Kiptopeke State Park and environs, Virginia, Nov. 11-14, 2004.
GAZETTEER/ABBREVIATIONS: CBBT, Chesapeake Bay Bridge & Tunnel (connects
Cape Charles [the point, not the town] with the Virginia Beach-Norfolk
area). CVWO, Coastal Virginia Wildlife Observatory. ESVNWR, Eastern Shore
of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge. KSP, Kiptopeke State Park (location
of the hawkwatch platform, landbird banding & raptor trapping). Magotha
Road, runs east from Route 600 to saltmarsh and Magothy Bay. Oyster, small
harbor town on the seaside c. 10 mi. NE of KSP. 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 KSP. Willis Wharf, small harbor on the seaside 25
miles north of K.S.P, 1 mile east of Exmore.
WHITE IBIS jamboree. I still can't get used to the presence of numbers of
Spanish curlews (also know as sicklebills or Chokoloskee chickens) in this
area. Here are some of the observations I am aware of during this period.
141, the best count I heard of this time, seen by Brian Taber at dawn at
Ramp Lane, Nov. 12. 60 seen there Nov. 11 by Bob Anderson. 80 at Magotha
Road (Bill Williams and me) Nov. 13. This species first nested in Virginia
in 1977 when a nest was found on Fisherman's Island. They were first seen
on the Cape Charles Christmas Bird Count in 1985 and have been seen on 9
counts since then, once over 100 birds. A few are often present in
mid-winter. Some may even overwinter. The highest Virginia count I am
aware of is 238 seen by Lynn Davidson & Hal Wierenga, Oct. 9, 2004, at Wise
Point (ESVNWR), a count they consider conservative. Apparently when not
breeding they roost on eastern Fisherman's Island.
The Wed., Nov. 10, KSP raptor totals follow. I was not here but include
them for the record. In the Nov. 11-14 stretch there are no good hawk
flights here like this but quality, high-interest birds instead. Merlin 2.
kestrel 1. Bald Eagle 4. harrier 2. sharpie 17. Cooper's 9.
Red-shouldered Hawk 14. Red-tailed Hawk 46. TV 99. BV 50. TOTAL: 236.
Some still include vultures as raptors, others do not, recognizing their
recent designation as relatives of storks.
Thu., Nov. 11. KSP Goldfinches are abundant, covering the Droll Yankee
feeders with many Pine Siskins and a few Purple Finches accompanying them.
A flock of mostly goldfinches is hanging around in the Bean Field, flushing
when raptors appear there, with up to 310 birds visible at one time. An
imm. Great Cormorant seen from the hawkwatch platform plus a Cave Swallow.
Jethro Runco bands a Lincoln's Sparrow and has tagged a record number of
Song Sparrows this season, over 300. An adult Blue Goose over the Bean
Field. Today's highlight is an immature female Northern Goshawk (1,070
grams) captured by Zach Smith and shown to 20 of us, including Bill
Williams, Sam Stuart, Thuy Tran, Bob Anderson, Bob & Kathy Loomis, the
Odell family, Brian Taber & Jethro. This is a monstruous raptor. I'm
struck by how pale it is compared to other accipiters. Gannets are common
out past the concrete ships, sometimes plunge-diving, and we see a
Red-throated and many Common Loons.
Bob, Thuy, Brian, and I check out Ramp Lane 4:30-5:30 P.M.: Clapper Rail
15+ (very vocal), Glossy Ibis 3, American Wigeon 33 (in the pond by the
gate), Gadwall 12, black duck 45, and 3 Pied-billed Grebes in the
Intracoastal Waterway. A few Clouded Skippers are in the butterfly garden
today.
Fri., Nov. 12, an overcast, windy day with occasional rain becoming steady
c. 4 P.M. and continuing unabated through the night. I began the day at
Ramp Lane: 40 wigeon, 12 Hooded Mergansers, 1 Tricolored & 4 imm. Little
Blue herons, 2 Tundra Swans, 2 Glossy Ibis and 4 imm. Wite Ibis. Next
stop, Lake Maddox adjacent to KSP: 5 Pied-billed Grebes, 1 Ring-necked
Duck, 8 Gadwall, 7 coots & 2 wigeon. At the hawk watch platform I team up
for the rest of the day with Brian Taber and then pick up Wendy Fair at
ESVNWR.
Our first stop is the CBBT, a classic fallback option when it is raining in
the KSP area. 2,425 Laughing & 2 Bonaparte's gulls, 65 Purple Sandpipers
(on islands 3 & 4), 3 Harlequin Ducks (2 females and a resplendent male), 6
Great Cormorants, 1 female Long-tailed Duck, 1 Pied-billed Grebe (next to
the rocks of island 1), 1 female White-winged, 1 female Black plus 100 or
so Surf Scoters. In spite of looking hard we fail to see any Lesser
Black-backed Gulls or landbirds other than Rock Pigeons and 1 unidentified
small job flying away from us.
Other stops: Magotha Road (Route 655) where offshore in Magothy Bay are
180 Buffleheads and 45 Brant. A pond (Lakewood Pond) on the west side of
Route 600 has a pair of Wood Ducks. At the Oyster landfill in the pond/pit
is a female Lesser Scaup and 2 Ring-necked Ducks with 2 Bald Eagles
present. Oyster harbor is rather barren but an adult Bald Eagle flies over
flushing all the gulls from the rooftops.
Sat., Nov. 13. An overcast day gradually clearing somewhat with 25-30
m.p.h. winds roaring out of the northeast and a mass of surging whitecaps,
following substantial rains the previous night. Ramp Lane, ESVNWR.
Extremely high tide and still rising, covering some of the road even.
