Yesterday (20 September, Saturday) at the CBBT was productive for pelagic
birds, as hoped. Between 0700 and 1300 or so, the following birds were counted
by Brian Patteson and others gathered here:
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel: 7+
Leach's Storm-Petrel: 20+
Leach's/Band-rumped Storm-Petrel: 25+
Wilson's Storm-Petrel: 20+
Black-capped Petrel: 4
Cory's Shearwater: 2
Bridled Tern: 7 (plus 2 at Wise Point)
Whimbrel: 1
Spotted Sandpiper: 1
Loggerhead Sea Turtle: 1
All species were seen by folks who had arrived by 0800 or so. I'm not sure
whether anyone spent time looking much after lunch time or whether anything was
seen today (Sunday). There is probably some duplication between the Friday
and Saturday numbers on storm-petrels, but most of the other birds were
probably new individuals. For instance, a large tide line came through the
Chesapeake Channel late in the day on Friday (after I had left), and observers
at that
time counted 31 *more* Bridled Terns exiting the Bay, many of them on flotsam
from storm damage (total of 130 Bridled Terns for that day). (They also
watched an adult White-tailed Tropicbird, presumably the same bird from the
morning, float merrily out to sea through the channel.)
Other birds not yet posted here but mentioned by CBBT birders:
Swift Creek Reservoir: five storm-petrels thought to be Band-rumped
Storm-Petrels on Friday; also here were the only Least Terns of the storm, 2.
Sandy Creek Reservoir, Prince Edward County: 1 Royal, 1 Sandwich, 1 Forster's
Tern.
Eclipse, Suffolk, Nansemond River: Bridled Tern on Thursday; dead Bridled
Tern today (Sunday).
Kerr Reservoir, Mecklenberg County: one Band-rumped Storm-Petrel, one Herald
Petrel (photographed, then released at CBBT 3), 15+ Royal Terns, 1+ Sandwich
Tern, 2 Caspian Terns, 50+ Common Terns, 30+ Forster's Terns, dozens of
Laughing Gulls, and 1 Black Skimmer (Patteson, Russ and Patricia Tyndall).
Neotropical migrant passerines have been very conspicuous over the weekend,
foraging in gardens and yards to a greater extent than one normally sees in
September. A large nocturnal migration of thrushes, warblers, and Green Herons
is underway over Cape Charles at the moment, even though there seems to be near
zero wind. The first big push of Swainson's Thrushes is underway, and there
are good numbers of Veeries calling too; just a few Gray-cheeked Thrushes and
Woods going over. Tomorrow could be quite good at Sunset Beach and Kiptopeke.
Tomorrow night, there should be passage of a cold front. This should mean
that gadfly petrels, shearwaters, and larger storm-petrels finally get the
breeze they need to clear the Bay early Tuesday morning. It has been dead calm
and
hot here since passage of the hurricane; the Bay has looked like a mirror for
most of the weekend. A half-day spent kayaking through debris of all sorts
between Plantation Creek and Cherrystone Creek yielded no unusual species on
the Bay yesterday, only a few dozen Forster's Terns perched on the flotsam and
two adult Bald Eagles actively fishing off King's Creek.
Ned Brinkley
Cape Charles, VA
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