The Wild Birds Unlimited of Williamsburg team, sponsored mostly by the WBU
store and members of the Williamsburg Bird Club, had a great time last
Saturday.
Hurricane Isabel forced many changes and one was that we lost our third team
member, but Paul Nasca, of Fredericksburg and I carried on. I won't try to
match the great bird-by-bird write-up posted by Southeast Expeditions here,
though I'll send a letter similar to that to our team's donors.
The extent of the storm-driven salt-burn on the vegetation was truly
remarkable, rendering almost everything brown. Small birds had much reduced
cover and
feeding opportunities, as noted by our team when we found empty woodlots
throughout the Eastern Shore.
Unlike Southeast Expeditions, we moved from south to north. In the morning,
there were few birds at the southern tip and then by afternoon, the usual slow
period was even slower than usual!
We struggled to reach 101 species, though there were a number of highlights,
including Chuck-will's Widow, White Ibis, Pileated Woodpecker and Eurasian
Collared Dove. There seemed to be no low tide all day, though we found a few
shorebirds huddled in a few small sections of mudflats, including Stilt
Sandpiper
and a very cooperative American Avocet at Chincoteague.
A Peregrine harassing waterfowl at sunset was a dramatic show and a great
ending to the day (maybe not for the waterfowl....).
Brian Taber
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