Thursday, July 29, 2004. Mostly overcast and hazy, winds NE-SE-NE 5-10,
temps. in low 80s. A delightful, rather calm day, with moderate
temperatures and most congenial company.
Some of the totals and numbers below are both preliminary and unofficial.
Six of us banded young colonial waterbirds at 2 locations in the central
Chesapeake Bay in Accomack County, VA, and then at Ocean City, MD: Master
bander John Weske, Charlie Vaughn, Gerry Tarbell, Tammy Fuehrer, Rosa
Palarino, and myself. Off to a good start with a scolding Gray Squirrel at
the Pines Motel in Crisfield. This is also quite a birdy motel.
Tammy and Rosa informed us that, unofficially, there were c. 66 Piping
Plover nests on Assateague Island, MD, this summer. Chick production was
good. In addition they encountered Wilson's Plovers several times in May
(and perhaps early June also), probably as many as 5-8 individuals, but
that there was no sign this species was nesting.
On Sunday night (Aug. 1) Ruth Boettcher called concerning the Eastern Shore
of Virginia Birding Festival. During our conversation she mentioned that
this summer there were c. 155 pairs of Piping Plovers in Virginia, an
excellent total following good production in 2003, and that they're doing
well there also in 2004. None, however, were reported on the west side of
the Chesapeake. She and others found 41 pairs on Metomkin Island
(sometimes spelled Metompkin), 28 on Cedar I., plus 3 on Ship Shoal I., 5
on Myrtle I., and 1 on Smith I. Ruth also said there has been a tremendous
die-off of Croakers on the seaside and I believe she also said in the Bay
as well. Ruth also indicated there was a Loggerhead Turtle nesting on Hog
Island.
Little Fox Island, Accomack County, VA. This was the 2nd roundup of young
Royal Terns here. The first was on July 6 when 529 chicks were banded.
Today we tagged 105, a very good total for a return visit. The grand total
is therefore 634. Also present were 95 juvenile Laughing Gulls (one of the
few, perhaps the only, sites on the Bay were LAGU nest except in a few
areas around the mouth of the James River), 7 Least Sandpipers, 3
oystercatchers, 10 pelicans, 95 Great Black-backed Gulls & 8 Canada Geese
on Great Fox Island just to the north, a Barn Swallow, and, surprising on
this little islet, 2 Yellow Warblers flying away that we may have flushed
from here. The "Baccharis halimifolia" bush which held a Snowy Egret nest
with 3 small young last year has disappeared, probably due to Hurricane
Isabel.
South Point Marsh, north colony, Accomack County, VA, c. 1 mile south of
the MD/VA line and Smith I., MD. Our objective was to band young
Double-crested Cormorants and we tagged 72 plus 4 young Brown Pelicans. An
additional trip is planned to go here soon for a last banding of young
pelicans. So far c. 1,925 have been ringed. The total will go
considerably over 2,000 if this other trip takes place, by far the most
ever. Also seen here today: 125 Mute Swans (probably an all-time high
count for Virginia; get out the champagne), 1 harrier, 26 oystercatchers, 1
Yellow-crowned Night Heron, 1 black duck, 4 Seaside Sparrows, and 4
Tricolored Herons. As we were leaving I took a few minutes to estimate the
number of pelicans capable of flight that were in sight from one spot and
got up to c. 1,020.
I made note of the nests still with eggs at this somewhat late date.
Double-crested Cormorant: 18 nests as follows - nests with 1 egg, 5 nests;
2 eggs, 4; 3 eggs, 3; 4 eggs, 1; 1 egg & 1 young, 3; 1 egg & 2 young,
1; 2 eggs & 1 young, 1 nest. Brown Pelican: 17 nests as follows - 1
egg, 2 nests; 2 eggs, 5; 3 eggs, 4; 1 egg & 1 young, 2; 1 egg & 2
young, 4 nests.
We had the traditional celebratory lunch of crab cake sandwiches at Ruke's
in Ewell, Smith I., MD (Somerset County). In the Ewell area I saw 4
kingbirds and only one Yellow-crowned Night Heron.
We pulled John's Privateer at Crisfield, were we ran into Mike Harrison's
brother. Mike is the refuge overseer of the Glenn L. Martin N.W.R. on
Smith I. Then it was over to Ocean City, MD, for a second visit to the
Royal Tern colony there, where biology professor and artist Ellen Lawler
joined us. On July 6 577 royal chicks were banded here at Skimmer Island.
Only a few eggs were seen on that date so our banding of just 3 chicks
today was not that much of a surprise, making a grand total of 580.
