Some highlights of the past two weeks, with apologies for the arrears:
14 September
A pleasant morning at False Cape State Park and Back Bay National Wildlife
refuge produced a nice mix of residents and migrants. Two of the refuge's
three Mute Swans (hiss) were resting on the small island in the northernmost
impoundment; the birds at Chincoteague NWR have been "removed," so are these
coastal Virginia's only nesting Mutes? A pair of Pied-billed Grebes
apparently raised at least two young in the same impoundment (two
striped-faced youngsters accompanied two adults). At False Cape, four
Wilson's Snipe (_Gallinago delicata_, the new name and designation for what
we used to call Common Snipe, which is now the European bird _Gallinago
gallinago_) were among a scattering of migrant shorebirds, including four
Solitary Sandpipers; this location is perhaps the most reliable in coastal
Virginia for finding this species in numbers.
At Little Island City Park, just north of the refuge, five Lesser
Black-backed Gulls were present in a small roost of gulls near the fishing
pier. It is impressive how easy it is to find Lesser Black-backed Gulls on
the immediate coast in Virginia Beach in September, while over most of the
rest of the state, they are scarce until winter.
15 September
Pea Island and Bodie Island, typically shorebird hotspots at this time of
year, had been flooded out by Tropical Storm GUSTAV, so to find shorebirds,
it was necessary to wade through the flooded fields and roads of Buxton,
North Carolina, where scads of shorebirds of many species were approachable
within a few feet as they foraged on flooded roads, even asphalt roads, near
Cape Hatteras lighthouse! Shorebirds recorded were:
Black-necked Stilt 1
Black-bellied Plover 2
Semipalmated Plover 2
Killdeer 1
Long-billed Dowitcher 1 calling (ad.)
Short-billed Dowitcher 20
Marbled Godwit 4
Whimbrel 4
Greater Yellowlegs 10
Lesser Yellowlegs 31
Sanderling 10 (including some striking juvs.)
Semipalmated Sandpiper 4
Least Sandpiper 5
This list seems pretty minor, but the views were wonderful. At Bodie Island,
4 Virginia Rails sounded off in the afternoon. Coquina Beach had 5 Sandwich
Terns, a low number. Two Least Terns were still at Cape Point, along with
SEVEN Lesser Black-backed Gulls, which I think is a personal high count for
the month in North Carolina. An evening looking for Red Wolves and Black
Bears at Alligator River produced only two Great Horned Owls, perched next to
the road.
16 September
A pelagic trip off Hatteras was memorable for the showing of light-morph
Herald Petrels -- at least three different birds (and possibly 1-2 more; or
these might have been some of the same individuals) were seen over the course
of the day. Remarkably, no dark morphs were seen. In the first hour
offshore, a flock of Bridled and Sooty Terns, with young of the year, called
and fed over a school of baitfish, hanging like kites close overhead in the
stiff breeze. Good numbers of Cory's and Audubon's Shearwaters and
Black-capped Petrels were also seen, but Red-necked Phalaropes were rather
scarce and jaegers altogether absent. A Black Tern was in Hatteras Inlet.
17 September
A nice morning birding at the abandoned Coast Guard Station at Oregon Inlet.
Following the passage of a weak coold front, waves of early migrants poured
overhead or at waist-level, often pausing in the low tree tops here. Among
the hordes were about 180 Baltimore Orioles, 500+ Bobolinks, 8 Dickcissels
(one of which teed up in a bare tree with an ad. male Scarlet Tanager!),
small numbers of Blue Grosbeaks, Northern Waterthrushes, American Redstarts,
and unidentified warblers were also seen. At the Elizabethan Gardens, a
Chestnut-sided Warbler (a good find here) was present, and Jeff Lewis had
seen several Catharus thrushes, a Worm-eating Warbler, and a Yellow-breasted
Chat early that morning.
