FreeLists / va-bird / [va-bird] Brown Booby, Virginia Beach, 1:45 PM Saturday 5 August

[BlkVulture@xxxxxxx]

Hola,
 
Matt Hafner discovered a second-year Brown Booby on the Bay side of Fort  
Story at about noon today.  I was able to reach Ned Brinkley and Bob Ake  via 
cell phone, and the three of them report that the bird is present as I  type.  
Unfortunately I got the call from Matt when I didn't have internet  access.  
 
To see the bird, you have to gain access to Fort Story from the east  gate.  
It might be wise that as you get your visitor's pass that you tell  them 
you're interested in the light house, as Fort Story is an active military  
base.  
The bird is currently sitting atop a piling at the west end of Fort  Story, 
near the Cape Henry Inn (really just east of Lynnhaven Inlet, though it  
wouldn't 
be possible to see it from there).  
 
To find the Cape Henry Inn on the base, take the main road to the last  right 
turn possible before reaching the west gate (you can exit the west gate,  but 
not enter the base here).  You are looking for a road named Kwajalein,  or 
something very close to that as Ned had a scratchy mobile connection as he  
spelled it out to me.  
 
From the Cape Henry Inn, there is a tiki bar that is reached via  boardwalk.  
The bird can be seen easily from the tiki bar, sitting atop the  tenth piling 
from the end, among Brown Pelicans and Sandwich Terns.  
 
This is the sixth record of Brown Booby in Virginia, and the most  
encouraging for those of us that might not be able to get down there for a  
couple weeks 
is the 1968 immature bird that was at Lynnhaven Inlet 27 June to 29  
September.  Another was seen that year off Smithville in the Chesapeake Bay  
9-13 
July.  An immature was at Chincoteague 30 Sep 1972.  The last  live bird 
documented was on Fisherman Island 26 Jun 1982.  A partial  specimen was found 
there in 
November 1999.  There was an unidentified Booby  seen east from Oyster 10 Jul 
2005.  
 
This is all the information I have, and hopefully if I've screwed something  
up, Ned or Bob can correct me when they read this.  
 
Happy hunting.
 
Todd
 
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Todd Michael  Day
Jeffersonton, VA,  USA
blkvulture@xxxxxxx
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