Hola,
My father Mike and I took a long day-trip down to Tidewater and the Eastern
Shore on Sunday 13 March. While driving through Newport News on I-64, we had
a V of Tundra Swans fly over, at least one hundred total. We pulled into
Virginia Beach at Lynnhaven Inlet at about eight-fifteen on the wrong tide.
There were about twenty Ring-billed Gulls in the parking lot and a few
Boat-tailed Grackles. From here we went to Rudee Inlet, and did some
seawatching for
about forty-five minutes.
Impressive numbers of Northern Gannets, nearly all adult, were seen flying
south, over a half-mile off shore. I counted birds passing a single location
for a minute a few times, once getting sixty, another over a hundred, the
rest in between. No idea how long this went on Sunday, but I had somewhere
between 2500 and 4500 gannets rip past. Not many gulls here, just a few
Ring-billeds on the parking lot, and a roost of about 200 large gulls on the
pier
across the inlet. Among them were two adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls (all of
the birds here were adult). Six Common Loons were in the inlet fishing, often
surfacing with fish in their bills. There was good movement, albeit in just
about every direction, of sea ducks and loons well off shore. Very
difficult to identify anything, though there were plenty of Red-throated
Loons,
Red-breasted Mergansers, and dark-winged Scoters.
From here we headed to Castleton and got a long look at the Western Tanager
frequenting the Proescher's feeder. Quite a feeder setup there, and a nice
array of birds. It was refreshing to look down on Brown-headed Nuthatches as
they visited the feeder. There was a Fox Sparrow minus most of its head
feathers present, a first for me; looked just like the cardinals that
occasionally appear this way. Great to hear a singing Brown Thrasher as I got
out of my
car; this guy did an amazing Chuck-wills-widow.
After Castleton we headed to the Deep Creek area of Chesapeake, and whiffed
on the Painted Bunting with about thirty minutes of searching midday. We
returned here after five PM and it showed off for twenty minutes.
Lunch was at Subway on Shore Drive, and with fear of sounding like Harry
Armistead, I must admit that I so very much prefer their subs now that I can
get
spinach on them versus the terrible iceberg lettuce they usually use. This
guy loaded me up with so much, I was looking to pick a fight with Bluto.
Unfortunately he was nowhere to be found.
We crossed the CBBT, stopping at island one where my father keenly spotted a
Red-necked Grebe. There was a harbor seal here at the end of the jetty, and
the expected collection of ducks. Sanderling, Purple Sandpipers, and Ruddy
Turnstones represented the Calidrids. There were fair numbers (maybe three
hundred) Northern Gannets (all adult) feeding in all directions. We continued
on across the span, heading for Kiptopeke State Park. Nice birding from the
fishing pier there, with Common and Red-throated Loons being quite obliging
and allowing endless comparative study. There were probably a hundred Horned
Grebes inside the concrete ships, in plumages ranging from pure basic to full
alternative. Many of them show characteristics of eared grebes while
transitioning. Without good views of the bill and structure of the bird, it
would
be very easy to be fooled. A single Long-tailed Duck, twenty Buffleheads,
fifty Red-breasted Mergansers, and about two hundred mixed scoters (no
white-wingeds, and the split was probably seventy per cent Surf) rounded out
the
birds inside the ships. There were five Savannah Sparrows on the grass. A
pair
of Osprey were on the ships.
The Eurasian Wigeon was still looking quite sharp at the pond on Ramp Road
at the Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge. It was keeping
company with at least a hundred American Wigeon. I didn't get to bird that
spot
long, as a few fishermen came out of the gate and sent many ducks airborne
and the others into cover. Other than a few Gadwall, I can't say what else
was in the pond.
Unfortunately the registration to my car was left at home, and with the
recent issues at the CBBT, I figured best not to try and talk my way onto the
islands. As we came off the bridge going south, I was aware of the location
that Ned Brinkley saw the Northern Shrike 6 March. We crawled past this spot
and spotted it atop a small deciduous tree about ten yards from the road.
Wouldn't you know it? The engine light of my car came on at the exact moment,
and so I pulled to the shoulder for a few minutes to consult my owner's
manual.
Coincidentally, the bird flew away just as the light extinguished itself.
Cheers,
Todd
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Todd Michael Day
Jeffersonton, Virginia, USA
BlkVulture@xxxxxxx
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