[va-bird] pelican & Royal Tern roundups

From: "Harry Armistead" <harryarmistead@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 21:24:25 +0000

From: Henry Armistead <74077.3176@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> >To: Harry Armistead
Subject: pelican &Royal Tern roundups >Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2003 21:41:20

-0400>>2 days of field work including much boating with master banders John
Weske >and Dave Brinker and their retinue in the central Chesapeake Bay and
Ocean >City area, July 9-10, 2003. >>July 9, Wed. >>Little Fox Island,
Accomack Co., VA (Chesapeake Bay Foundation [CBF] >property). This is only
about 4 mi. s. of the MD/VA line, and NE of >Tangier I. but closer to
Crisfield, MD. The island is diminished >considerably from last year, when
over 1,000 Royal Terns were banded here. >Still, we banded 437 today. 41
Royal Tern eggs were counted so a return >trip will be made in 2-3 weeks.
TheLaughing Gull colony is bigger, >though. At one point I estimated 225
adults in sight at one time with >nests with eggs and some young birds. I
noticed perhaps a dozen juvenile >Forster's Terns. No skimmers this year, a
change. A breeding plumage >Dunlin was unusual, for a while, until it flew
and its injured right wing >was evident. Also: 3 Diamondback Terrapin and a
dozen or so Cabbage >Whites. 2 oystercatchers and a Fish Crow. >>The low
Royal Tern totals prompted us to do an exploratory trip several >miles to
thewest from Tangier Island north to the remnants of the Shanks >and
Cheeseman islands area. Here we found a tight colony of 200-300 Royal >Tern
nests plus 55 or so adult skimmers also on eggs. Since it was close >to
midday we did not linger here out of concern for the effects of the >strong
sunshine on the birds' eggs. My really rough estimates of birds >seen
included 2,100 flying pelicans, 1,300 Herring and 700 Great >Black-backed
gulls, 4 black ducks, 12 oystercatchers, 275 cormorants, 7 >Fish Crows, 7
Mute Swans, and a Black-bellied Plover. On a small marshy >tump there was an
active colony of Common (mostly) and Forster's terns. At >Tangier I. we
noticed a Song Sparrow, a catbird, House Sparrows, an ad. >Yellow-crowned
Night Heron and c. 40 Canada Geese. We stopped briefly at >the CBF's Port
Isobel facility there. >>Smith Island, MD. Lunch at Ruke's in Ewell. A House
Wren and a catbird >here, exemplary of the sparse breeding landbirds on the
Bay islands and of >interest. At the inlet-jetties on the west side a Tiger
Swallowtail was >several hundred yards offshore. John banded 9 off-Martin
refuge Ospreys in >the Smith I. to Crisfield transit in 4 nests, the chicks
smaller than usual >for this time of year. Another nest he checked on July
10had 3 young too >small to band. >>Ocean City, MD (Skimmer Island). 8 of us
rounded up the Royal Tern chicks, >some 263 of them, from c. 5:30-7:30 P.M.
Several dozen royal eggs remain >here so John plans a future visit for
mopping up operations. There were >also Black Skimmer and Common Tern nests,
some with chicks, plus most of >Maryland's breeding heron species present.
Several thousand Horseshoe >Crabs crowded the higher parts of the intertidal
zone, real late for that >sort of activity. Also here: c. 25 oystercatchers,
20 Willets, 2 >Short-billed Dowitchers, 1 Black-bellied Plover, 65 Brown
Pelicans, and >loads of Mallards. The number of Royals was down, I think,
from last year. >There is some concern about the increase in ground
vegetation on Skimmer >Island making the place less suitable for Royals.
Evenso it certainly is >impressive to see the fecundity of the place
surrounded as it is by >development and constant boat traffic. >>July 10,
Thu. South Point Marsh, Accomack Co., VA, n. of Tangier I. and c. >3 mi. s.
of the MD/VA line, essentially an extension of Smith I., Somerset >Co., MD.
18 of us, including Sue Ricciardi and Charlie Vaughn plus persons >from
various agencies, interns, et al., banded 752 Brown Pelican chicks c. >7-11
A.M. There are 3 pelican colonies in this small area. Today birds >were
banded at the southernmost and biggest one. About a week ago c. 200 >were
banded at the other 2 colonies until activities were curtailed after a >rain
storm and 2 waterspouts materialized. Many birds and some eggs still >remain
so a return trip will be made here in 2-3 weeks. Already Brinker et >al.
havebanded almost as many pelicans (953) as all last year. The number >of
breeding pairs is about the same as last year at South Point Marsh. In >the
MD part of the Bay there are also a dozen or so pairs on s. Barren >Island
and several dozen on Pry I. (South Marsh I.). There are dozens of >pairs of
cormorants at South Point Marsh but not as many, I don't think, as >last
year. 14 oystercatchers and a few Seaside Sparrows including a >juvenile.
Probably the most energetic person present, Lisa Marie Balmert >caught an
adult pelican with a hand net that Dave said had been banded c. >10 years
agoas a nestling in Worcester County, MD, near South Point. The >thousands
ofbirds in the South Point marsh south to Tangier I. area >comprise an
impressive spectacle, especially the pelican colony. There are >hundreds of
young Herring and quite a few young Great Black-backed gulls >also. >>Smith
I., MD. Lunch at Ruke's again. 6 Yellow-crowned Night Herons in the >general
area. >>Best to all.-Harry Armistead, 523 E. Durham St., Philadelphia, PA

19119-1225. 215-248-4120. Please, any off-list replies to:
harryarmistead@xxxxxxxxxxx

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[va-bird] pelican & Royal Tern roundups

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