VA Birders,
The 30 members who took part in our Northern Virginia Bird Club's (NVBC)
Spring Chincoteague Weekend, May 20-22, found at least 106 species of birds.
Highlights of our trip included all the usual herons and egrets except
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron on Chincoteague NWR. On our Saturday morning beach
walk,
we found a PIPING PLOVER on its nest in the exclosure (wire cage that keeps
out predators but allows the plovers to go in and out easily) just beyond the
turnaround for cars at the south end of the parking area. We also found a
WHIMBREL on the ocean beach, several AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHERS, including one
which
appeared to be on a nest, and up to 30 LEAST TERNS--the most I have seen
there--including one which also appeared to be on a nest. From the boardwalk
at the
Assateague Visitor Center, we enjoyed seeing a CLAPPER RAIL, which paraded
across an open area, clapping as it went! We also found a STILT SANDPIPER
there. On our ride to the Wash Flats on the Chincoteague Natural History Asso.
bus, we found 5-6 GULL-BILLED TERNS, which we enjoyed seeing fly back and forth
at close range. We also saw several BLACK SKIMMERS at Snow Goose Pool on the
refuge Friday afternoon. Sunday morning we headed for Saxis Marsh, pulling
over briefly on the Chincoteague Causeway to add a pair of BLACK-NECKED STILTS
to
our list. At Saxis Marsh we saw MARSH WRENS and SEASIDE SPARROWS.
Afterwards, Pat Blyer and my husband Allen and I drove down the Eastern
Shore to the CBBT. We made a brief stop at Eastern Shore NWR, where we found
another BLACK-NECKED STILT standing in the Ramp Road pond (I had a report that
this bird was seen there a week earlier too). Alas, we missed the kites there
which I read about after we returned home Monday afternoon. On the CBBT, our
best birds were COMMON TERNS, which we found on both Islands #4 & 3.
Good birding,
Val Kitchens
Arlington, VA
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