My brother-in-law and I got to the VA around 10ish, and found a very cooperative Northern Wheatear.  When we arrived, it was sitting on a sign, and after we got out of the car, it flew closer and gave us great looks. When I got home, I wanted to be sure about the bird's gender, and, surprisingly my favorite European book wasn't much help. So I broke out my old Sibley "big book", and it's clearly a male. A breeding female doesn't have the mask.

The VA police drove by us, parked a little ways away, and kept their eyes on us, so we were careful to pay attention only to the bird.

Don't hesitate to go see this bird!


John Granton

Canaan



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