[nnasnet] shorebirds, terns, et al
- From: Tom Saunders <birdnerd53@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: nnasnet@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 24 Jul 2011 19:06:49 -0400
Tom Teeples recently told us about the "picnic table effect" in which good
birders find good birds wherever they are. Today I was the beneficiary of
essentially the same thing, but I think of it as the Nick Flanders effect.
Nick, a recent ODU graduate who will begin a Masters in Wildlife Biology
program at NC State this fall, spent much of the day birding with me and the
birds really came out to greet him.
We started at Hughlett Point and the horned grebe didn't disappoint. The
least tern colony was boisterous and there were some common terns (uncommon
here) and Forster's terns in the area as well. As we neared the southern
point we came upon several least sandpipers and had three greater yellowlegs
fly overhead. At the mouth of Dividing Creek there was a large roost of
mixed terns and gulls. Using his scope Nick was able to pick out a sandwich
tern from the crowd, likely a first Northumberland record of this southern
species. We also had boat-tailed grackles, barn swallows, purple martins,
red-headed woodpeckers, d.c. cormorants, brown pelicans, herring and
laughing gulls, and an adult bald eagle going after a fish.
At Dameron Marsh we saw some shorebirds that were too far off to nail as to
species. There were more laughing gulls, some killdeer and boat-tailed
grackles, a chat, some chickadees and cardinals. The best bird there was a
tri-colored heron seen in the marsh and in flight overhead.
Later we visited the Windmill Point/Foxwells area and added spotted
sandpiper to the list. Most amazing was a kettle of 19 ospreys working a
school of fish. We'd never seen this many ospreys in one place.
Tom Saunders
Balls Neck
Other related posts:
- » [nnasnet] shorebirds, terns, et al - Tom Saunders
