This word from Brian Patteson this morning:
The beach at Cape Point, Buxton, North Carolina is swarming with Razorbills!
As of 8:00 in the morning, Ricky Davis, George Armistead, and other birders
had counted some 4400 (!!!) Razorbills, plus a few Dovekies, from the beach.
The highest from-shore count in North Carolina came from near Avon ten years
ago, when a few of us counted 1184 birds in a little over an hour (local
fisherman suggested that the mass was comprised of as many as 3000 birds).
So the alcids have arrived!
Yesterday's pelagic trip off Hatteras village found 350 Razorbills, as well
as Manx Shearwater, Dovekie (3 -- rare this far to the south, a good indication
that numbers are probably off Virginia), Little Gulls (4 -- including a
first-winter bird), and hundreds of Red Phalaropes.
There is a good chance that Fort Story (try a watch from the Harbormaster
Headquarters, where one can park literally right at the beach) will produce
alcids in coming days. A spotting scope is needed to tell Razorbills from
murres,
and even with a scope, distinguishing the two (three, rather) can be
impossible if the birds are too distant. But this is clearly the biggest
influx of at
least Razorbills in a decade, and Virginia usually gets good numbers when
North Carolina has huge flocks.
There is a boat trip scheduled for this coming Saturday off Virginia Beach
(you knew it was coming!), our last shot to get offshore here this winter. I
think Brian said there are still a few spots left (9 or so). No telling
what'll
be seen, but it seems like a good winter to give it a go!
Ned Brinkley
Cape Charles, VA
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