I don't usually gush on this listserv, do I? Well, I have to do so today.
It was just a marvelous day to be out and about in coastal Virginia.
Let me back up to yesterday, when, restless after running the b&b for a month
without interruption, I went to the grocery store but secretly took
binoculars, field notebook, and a scope. I never made it to the grocery
store. I had the chance to bird the Nature Conservancy's property in
Brownsville (east of Nassawadox) with Roberta Vallone, outgoing as one of the
attorneys there (she has a new environmental law job in Albany that starts
Tuesday).
This property is stunning, as those of you know who bird it. What many on
this listserv might not know is that it will be ON THE NEW BIRDING TRAIL.
That's right, some of the most beautiful marshes and fields and woodlands on
the Eastern Shore will be open to the public for birding. Ecstatic? If not,
you will be when you see it. Yesterday, small numbers of warblers (Prairie
and Yellow), flocks of Bobolinks, shorebirds (mostly Least Sandpipers and
Lesser Yellowlegs), swallows (mostly Barn, a few Bank), and Eastern Kingbirds
were around. But the "feel" of the property, to a coastal birder, is hard to
put into words. Suffice it to say, this must be a regular birding stop for
us as a community from now on; there will be some phenomenal days here.
(And, as a "thank you" to the Virginia Coast Reserve, we should make sure to
keep our Nature Conservancy memberships current!)
Back in Cape Charles, I couldn't stand it any longer. I had to keep birding.
I first stopped to check on the local pond at Washington Avenue (reached by
taking your first right in town, onto Fig, until you reach Washington, left
on Washington). The two American Avocets were still there, and the regular
host of shorebirds were mostly there, if in reduced numbers. The avocets
have been gorging themselves on mosquito larvae here almost constantly; one
can see them swallowing every few seconds with rapid jerks of the head and
neck.
From here, I made a loop down through Capeville, Cheapside, Kiptopeke, the
state park, the refuge, and so forth. The Eurasian Collared-Doves on wires
seemed almost like Welcome Wagon hostesses, teed up over the gas station at
Townsend and right over the State Park entrance road! These have become a
common sight anywhere south of Capeville, but I don't know of day counts
higher than six yet. In the field right across the highway from Sting-Rays,
recent plowing has kept a few Black-bellied and Semipalmated Plovers (and
Killdeer) poking around; yesterday, a dark young Ruddy Turnstone joined them.
That's often one of the tougher shorebirds to find in farm fields here when
it's dry, but recent rains had apparently been enough. An American
Golden-Plover finally showed itself among the two-dozen Black-bellieds there
as well, the first I'd seen on the Shore this year. An adult Laughing Gull
with a yellow bill was an odd sight, certainly a first for me. Down at the
Eastern Shore of Virginia NWR, the Ramp Road pond, dry for weeks, now
magically has water in it!! At last! No birds of note, but good to see it's
ready for business.
Last night, while walking the dogs on the beach, I heard chip notes of
warblers (several hundred), as well as the unmistakable rattles of cuckoos
migrating, and about 20 Green Herons and a Least Bittern (check out Bill
Evans's and Michael O'Brien's new CD-ROM on nocturnal flight calls at
http://www.oldbird.org). The "wink-wink" of the Bobolinks was almost always
in the breeze. With a light north wind, the birds were finally moving. What
would the next day bring?
Today was marvelous! I checked on the shorebirds across from Sting-Rays (no
golden-plover or turnstone), but a Black-billed Cuckoo juvenile greeted me in
the large tree at Magnolia Antiques, just to the south. I see only a few of
these per migration and relish each one, particularly the almost-buffy
juveniles. I counted about 680 Rock Doves eating up wheat seed in various
fields from here on south, the highest day count I've had here. Continuing
south to Sunset Beach, I saw a nice mix of birds in the woods from just SE of
the Pelican Pub south to the border with the refuge:
Green Heron 8 (in the trees)
Willow Flycatcher 1 calling
Traill's Flycatcher 2
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 1
Red-eyed Vireo 1
White-eyed Vireo 1 (young)
Black-and-white Warbler 15+
Pine Warbler 1
American Redstart 12
Common Yellowthroat 6
Magnolia Warbler 1
Canada Warbler 1
Blue Grosbeak 1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 5
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1 imm. (almost too close to focus after squeaking in)
Additionally, there were a few flyovers of birds -- five American Redstarts,
some House Finches, and three Yellow-billed Cuckoos.
Over at the Eastern Shore refuge, things were quite different: NONE of the
above birds! Instead, there were 17 White Ibis (all but one birds of the
year) at the end of the marsh trail, and great flocks of chattering Eastern
Kingbirds (estimate 700), winking Bobolinks (about 4000? hard to say, they
all move around so much), and small flocks of Baltimore Orioles (maybe 30
birds), also noted by Tom Saunders today on the BayCreek golfcourse. But the
woods were relatively quiet.
I thought about the bridge-tunnel (I've never had a Great Cormorant in August
and so am tempted by recent sightings there). Instead, it was up Rte 600
(great flocks of Bobolinks the whole way, along with American Kestrels,
Eastern Meadowlarks, and of course a few collared-doves) to Kiptopeke. Here,
Jethro Runco had been catching "lots of flycatchers" -- it was great to see a
young "Traill's" in the hand (they look so small in the hand), as well as an
ad. Great Crested. Summer Tanagers called from over the banding station.
Meeting up with Bill Williams and Mitchell Byrd here, we decided to find the
first Buff-breasted Sandpiper of the year (for us, and for the state in 2002,
I think), and there it was, a juvenile right by the entrance to the state
park, in the farm field. The bird was in with about 14 Pectoral Sandpipers.
Just beyond it were two molting American Golden-Plovers in company with other
common plovers (one of them surely the Sting-Rays bird), and two birds that,
though more distant, appeared to be juv. Baird's Sandpipers.
A highlight of the day was meeting Zach Smith, the new hawk counter for the
season, newly arrived the night before from California. We're incredibly
lucky to have a counter of this calibre in our part of the woods. Everyone
will really like his style. Zach came up to check out the plover and
sandpiper, and the cell phone rang. It was Todd Day. "Never mind the
Buff-breast! What about this gull?"
Bill, Mitchell, and I were off to Craney! Naturally, Mitchell scanned the
buildings in downtown Norfolk and found one of the Peregrines, "probably an
adult female", perched on the Radisson Hotel! On we zoomed to Portsmouth,
meeting Bob Ake at Craney, who had already shot plenty of video of the
mighty-confiding Heermann's Gull (THANK YOU DAVID CLARK!!!!), which is
plucking juv. Hogchokers out of the dredge spoil being pumped out of the
Elizabeth River on the southeastern side of Craney Island. What a marvelous
new state bird! I'm not sure, but I think there are 2 records for the Gulf
of Mexico (Florida), one for Michigan, and one for Ontario. I don't know of
any others anywhere near the East!!
Also at Craney were:
Caspian Tern 1 ad.
Stilt Sandpiper 2
Pectoral Sandpiper 9
Lesser Yellowlegs 40
Sanderling 3
Least Sandpiper 6
White-rumped Sandpiper 1
Semipalmated Sandpiper 15+
Western Sandpiper 3+
But this was on a quick check.
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