There have been a lot of very high tides this fall. Run into Kurt Gaskill
who has just seen a Sora flush and fly low across the road. In this same
area a few years ago at this time of year I encountered Mitchell Byrd who
had just seen a Sora here by the little ditch that drains out from the pond
by the gate. Kurt: "Why did the Sora cross the road?" Harry: "To show the
armadillo it can be done."
Let me tell you, Sweet Pea, if you've been to coastal Texas you wonder why
Armadillos ever spread throughout the Southeast because they are road kill
du jour. Makes you wonder if Kansas and Georgia are right and Darwin is
wrong. But to return to the matter at hand ... Out at the end where the
work boats are, birds cope with wind-whipped waters that cover areas where
they need to feed, including 55 American Oystercatchers, 5 imm. Little Blue
Herons, 35 Willets, 1 Sedge Wren, and 105 Boat-tailed Grackles plus 60
distant Snow Geese over Fisherman's Island.
This is another rarities roundup weekend, this one less of an effort than
last weekend's highly successful endeavor, an attempt to detect some of the
goodies that every November brings, what Pete Dunne refers to as Wildcard
Weekend. Bill Williams and I head up and out to Magotha Road on the
seaside of the peninsula tip and find big numbers of White Ibis, 2 Bald
Eagles, 55 Willets, and 15 Greater Yellowlegs. Bill's better ears hear 4
wren species including Sedge and Marsh wrens.
This little road has a lovely montage of vegetative gradients ranging from
open bay drifts of Uva, pure saltmarsh plants such as Spartina
alterniflora, Spartina patens, and Juncus roemerianus to, within the space
of a couple of hundred yards or less, Baccharis, Iva and bayberry stands,
Scirpus (bullrush, three-square), narrow and broad-leaved cattails, some
Panicum, Loblolly Pine forest, and Sweet Gum-Black Gum-Oak-Maple forest
with large areas of standing fresh water, and, finally, fields and
hedgerows. Nearby 2 Eurasian Collared Doves are on the wires in company
with Mourning Doves at Rt. 600 X Martins Landing Road.
We join up with others at the Hawk Watch Platform where Bob Anderson spots
a Pacific Loon. We all rush down to the old ferry slip but cannot relocate
it. I am convinced by way of good looks at its dramatically smaller size
than the several Common Loons nearby, the whitish auricular area in back of
the eye, and the much slimmer, less massive bill. Not every one agrees
today but it IS going on my list. The Sibley guide indicates Pacific Loons
are 7" shorter than Commons (25 vs. 32 inches). During the course of the
day we find a dead buck washing in and out with the surf on the beach and
using my Swiss army knife I take its antlers.
Also of interest, closeup views of dolphins feeding and breeching inside of
the harbor made by the 9 concrete ships (something we do have more of than
Cape May) and a stunning flock of 40 adult gannets flying in formation with
the precisely same cadence and spacing as a Snow Goose flock. I have to
look and look and look again to convince myself they're not Snow Geese and
they're not. Due to the loon search we are 15 minutes late to the CVWO
annual meeting at Sunset Beach, which includes excellent presentations by
Elizabeth Long (on Virginia's breeding Peregrine Falcons), Kurt Gaskill on
CVWO development, Jethro Runco on songbird banding, good graphics and
photography, O.K. food, and many other highlights. In fact, the meeting
lasts from 11-3 and I don't even mind missing being out of doors.
Dusk at Ramp Lane, 4-5:20 P.M. Distant skeins of cormorants flying down
the coast over Smith Island. Bob Anderson, Thuy Tran, and I see a small
"flight" of Clapper Rails, 4, crossing the Intracoastal Waterway and
dropping into the marsh southeast of it. A Red-throated Loon is in the
waterway. Also: 8 Black-crowned Night and 1 Tricolored heron, 3 woodcock
in the refuge, 3 Glossy and only 1 White (an imm.) ibis, 15 Great and 2
Snowy egrets. Very photogenic: a pair of Bald Eagles perched in a
loblolly hammock on either side of (their?) nest with the lighthouse on
Smith Island flasing through a break in the pines. A spectacular sunset
out of the cleared skies.
Sun., Nov. 14. Clear, cold, with brisk winds out of the NE and N, temps c.
37-50. The star show is brilliant at 4 A.M. Run into Bryan Watts at
Sting-Ray's at breakfast who says 7 saw-whet owls were banded last night.
From the hawk watch Bob Anderson, Bill Williams, Brian Taber, Mitchell Byrd
and a few others see a good sampling of late fall birds: a late
Broad-winged Hawk, a juvenile goshawk (8:50 A.M.), 4 Cave Swallows (seen
several times during the day, probably the same ones each time but there
may be more than 4), 2 late Barn Swallows, 3 Golden Eagles (the first a
juvenile affording good views, appearing at 9:17 A.M.), and 7 flyby Ruddy
Ducks. 14 species of raptors seen today. Bryan Watts spots a late
Nashville Warbler near the Butterfly Garden. Zach Smith brings over a
juvenile Red-tailed Hawk he has captured and shows it to 12 of us. Tom
Armour has been out on C.B.B.T. and seen a late Black Skimmer and a Lesser
Black-backed Gull there.
SNOW GEESE. I am wondering about their productivity this year. One flock
of 40 had just one immature. Another flock of 30 had none. Today's flocks
were all flying north, including one at 6 A.M. heard from inside the yurt.
HEADIN' HOME. By way of Route 600. From Cedar Grove Road (opposite KSP)
to Exmore see these wire birds: 68 bluebirds, 8 kestrels, and 65 Mourning
Doves plus 6 deer. At Willis Wharf the tide is TOO low so they're not many
shorebirds - they're presumably widely dispersed: 20 Willets, a Greater
Yellowlegs, and a kingfisher but the godwits are not in view. However, I'm
sure they're there somewhere, in force.
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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