VA BIRDers,
Cher and I visited the Chincoteague area Saturday the 17th and the following
day birded the Bayside from the MD border down to Onancock. High winds
(20-35 knots) were present both days making land birding difficult;
temperatures were ca. 30-40F Saturday and 32-46F Sunday (Virginia Beach at
5pm was noticeably warmer Sunday - location, location, etc.). Highlight of
the trip was Piping Plover at Snow Goose Pool, Chincoteague NWR Saturday -
it was posed upon an exposed bit of land. I tried a seawatch Saturday
morning, using a latrine as a wind block; nothing unusual but many (100+)
scoters flying a half mile or more out; none identifiable to species. Near
the causeway, some gulls were present in prime nesting areas. Below are
numbers of the other interesting species that were observed at Chincoteague
(NWR and town and nearby areas):
Snow Goose 500, morning only, northbound, none Sunday
Tundra Swan 9
Wood Duck 1
Gadwall 150
Am. Wigeon 40
Am. Black Duck 215
Mallard 105
No. Shoveler 250
No. Pintail 40
Green-winged Teal 350
Greater Scaup 2
Surf Scoter 2
Black Scoter 21
Long-tailed Duck 14
Bufflehead 3
Hooded Merganser 6
Red-breasted Merganser 15
Ruddy Duck 20
Red-throated Loon 20
Common Loon 16
Horned Grebe 11
Northern Gannet 15
DC Cormorant 8
Great Cormorant 2
Great Blue Heron 4
Great Egret 10
Black-crowned Night-Heron 1
Bald Eagle 7, incl 4 adults
No. Harrier 3
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Am. Kestrel 1
Peregrine Falcon 1
Black-bellied Plover 3
Piping Plover 1
Killdeer 3
Am. Oystercatcher 21
Greater Yellowlegs 30
Willet 120
Marbled Godwit 6
Sanderling 27
Western Sandpiper 1
Least Sandpiper 1
Dunlin 2560
Forster's Tern 1
Horned Lark 7
Tree Swallow 61
Hermit Thrush 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 46
Pine Warbler 2
Eastern Towhee 2
sharp-tailed sparrow sp. 1 (far southern end of Chincoteague town, in the
marsh)
E. Meadowlark 7
The next day we concentrated on waterfowl from the MD border of the Bay
south to Onancock making about 19 stops. Strong winds across the bay
severely impacted this effort. The Saxis dock area had good diversity and
is easily accessible.
C. Goose 250
Tundra Swan 13
Am. Black Duck 23
Mallard 39
Green-winged Teal 54
Canvasback 7
Greater Scaup 4
Lesser Scaup 76
Surf Scoter 64
Black Scoter 2
Bufflehead 230
Common Goldeneye 7
Hooded Merganser 2, potential breeder pair nr CR836, another male was in a
pond off Atlantic Ave.
RB Merganser 8
Ruddy Duck 304
Common Loon 17
Horned Grebe 30, just about every stop had this species in various states of
dress
DC Cormorant 4
Great Blue Heron 7
Great Egret 1
Osprey 1
Bald Eagle 5
No. Harrier 2
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Am. Kestrel 4
Killdeer 4
Dunlin 1
Wilson's Snipe 2, I tried to walk a portion of Saxis Marsh but all I got
were these and windburn.
Laughing Gull 1
Royal Tern 1, north of Parker's Marsh
Forster's Tern 6
Horned Lark 3 (plus 12 farm-raised Peafowl near Bulbegger Rd, beautiful
birds!)
Yellow-rumped Warbler 47
Pine Warbler 4
Chipping Sp 1
Boat-tailed Grackle ca. 30
Kurt Gaskill
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