On 31 December, the morning following the Cape Charles CBC, Fisherman Island
had 3 imm. White Ibis and an imm. Little Blue Heron in the roadside freshwater
pond, plus a Merlin hunting Yellow-rumped Warblers near Fisherman Inlet.
These three species were missed on the CBC (a Merlin has been around Fisherman
Island and CBBT Island #4 for most of the winter). Also, a Common Moorhen was
on private land in s. Northampton County that afternoon. The balmy weather
meant misses of various waterfowl (mostly diving ducks such as Redhead and
Greater Scaup, a few of which are normally present in the area), birds of
northern affinity (finches, Snow Bunting, etc.), and facultative migrants
(blackbird
flocks - which often contain rarer species - longspurs, etc.). But the
paucity of CBC participants must also have played a role, as four species were
readily findable on the 31st, a day with similar weather, and more extensive
coverage of marshes would surely have turned up a Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed
Sparrow
(making for 154 species, relatively respectable total in a warm winter with no
feeder stake-outs). Alas, extensive searches for Northern Bobwhite in the 3
days after the count yielded zero - none at all - in areas that normally have a
covey or two. That is certainly an ominous sign. It was great to add one
species, Eared Grebe, to the cumulative list for the CBC, which stands now at
262 species, not counting escapees!
Ned Brinkley
Cape Charles, VA
