[va-bird] CHAS Birdathon results ( long)

["Clark.David" <David.Clark@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Friday, May 2 a team of birders (David Hughes, Tom Gwynn, Charlie Smith
and David Clark), all of whom subscribe to the opinion that a bad day
birding (is there such a thing?) is better than a good day at work, took the
day off and embarked upon a birdathon adventure along Virginia's coast. We
got together at 4:00 a.m. at David Hughes' house in Portsmouth and drove out
to Suffolk.  Selecting a quite, seldom-used road near the western edge of
the Dismal Swamp, we pulled over across from a small clearing and listened
for night birds. Within moments we heard Eastern Screech-Owl, followed
shortly thereafter by Barred and Great Horned Owls.  The air was cool and
still, providing excellent listening conditions.  Eventually, David Hughes
picked up the call of a Whip-Poor-Will.  The bird could only be heard by
facing in exactly the right direction and cupping your hands behind your
ears, otherwise the bird was undetectable.  A bonus bird was added a few
minutes later when a nasal "peent" was heard, followed by twittering and
squeaking indicating a displaying Woodcock. 

Though we missed Chuck-Will's-Widow, we had done well with our nocturnal
foray.  As the sky began to brighten slightly, we hit the road and headed
towards the Dismal Swamp, picking up miscellaneous farmland type birds along
the way.  We entered the swamp at Railroad Ditch.  By this time the sky was
completely overcast and a light sprinkling of rain had begun.  The rain was
intermittent over the next few hours, but was never a significant problem.
The overcast conditions seemed to spread the normal dawn chorus over a
longer period of time. While we never hit a large concentration of birds,
new species were added to our list at a steady pace throughout the morning.
In all, we recorded 20 warbler species, with a Tennessee Warbler probably
the best of the lot.  Swainson's Warblers were nearly constant companions
along the drive.  

It was, of course, our great hope to become the first birdathon team to
record a West Indian Whistling Duck. Though we dutifully scanned the marsh
area where the fantastic sighting of that species had occured just a couple
of days earlier, no duck appeared. Oh, well, maybe next time. 

When we reached Lake Drummond, the rain had essentially stopped.  We noted a
pair of adult Bald Eagles roosting in the trees, watched a Spotted Sandpiper
flutter across the surface of the lake, then headed back out of the swamp.
A short stop at a wheat field along Washington Ditch provided a nice look at
a flock of a dozen or so Bobolinks.  

From there, it was on to Craney Island to try to pick up some shorebirds.
We missed the Black-necked Stilt and White-rumped Sandpipers that had been
seen earlier in the week, but picked up a half-dozen or so of the regulars.
Bonus birds for Craney included a singing Seaside Sparrow, Green-winged
Teal, Blue-winged Teal, and Lesser Black-backed Gull. We were also treated
to another flock of Bobolinks.    

After Craney, we made a quick stop at David Hughes' house, picking up
American Goldfinch at his feeder.  We then headed towards the Chesapeake Bay
Bridge Tunnel, making a brief stop at the West Norfolk bridge to pick up
Peregrine Falcon, and another stop at Bedford Ave. in Norfolk for Monk
Parakeet.  Both birds were at known nest sites. Additional short stops at
Weyanoke Sanctuary and The Hermitage added several more species including
Veery and Yellow-crowned Night-Heron.

It was early afternoon by the time we hit the bridge-tunnel.  The good news
was that the temperatures had warmed up quite a bit and the sky was only
partly cloudy.  The bad news was that the warm, moist air rolling across the
cool bay water created dense patches of fog which seriously impaired
viewing. Through breaks in the fog we managed to spot Northern Gannets
flying through the channel and picked up a single Great Cormorant on the
rocks.  Not much else.

Next stop was the Eastern Shore NWR where the best bird was a beautiful
adult Broad-winged Hawk which we found soaring overhead. We decided to stop
in at the refuge visitor center to take advantage of the facilities there.
It seemed oddly dark and quiet when we opened the door.  Two steps later,
and suddenly it was not quiet any more. The sounds of a burglar alarm
startled us and sent us scurrying outside.  Whoops!, sorry about that. I
guess someone was on lunch break and forgot to actually lock the front door.


From ESNWR we headed up route 600.  We noted a lone Eurasian Collard Dove
along the way and added Red-headed Woodpecker and Sedge Wren on a short side
trip on Magotha Rd, plus Whimbrel at Oyster. Following this there was a long
and unproductive ride up to Chincoteague.  Despite scanning mile of
telephone wires (Charlie and Tom scanned with their eyes closed and faint
snoring sounds), we failed to find an American Kestrel. 

We reached Chincoteague very late in the afternoon, around 6:30 p.m.  Again
visibility became a problem as fog enshrouded everthing, limiting viewing to
100 yards or less. Even so, some nice surprises were there, including a
flock of about 40 Brant, a single White Ibis, and 6 Bonaparte's Gulls.  As
night fell, we walked the Pony Trail and were treated to a trio of very
vocal Chuck-Will's-Widows and a half-million or so hungry mosquitoes. 

We headed home for the night, making one last stop as a team to try for
Common Nighthawk at a shopping center in Portsmouth, but were pretty much
drowned out by traffic noise.  We reached David Hughes' house about 11:20
p.m., having tallied 159 species for the day. On my way back to my house, I
decided to make one last stop near the Norfolk & Western railyard where a
cooperative Common Nighthawk brought the total to an even 160 species for
the day.  

All in all, a great day of birding!

David Clark
Norfolk, Va.   



       


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[va-bird] CHAS Birdathon results ( long)