It was pretty good today at Craney Island in Portsmouth. There's
definitely more water than there was 3 weeks ago. The south impoundment
is still dry and devoid of birds but the middle impoundment now has some
water and birds. The north impoundment has a lot of water. Overall, I
had 17 species of shorebirds with the best ones being 2 WILSON'S
PHALAROPES. The phalaropes were located in the north impoundment. I
first spotted them standing and preening but they shortly flew to deeper
water and started feeding in the typical phalarope fashion, swimming and
stabbing at the water erratically. Also there were 6 AMERICAN AVOCETS
and, at the very end, at least 125 LEAST TERNS. I had 1 WHITE-RUMPED
SANDPIPER in the middle impoundment. On the river side was 1 BLACK
SKIMMER sitting with the terns and gulls. A list of shorebirds and a
few others species seen is below. Good birding.
Adam D'Onofrio
Dinwiddie County
Black-bellied Plover (1)
Killdeer
Semipalmated Plover
American Avocet
Spotted Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Willet (1)
Ruddy Turnstone (4)
Sanderling
White-rumped Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Stilt Sandpiper (1)
Short-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Phalarope
Caspian Tern
Royal Tern
Least Tern
Black Skimmer
Northern Shoveler
Bank Swallow (1)
