[va-richmond-general] Chincoteague & CBBT

["Al Warfield" <warfield101@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

This weekend in Chincoteague we saw 2 Marbled Godwits. Black-bellied Plovers 
were in abundance, and also lots of Black-crowned Night-herons, mostly 
juveniles. 
But the most interesting bird we saw was on a larg boulder at the north end of 
the 1st island of the CBBT being buffetted by 25 mph winds. It was a juvenile 
bird that appeared to be in the heron or bittern family. We couldn't find it in 
Sibley's or Kaufmann's. It was about the size of a Green Heron or slightly 
smaller, but had long bluish-gray legs and large feet, almost no tail, and the 
body was mostly a light bluish slate gray with small round white spots all 
over. The bill was bluish-gray, straight, pointed but with no hook, about 1-1/2 
in. long or slightly longer and fairly heavy, tapering from the base to the 
tip. The iris was yellow. The posture emphasized the long legs, with rear 
higher than the head most of the time. There was no hint of brown anywhere, or 
red like a juvenile Reddish Egret. (The many Black-crowned Night-heron 
juveniles we saw on Chincoteague and on Wreck Island on Saturday had elongated 
spots, and were basically brown, not gray.)  Possibly the storm at sea blew it 
off course. It finally hopped down below a large rock to get out of the wind. I 
hope it makes it to wherever it was headed. Anyone want to venture a guess on 
an ID?

Al Warfield

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[va-richmond-general] Chincoteague & CBBT