A ride around Cape Charles and Oyster this afternoon til dark produced fields
full of gulls and terns, among them about 5000 Laughing Gulls and smaller
numbers of Ring-billed, Great Black-backed, and Herring Gulls, 290 Forster's,
50
Common, 50 Caspian, 90 Royal, 45 Common, 1 Roseate (in Cape Charles harbor,
photographed), and 1 adult Bridled Tern (at turn off to Cheriton, photographed
at 1/4 second!) sitting with mixed Laughing Gull /tern flock, 6 Black Skimmers,
and 5 Sandwich Terns. Tricolored Herons are a common sight overhead as the
gales blow; a few Chimney Swifts and Tree Swallows zing by as well. The
village of Oyster was fully flooded at high tide around 1400 hrs; the wrack
line
from receding waters was almost before the beginning of the town. We lost
another huge 100-year-old tree in the yard; it fell on the neighbors' garage
and
split it in half. What a mess. At least the waters have receded, even if
winds
are still well above 90 mph. A female Black-and-white Warbler is taking
shelter in a small dogwood off the back of the house; what a sight she makes,
poor
thing, just hanging on in the lee of the house.
Ned Brinkley
Cape Charles, VA
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