[va-richmond-general] Chincoteague & CBBT
- From: "Al Warfield" <warfield101@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Audubon Listserve" <va-richmond-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 06:46:17 -0400
This weekend in Chincoteague we saw 2 Marbled Godwits. Black-bellied Plovers
were in abundance, and also lots of Black-crowned Night-herons, mostly
juveniles.
But the most interesting bird we saw was on a larg boulder at the north end of
the 1st island of the CBBT being buffetted by 25 mph winds. It was a juvenile
bird that appeared to be in the heron or bittern family. We couldn't find it in
Sibley's or Kaufmann's. It was about the size of a Green Heron or slightly
smaller, but had long bluish-gray legs and large feet, almost no tail, and the
body was mostly a light bluish slate gray with small round white spots all
over. The bill was bluish-gray, straight, pointed but with no hook, about 1-1/2
in. long or slightly longer and fairly heavy, tapering from the base to the
tip. The iris was yellow. The posture emphasized the long legs, with rear
higher than the head most of the time. There was no hint of brown anywhere, or
red like a juvenile Reddish Egret. (The many Black-crowned Night-heron
juveniles we saw on Chincoteague and on Wreck Island on Saturday had elongated
spots, and were basically brown, not gray.) Possibly the storm at sea blew it
off course. It finally hopped down below a large rock to get out of the wind. I
hope it makes it to wherever it was headed. Anyone want to venture a guess on
an ID?
Al Warfield
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