Kiptopeke State Park, Virginia, September 27 - October 12, 2003.
Part 1.
Apologia pro vita sua. Apologies for this late posting. I was here until
Oct. 12 and on Oct. 15 my father-in-law, Bill Mallam, suddenly passed away.
In addition to their submission to several LISTSERVS my postings also
serve as a sort of diary I send to friends and family. Pardon any excess
of detail.
Dramatis personae (selected): Bob Ake (Scan Man). Bob Anderson (Leica
Man). Larry Brindza (Monarch Man), Monarch tagger. Coastal Virginia
Wildlife Observatory (C.V.W.O.) staff Jen Ottinger, hawk counter, Jethro
Runco, landbird bander, and Eric Slayton, raptor trapper at K.S.P. Zach
Smith, raptor trapper at the Wise Point, William & Mary trapping station.
Totals below are unofficial.
Gazetteer. CBBT, Chesapeake Bay Bridge & Tunnel (connects Cape Charles
(the point) with the Virginia Beach-Norfolk area. ESVBF, Eastern Shore of
Virginia Birding Festival. ESVNWR, Eastern Shore of Virginia National
Wildlife Refuge. KSP, Kiptopeke State Park (location of the hawkwatch,
landbird banding & raptor trapping). Oyster, small harbor town on the
seaside c. 10 mi. NE of K.S.P. Ramp Lane, marshy area on SE side of
ESVNWR. Sting-Ray's Restaurant (a.k.a. Chez Ray's or Chez Exxon) 5 mi. N.
of K.S.P. Willis Wharf, small harbor on the seaside 25 miles north of
K.S.P. Wise Point, the southern tip of ESVNWR.
Sep. 27, 2003, Sat. "Rigby's Folly", Armistead property on Ferry Neck,
Talbot County, MD, near Bellevue. Continue cleaning up after Hurricane
Isabel, then leave here at 11 A.M. for annual pilgrimage to Kiptopeke
State Park (K.S.P.), Virginia, where I will camp until Oct. 12. Slow,
relaxing drive down. Immediately notice far more blown over trees on the
Virginia Eastern Shore (all blown to the west) than in the Rigby area. The
needles on the Loblolly Pines are so browned by salt spray from Isabel,
especially on their eastern side, they resemble trees singed by fire. Set
up campsite 3-5 P.M., spend rest of day at K.S.P. hawkwatch. Today Todd
Day's team consisting of Todd, Sue Heath, Mike Stinson & George Armistead
edges out Kurt Gaskill & Erika Wilson et al.'s team 121 to 120 species to
"win" the Kiptopeke Challenge, raising over $1,000 (vs. $4,000+ [!!] for
Kurt's team) for Coastal Virginia Wildlife Observatory. Todd's group, as
is typical of such quirky, fickle fall big days, misses quite a few
"common" species, including House Finch, House Sparrow and towhee. Today's
K.S.P. raptor totals (these and all others compliments of Jennifer
Ottinger, this season's Hawk Counter): Peregrine Falcon 7. Merlin 16.
American Kestrel 19. Osprey 18. Bald Eagle 2. Northern Harrier 4.
Cooper's Hawk 17. Sharp-shinned Hawk 75. Broad-winged Hawk 64. Turkey
Vulture 1. Black Vulture 3. TOTAL: 226. First night in the tent, rain,
sometimes a deluge, 9 P.M. - 6 A.M., but everything stays dry. Today I
find a Snoopy fishing bobber on the grass of my campsite, which I take to
be a good omen. It has become part of my dashboard iconography.
Sun., Sep. 28, at the hawkwatch from 8-6. Visitors include Bart Paxton and
my schoolmate, Tad de Bordenave, now Director of Anglican Frontier Missions
in North Africa, the Middle East, and south Asia. Dinner at Sting-Ray's
with Bob Anderson, Fletcher, Marinda & Eric. Peregrine Falcon 14. Merlin
68. American Kestrel 220. Osprey 58. Bald Eagle 3. Northern Harrier 16.
Cooper's Hawk 31. Sharp-shinned Hawk 190. Red-tailed Hawk 1.
Broad-winged Hawk 70. Unid. raptor 2. TOTAL: 673. 7 Monarchs.
Mon., Sep. 29. Excellent flight of landbirds. 65 flickers in the morning.
Jethro bands 236 of 31 species including 43 Northern Parulas, 15 species
of warblers. At the hawkwatch 7 to 7 except noon to 3 P.M. when at the
landbird banding station. Peregrine Falcon 5. Merlin 11. American
Kestrel 71. Osprey 20. Northern Harrier 9. Cooper's Hawk 10.
Sharp-shinned Hawk 18. TOTAL: 145. Monarch 56. As usual a NW wind here
is NOT good for hawks, in contrast to Cape May. Influx of visitors today
including Tony & Suzanne Quezon, Tom Saunders, Bill & Maureen Minor, Levin
& Diane Willey. Bill Williams spells Jen at the hawkwatch. At sunset Bob
Anderson provides a nice spread including 3 cheeses, crackers, and red
wine. In spite of the wine we fail to see the green flash sunset today or
any other day. Dinner with Bob at Sting-Ray's.
