On Fri., 7/08/2005, four of us walked ca. 2 miles of the Atlantic beach
on Metompkin Island adjacent to the northern portion of Metompkin Bay.
Apropos of recent reports from the Hampton Roads area and points south,
our intent was to survey the beach for dead or dying seabirds,
particularly Greater Shearwaters and other procellariiform species.
We found only one dead bird - a juvenile Northern Gannet. It had been
dead for some time and was quite desiccated, but otherwise in
reasonably good condition (for a cadaver), with all of its plumage
intact.
We also saw the following (live) species on the beach:
Greater Black-backed Gull (many; predominantly subadults)
Common Tern (20+)
American Oystercatcher (20+)
Least Tern (8)
Piping Plover (7)
Regarding an earlier posting by P. R. Mocko today, I went offshore to
Washington Cyn for tuna on June 23 and, although I didn't see the large
flocks of Greater Shearwaters he reports seeing, I did see many more
individuals and pairs than usual. Also in agreement with his
observations, the birds were very aggressive in chasing the baits we
were trolling.
Wes Brown
Parksley VA
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