I was astonished last evening to count 46 American Woodcocks crossing the
Stone Road (in flight, that is) east of Cape Charles at dusk, presumably
flying toward wet feeding areas in farm fields and wet woods just to the
north. I've often seen 2 or 3 at this time of day, always flying north, but
46 was just mind-blowing. This might mean that the Eastern Shore of Virginia
NWR has literally hundreds of these little guys; on the Cape
Charles/Kiptopeke CBC one year, we saw over 500 -- they were flushing from
the woods around the Winslow Bunker at dusk like locusts out of a farm field.
Locally, birding is fairly quiet, other than a male Baltimore Oriole in full
alternate plumage (normally not seen after early August!) coming to a local
feeder, in addition to the imm. female Rufous Hummingbird. One would think
that the warm-up (to 72 degrees) the other day would have sent some of these
birds on their way. About 50 Tree Swallows yesterday (possibly other species
in the air, but some were seen while driving) were on the late side.
Interesting gulls on the CBBT have been limited to Lesser Black-backed and
Laughing again for the past 2 days -- how fascinating that inland landfills
have Iceland, Glaucous, and California, none of which have been seen on the
span this winter. Nonetheless, the prey resources would seem to continue
bountiful out there -- gulls coming to roost in the evening have their necks
bulging with food, and they appear to be feeding day and night over fish
schools. So more gulls should be on the way.
Ned Brinkley
Cape Charles, VA
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