow.
Given the expected snow last weekend I made sure I had plenty of birdseed and suet. Good thing too, since my 600 ft driveway is still snow and ice. Fortunately I'd asked a neighbor to move my second concrete birdbath to the back, replacing the cracked one. The heater was doing its best but there was still an icy rim. The deep snow and thick ice cover prevented the deer from emptying it.
The bird activity has been amazing. On Jan 24 a White-crowned sparrow showed up and is still here. During the week I saw a second one as they were feeding together. There is also one that may be a sub-adult (?). He has the tan headstripes but Merlin confirmed my ID.
I was happy to see two Brown Creepers going up the tree.
Pileated, Downy, Hairy and Red-bellied woodpeckers are regulars. Northern Flicker numbers have increased. It's not unusual to see four or five at the same time. Such handsome birds and not shy at all.
Watching the birds on the kitchen window tray allows me to see details such as the difference in leg colors. The vary from pink to yellow to gray. The Goldfinches are the main gobblers of the sunflower chips and peanut suet I put out there. There is also a cute Song sparrow that enjoys the offerings. If it needs refilling, he lets me know.
I was surprised, however, when I walked into the kitchen and found the big Pileated on the tray, hacking away at my homemade peanut suet. Lucky I made a double batch this week.
A female Red-winged blackbird has been mingling with the birds around one particular feeder. This afternoon a small flock of them descended on another tray feeder. For the first time I got to see them up close and photograph them. When they left the solo bird did not join them but stayed with her mixed flock friends.
The biggest surprise this morning was a Hermit Thrush getting a drink from the birdbath. I hoped the cold and snow would bring in a Fox sparrow.
Date: 1/30/26 7:27 am From: MFowler <monty...> Subject: Robins - oh my
Something I have not seen before, but I'm sure it's prompted by the 2-inches of ice covering everything here: A huge (40+) flock of American robins in a tree across the street from me this morning.
