VA BIRDers,
A quick note. Marc Ribaudo, Rich Rieger and I drove north on the CBBT on 29
Dec. Our stop on island #1 produced the usual Ruddy Turnstones and Purple
Sandpipers. About 2000 Northern Gannets were feeding as a group on a
concentrated food source moving west to east through the islands - it was
fabulous watching the action. The gull flock, based principally on island
#2 were soon joined by the gannets when they met the wake of a passing
freighter between the islands and this brought a large number of birds. We
could ID at least 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls and nearby I spotted a
white-winged gull with no contrast on the wing tips. This latter bird was
the color of pale sand and so I tentatively ID it as 1/2 winter Glaucous
Gull.
The next day was the Cape Charles CBC and I know that Harry Armistead will
give a detailed report. Our team did the Ferry Sector (west of Rt 13 from
Kiptopeke SP to Plantation Creek) and we tallied 97 species (about average)
- the highlights were Long-eared Owl calling at Magotha Rd in the early
morning and Vesper Sparrows mixed with Savannahs in agriculture fields along
Arlington Rd. The biggest miss was any nuthatch.
Kurt Gaskill