Tue., Sep. 30. Visitors include Gary Casey, Paul Spitzer, Helen & Ed
Dewars. Ed captures starlings, provides them for the use of Eric and Zach.
Spent 10 hours at the hawkwatch, 1 with songbird banders. Larry reports
75 Monarchs at ESVNWR, tags 10, and counts 86 at Wise Pt. Dinner at
Sting-Ray's with Jen and the Minors. Peregrine Falcon 1. Merlin 6.
American Kestrel 48. Osprey 8. Bald Eagle 1. Northern Harrier 8.
Cooper's Hawk 25. Sharp-shinned Hawk 37. Red-tailed Hawk 1. Broad-winged
Hawk 2. SWAINSON'S HAWK 1 streaky juvenile at 5:20 P.M. seen directly
overhead at good range, slowly drifting south, flapping occasionally, long,
pointed wings and dihedral of the wings repeatedly seen. TOTAL: 138.
Monarch 37.
Wed., Oct. 1. 10 hours at the hawkwatch, 1 hour with the songbird banders,
who are assisted by Sue Rice. Manager of ESVNWR, and Deanna Dawson from
Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (USGS). Deanna is overseeing a marking
program for selected songbird species, attempting to determine how long
they linger in the area. George went with Deanna and Chan Robbins to
Yucatan (Campeche) c. 8 years ago. Nice to finally meet her. Members of
the West Chester Bird Club are present today. Seen from the hawkwatch
platform: 8 dolphins, 1 sapsucker, a Common Loon, a hummingbird, 3
rough-winged swallows and a late Purple Martin. Eric catches an imm. male
harrier and an imm. male kestrel, which I do a little demo with. At 5:55
P.M. a large Cooper's Hawk courses rapidly through the area in back of the
hawkwatch at close range and only a foot off the ground. Peregrine Falcon
5. Merlin 23. American Kestrel 30. Osprey 44. Bald Eagle 3. Northern
Harrier 18. Cooper's Hawk 23. Sharp-shinned Hawk 42. Red-tailed Hawk 1.
Unid. falcon 1. TOTAL: 190. Monarch 83.
Thu., Oct. 2. The first 9 real Canada Geese, very high, flying across the
Bay, an ad. Red-headed Woodpecker, and migrating groups of 2, 4, 1 & 5
Great Blue Herons. Bob Ake hears a Red-breasted Nuthatch. Anomalous is a
Broad-winged Hawk with an abnormal, pale, unbanded tail. Today I move into
the yurt for the remainder of my stay. Spend 11 hours at the hawkwatch.
Dinner at Sting-Ray's with Larry Robinson and Mary Arginteanu. Peregrine
Falcon 2. Merlin 11. American Kestrel 34. Osprey 22. Bald Eagle 3.
Northern Harrier 5. Cooper's Hawk 28. Sharp-shinned Hawk 59. Red-tailed
Hawk 2. Broad-winged Hawk 3. Black Vulture 7. Turkey Vulture 2. TOTAL:
178. Monarch 34.
Fri., Oct. 3. 45 degrees this morning, the coldest morning during my visit
here. Migrating groups of 5, 5, 1, 1, 3, 21 & 5 Great Blue Herons. I was
at the hawkwatch 7-11 A.M. Was in the blind briefly with Zach who gave me
a huge, intimidating, imm. female Red-tailed Hawk (1,400+ grams) to do a
brief demo with and then release. I think this was the day Jethro banded a
Golden-winged Warbler, his first ever as a banding. First day of the
ESVBF. Led a boat trip for the festival from Willis Wharf 1-5 P.M. aboard
Monty Webb's 40'+ boat 'the Safari' (she draws 4'). Always a great
experience, in spite of Monty's comment to the assembled about my "fancy
hat" (probably unaware of my run-ins with melanoma and consequent need to
avoid direct sun). Each trip Monty comes down from the wheelhouse and
talks engagingly to the group about the history and lore of the area and
its islands. He bears a striking resemblance to Clark Clifford, counsel to
several Presidents, especially Harry Truman. 23 of us, including John &
Martha Dillard, ventured into the Machipongo Rover and Hog Island Bay and
saw 95 Willets, 30 Marbled Godwits, 1 Ruddy Duck, 75 turnstones, 4 ad. Bald
Eagles, 70 Black-bellied Plovers, a Merlin, and 40 Greater Yellowlegs. The
prospect up the Machipongo on the east shore presents miles of pristine
Loblolly Pine forests, one of the most beautiful scenes I know of on the
Virginia Eastern Shore. At the hawkwatch: Peregrine Falcon 8. Merlin 7.
American Kestrel 7. Osprey 2. Bald Eagle 7. Northern Harrier 13.
Cooper's Hawk 23. Sharp-shinned Hawk 29. Red-tailed Hawk 5. Broad-winged
Hawk 314. Black Vulture 1. TOTAL: 416. Kevin Karlson of Cape May was
the ESVBF keynote speaker, with his excellent photographs of shorebirds, at
Sunset Beach Resort. The reception beforehand, as always, a great occasion
for schmoozing and socializing. Bill Lagerstrom and Lee White arrive.
Best to all.-Harry Armistead, 523 E. Durham St., Philadelphia, PA
19119-1225. 215-248-4120. Please, any off-list replies to:
harryarmistead at hotmail dot com
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