FreeLists / va-bird / [va-bird] Eastern Shore Birding Festival

[Phoebetria@xxxxxxx]

The tenth annual Birding Festival here on the southern Eastern Shore was 
remarkable both for its good birding and for milestones such as the 
ribbon-cutting of the Coastal portion of the Virginia Birding Trail, the 
presentation of the Founders Award, recognizing the achievements of Walter 
Smith, Dorothy Mitchell, and their colleagues in beginning the bird-banding 
operation at Kiptopeke, the fifth annual Run for the Birds, and so much else. 
 I'll report mostly on the birds and birding below.  

Friday was breezy but pleasant, with just a trickle of birds migrating, but a 
very nice push of Peregrines in the afternoon, mostly very low migrants, and 
one of these at Kiptopeke sported a cherry throat, indicating a dye-marked 
bird from Assateague Island; this bird later flew over the ribbon-cutting 
ceremony at 5:45!  Three Eastern Screech-Owls were seen on the owl hoot led 
by Tom Gwynn and Don Schwab, while small numbers of Common Nighthawks were 
seen over the beach at Cape Charles in the evening.  

Saturday was quite hot, in the low 90s, with hardly a breeze and few birds 
stirring at all.  Harry Armistead found Willets, Marbled Godwits, and other 
shorebirds off Willis Wharf, and Bill Akers located a Western Kingbird over 
the house at Glebe Farm.  At Eyre Hall, David Hughes and group found a Common 
Moorhen on the pond, plus a number of Neotropical migrants, including a 
Northern Waterthrush in the formal garden.  Hudsonian Godwit was reported 
without location or observer, probably intended to refer to Marbled Godwit.  
The Eurasian Collared-Doves continued to be found along Rte 600 east of 
Kiptopeke.  

Sunday's cold front brought untold thousands of birds through the area, 
including counts of over 100 Peregrines and 250+ Merlins past Kiptopeke, 
according to veteran observers there.  Good numbers of Broad-winged Hawks, 
the first appreciable push of Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks, both 
Cooper's and Sharp-shinned, as well as plenty of American Kestrels and Osprey 
were seen moving southward; reverse-migrating Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers 
numbered at least 8 here that day.  Peggy Spiegel found a Mississippi Kite at 
Wise Point, right over the birding festival tents on Sunday morning!!  New 
arrivals on this front were Brown Creeper, Golden-crowned Kinglet, 
White-throated Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow (3 or 4 
found by Fenton Day and party on the CBBT, along with about 10 Saltmarsh 
Sharp-tailed Sparrows), Sedge Wren (also at the CBBT), Snow Goose (flock at 
Chincoteague found by Todd Day and party), Brant (found by Harry Armistead 
and party), Blue-headed Vireo (2 at Kiptopeke), Rusty Blackbird (at 
Kiptopeke); a Pine Siskin here at the house today was the only other new 
arrival noted.  American Pipits were seen as single flyovers both Thursday at 
Eastern Shore of Virginia NWR and today at Sunset Beach (Todd Day), but not 
over the weekend.   Surprisingly, no Hermit Thrush was reported, but a 
late-ish Wood Thrush, several Swainson's, and a Gray-cheeked were noted by 
Hal Wierenga and Lynn Davidson in the morning.  The numbers of Tree Swallows, 
Blue Jays, Eastern Phoebes, and other mid- to late-season migrants were 
healthy.  The banding operation at Kiptopeke caught a late male Hooded 
Warbler on Sunday morning. 

At Sunset Beach on Sunday, huge counts were made of Gray Catbird, Brown 
Thrasher, Northern Parula, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Northern Flicker 
(over 300), Myrtle Warbler, Indigo Buntings, Swamp Sparrows, and both Palm 
Warblers; a few Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Yellow-billed Cuckoos, House Wrens, 
and Eastern Towhees, two Dickcissels, Eastern Phoebes, Bobolinks, Cedar 
Waxwings, a Philadelphia Vireo, and a Baltimore Oriole were likewise seen 
here.  (Todd Day will probably post tallies for this site later on.)  Black 
Scoters were seen over the weekend but had been reported already on 21 
September.  A Virginia Rail was noted in the road at the Eastern Shore 
refuge, remarkable!  

Ned Brinkley
Cape Charles, VA 
You are subscribed to VA-BIRD. To post to this mailing list, simply send email 
to va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe, send email to
va-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.