FreeLists / va-bird / [va-bird] Wreck Island Field Trip, Northampton Co, 4/3/04 - please AOL!!!!

[KurtCapt87@xxxxxxx]

VA BIRDers,
On Saturday, April 3rd, 12 people joined leaders Dot Field and Richard Ayers 
for a Field Trip to Wreck Island, co-sponsored by the Virginia Eastern 
Shorekeeper Program and the Coastal Virginia Wildlife Observatory and made 
possible 
through Virginia's DCNR. We left the Oyster docks just after 0900 in two skiffs 
heading for Wreck Island, one of Virginia's premiere shore breeding areas a 
few miles from the harbor.   On the way out we encountered clusters of Common 
Loons and DC Cormorants in the channel.  We also flushed several grups of 
ducks; Am. Black Duck, Nothern Shoveler, and Red-breasted Mergansers closer to 
the 
mainland and Surf Scoters closer to the outer islands.   We passed by a few 
American Oystercatchers, one of the breeders of great interest to 
ornithologists 
due to the very low numbers of eastern seaboard breeders.  We kept an eye out 
for banded oystercatchers of interest to the research program of Ruth Beck 
and student at the College of William and Mary, yet we encountered none so 
marked.

We approached Wreck Island as the tide was just starting to fall - the 
northern end was isolated from the main portion when we arrived. Fortunately, 
we 
quickly spotted a pair of Wilson's Plovers on the gravel beach which proved to 
be 
a life bird for a few observers.   Once on the main body of Wreck, Dot told 
us of its importance as a shorebird and larid breeding habitat and the role of 
the Natural Area Preserve Program of Virginia's DCNR.  We walked the isolated 
beach of Wreck southward, encountering several pairs of oystercatchers staking 
out potential breeding locations.   We even saw two oystercatchers attempting 
to court a third; one bird would do an upright head extension and then tip 
the head forward, repeating this a few times.

Dunlin dominated the shorebird scene, with many Sanderling and Ruddy 
Turnstones being next abundant.  Dot described the natural history of the peat 
edges 
where the small shorebirds often fed.  She also noted the remnant of the shell 
ridge, nearly a mile of which was destroyed by Isabelle.   A few Northern 
Gannets coursed the ocean a few hundred yards away; Red-throated and Common 
Loons 
dotted the water.  A little over a mile down the beach brought us to prime 
Piping Plover habitat (sandy beaches, low shell pile, and nearby saltmarsh for 
juveniles to feed in relative safety). Here we spotted 3 of the small plovers 
running about on the sand.   In the distance we could make out the rookery area 
used by many species including White Ibis - about a dozen Great Egrets were 
nearby in the saltmarsh.

We headed back to our boats and the lunch that waited.  Afterwards, some of 
us gathered our shell/bottle collections together; a pair of Royal Terns called 
and cavorted over our heads.  We then boarded the skiffs and motored toward 
Oyster, stopping at the now exposed mudflats at the nearby islands.   Here 
Greater Yellowelegs and Short-billed Dowitchers joinged the other 3 shorebirds. 
 
Nearby, some Forster's Terns lounged about.

For more information about the Natural Area Preserve program see www.d
cr.state.va.us/dnh.  For more information about the Virginia Eastern 
Shorekeeper 
Program see www.waterkeeper.org.   See the CVWO website www.cvwo.org for more 
about some upcoming Eastern Shore Activities. Below is a summary of discovery 
during the Wreck Island Field Trip.

Kurt Gaskill

Red-throated Loon 8
Common Loon 36
Northern Gannet 8
DC Cormorant 25
Great Blue Heron 3

Great Egret 13
Turkey Vulture 1
C. Goose 2
Brant 20
Am. Black Duck 8

Mallard 2
No. Shoveler 3
Surf Scoter 225
Long-tailed Duck 2
Bufflehead 3

Red-breasted Merganser 20
Bald Eagle 1 (adult)
Black-bellied Plover 6
Wilson's Plover 2
Piping Plover 3

Killdeer 2
American Oystercatcher 30
Greater Yellowlegs 5
Willet 10
Ruddy Turnstone 60

Sanderling 100
Dunlin 350
Short-billed Dowitcher 4
Laughing Gull 50
Boneparte's Gull 8

Ring-billed Gull 20
Herring Gull 150
Great Black-backed Gull 100
Royal Tern 2
Forster's Tern 10

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1 (boat dock)
White-breasted Nuthatch 1 (boat dock)
Pine Warbler 1 (boat dock)
Song Sparrow 1
Swamp Sparrow 1 (boat dock)

Boat-tailed Grackle 5
Common Grackle 20 (boat dock
    
    



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