Also seen at Skimmer Island today: 6 Sanderlings, 5 Semipalmated & 12
Least sandpipers, 6 turnstones, 1 Willet, 11 oystercatchers, only 3
skimmers, 7 pelicans, 7 House Finches, 40 cormorants, 3 Fish Crows, 10
pigeons, and various herons in or near the shrubbery where they are
apparently nesting: 10 Tricolored & 6 Black-crowned Night herons plus 20
Cattle, 7 Great & 3 Snowy egrets. It was a treat to see 6 or so Least
Terns, several of them diving for little fishes close to the boat and only
a foot or so from the shoreline. The Eastern Shore name for them is Minnie
Hawk (i.e., minnow hawk) or Little Striker. For a half hour the engine
would not start. We hailed a nearby boat for assistance, but then the
engine finally started again, much to everyone's relief.
On the way down Delaware's Route 13 last night I passed an immaculate
Cadillac hearse with the license plate STIFFS. A few minutes later an SUV
with New York Medical Examiner markings passed me, no doubt on its way to
Dover Air Force Base. Outside of the Eagle Diner in Seaford at dusk a Gray
Tree Frog was calling.
Back to Philadelphia by 10:30 P.M. in time to hear most of John Kerry's
acceptance speech, which was concerned to a gratifying extent with
environmental issues.
OFF-TOPIC. Tuckerton, New Jersey. Saturday, July 31, A.M. Fair, temps in
the low 80s, winds strong, SE 20 m.p.h.+. Liz and I and our hostess
Carroll Sheppard spent most of the morning on Great Bay Boulevard, known
informally as Seven Bridges Road, or, simply as "Tuckerton" (among
birders). Grassy tidal marshes such as this are known locally as "The
Sedges" here, a term I have rarely encountered on the Delmarva Peninsula.
Host Carl Sheppard had a fishing charter and was obliged to go fishing with
his clients c. 7 miles offshore in rough seas.
Great Bay Boulevard extends SE from Tuckerton across a fine stretch of
saltmarsh and dead ends at the inland part of Beach Haven Inlet, affording
distant views of the Holgate Peninsula as well as of the sea and a barrier
island to the south where Carl, George, and I once found a Piping Plover
nest. Along the way are 2 lengthy, rickety, clattering, one-lane wooden
bridges that remind me of the former bridge at Hooper's Island celebrated
by Tom Horton in his chapter "The Clatteringest Old Bridge" in his early
book "Bay Country" (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987, pp. 202-205).
Near the end of this elevated road is the Rutgers University marine
research station, formerly a coast guard facility, and across a big tidal
gut lie the remains of the J. Howard Smith menhaden processing plant,
reminiscent of the various defunct menhaden plants on the Chesapeake. On
either side of the road are dense growths of Black Cherry, Red Cedar,
Poison Ivy, Winged Sumac, Wax Myrtle, Baccharis, Phragmites, and some
American Hackberries.
This is a rich saltmarsh and we saw: 1 Gull-billed Tern, 2 Whimbrel, a
Yellow Warbler, 7 Glossy Ibis, 6 Tricolored & 6 Black-crowned Night Herons,
a Clapper Rail, 3 Ospreys, 10 Seaside Sparrows, 7 Willets, 20 Great Egrets,
6 Boat-tailed Grackles,1 Monarch, numerous Seaside Dragonlets, and much
else, including 5 other shorebirds species and numerous Forster's and
Common terns.
"The rocky coasts of the North Atlantic and Pacific have a more flamboyant
beauty than do marshlands. High winds create sound and light spectacles
where jagged cliffs stand opposed to the thundering sea. The contrasts and
leitmotifs are pure Wagner, but the music of the salt marsh is Brahms."
George Reiger's article "Meanders in a marsh" in "Audubon", Sept.-Oct. 1977
catches much of the subtle, lyric beauty of tidal marshlands. No matter
that Brahms may never have seen a saltmarsh.
When I was a boy my doctor recommended that my parents take me to Atlantic
City where he felt the sea air would be good for my sickness. We stayed in
the palatial Marlborough-Blenheim. My parents drove me across several
causeways and through the marshes one winter day then in the mid-1950s. I
saw my first Buffleheads, Horned Grebes, and Short-eared Owls, all down
from their mysterious, remote subarctic breeding grounds. From this point
on I became increasingly fond of the salt marsh, even though most of the
time we had been there it was overcast and cold. If it had been clear we
would not have seen the owls. Probably because I had just heard it in my
sixth grade music class at Chesnut Hill Academy, I always associate those
times and the salt marsh with Brahms Fourth. For me the music of the salt
marsh is indeed Brahms, especially the mellow, gentle, poignant Fourth
Symphony.
Be that as it may Liz and I enjoyed a nice swim in the ocean later on July
31 with several Common Terns hunting right in the midst of hundreds of
bathers like us. Later on after sunset the full moon rose over the sea yet
we were still able to clearly see Cassiopeia, Ursa Major, Stella Polaris,
and a couple of planets.
A pip of a rain storm (several of them, actually) prevented Carl from
taking us fishing on Sunday, August 1, from Beach Haven, NJ, but we saw
from the Sheppards' front porch 7 groups of yelping skimmers fly over -
graceful, languid, and marvelous as always, just before the series of
deluges began.
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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