The CBBT islands had only the usual suspects (many Common Yellowthroats, 2
Marsh Wrens, and a Seaside Sparrow). The two Great Cormorants on Island 3
were still present (first reported 4 July by Craig Tumer, so presumably
oversummering). A young Yellow-crowned Night-Heron continues here as well.
At Kiptopeke in the last hour and a half of light, the first good push of
Merlins (12) and the last hurrah of Common Nighthawks (57) was observed.
18 September
The next morning at Kiptopeke, the birds were flying everywhere; it was
perhaps the second best flight of the fall (the best having been the morning
of the 24th, much of which I missed!) so far. Observed in the woods here
were:
Warbling Vireo 1
Northern Parula 5
Yellow Warbler 1
Chestnut-sided Warbler 1
Magnolia Warbler 2
Cape May Warbler 3
Black-throated Blue Warbler 2
Pine Warbler 10
Blackpoll Warbler 1
Bay-breasted Warbler 3 (two nice males)
Black-and-white Warbler 15+
American Redstart 32+
Ovenbird 1
Connecticut Warbler 1
Northern Waterthrush 1
Common Yellowthroat 25+
On the Wash Flats at Chincoteague that afternoon, shorebirds were scarce; the
first Dunlin had arrived, along with about 8 Red Knots, but no sign of
Hudsonian Godwit (no reports in the state yet this year). An adult Lark
Sparrow was found in a flock of Field Sparrows and other birds about 4.4
miles up the Service Road here. Black-throated Green, Prairie, Yellow, and
Western Palm Warblers were present in small numbers in the thickets along the
road. Mosquitoes were the worst I'd ever seen them here. A Sandwich Tern
pair fed one young bird at Swan Cove, where about 900 Black Skimmers were
still massing. An adult Peregrine Falcon took a shorebird here, sending all
the birds into wild confusion in the air.
19 September
The Woodland Trail held few migrants at Chincoteague; numerous were redstarts
and Red-eyed Vireos, with a single Black-throated Green Warbler and
Philadelphia Vireo to brighten a buggy walk.
Bombay Hook NWR was a bit better for shorebirds: 600 dowitchers, with both
species recorded; 500+ American Avocets; 70 Dunlin; dozens of peep, including
Western Sandpipers; 55 Stilt Sandpipers; an American Golden-Plover; and
Bobolinks in the fields around the visitor center. A Peregrine toyed with
the shorebirds here as well. Four Hudsonian Godwits were missed by mere
hours.
20 September
Not much to report; the two Eurasian Collared-Doves were back on the wires on
the northern entrance road into Kiptopeke State Park, the most reliable spot
for them lately. No passerine flight or hawk flight to speak of. The CBBT
island held a Northern Parula, a Prairie Warbler, an apparently worn juv.
Carolina Wren (with mostly grayish legs, missing all outer rects, so very
tough to rule out Bewick's! -- this was the first wren of this genus I'd seen
on the CBBT), and the regular migrants here.
25 September
Just at the house here, 6 Red-eyed and 2 Philadelphia Vireos, lots of
Black-throated Blue Warblers and redstarts appeared around 9:00 a.m. in the
Crape Myrtle trees. No doubt another fine day to be at Sunset Beach, which I
missed again. A search of the farm fields turned up no shorebirds of note.
The hawkwatch in the morning was grand -- 100s of birds passing per hour,
mostly American Kestrels, Merlins, Cooper's and Sharp-shinned Hawks. At last!
26 September
Heavy rain with the approach of ISIDORE has not prevented the migration of
Merlins, at least 20 of which have shot through Cape Charles today, mostly
between the squalls, but some during the rain. Amazing to see them moving
between the houses here, migrating only about 10 feet off the ground! The
heavy rain will hopefully bring shorebirds back into farm fields, at least at
the times of highest tides.
Ned Brinkley
Cape Charles, VA
You are subscribed to VA-BIRD. To post to this mailing list, simply send email
to va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx. To unsubscribe, send email to
va-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
