"Rigby's Folly", Armistead property on Ferry Neck, Talbot County, MD, near
Bellevue. September 27, 2002, Fri. Remnants of hurricane Isadore pass way
to west. Do a "sea watch" at Lucy Point 5 P.M. - 7:15 P.M. but nothing
unusual in spite of the 35 mph south winds. 3 adult Bald Eagles, 2
Ospreys. The Olszewskis have hung a camouflage 55 gal. metal drum full of
corn near the point as a feeder.
Kiptopeke, Virginia, Sept. 28 through October 14:
With apologies, much of this has already been summarized on VA-BIRD (which
I like to access via: birdingonthe.net) by Zach, Jethro, Ned and others
but what is below serves as my "diary" and also gets sent to friends and
relatives.
Hawk counts below start with my favorites, the 3 falcons, and should be
considered unofficial.
Jethro, Deniz & Zach are a most congenial team of naturalists, impressive
in their knowledge and skills and good with the visitors, too. It is
entertaining to listen to their witty banter on the radios. Coastal
Virginia Wildlife Observatory, with a shoestring budget, certainly manages
to attract good people to work here each autumn.
This year I am struck by the high ratio of Cooper's to sharpies as well as
the low numbers of sharpies. There seem to be more early Red-shouldereds
than usual. No record-breaking flights during this sojourn but still much
to stir one's interest. Red-breasted Nuthatches are non-existant.
Best spectacle: one day after a banded peregrine is released from the
hawkwatch platform a Merlin divebombs it at close range to us several
times.
Abbreviations: C.B.B.T., Chesapeake Bay Bridge & Tunnel. E.S.B.F.,
Eastern Shore of Virginia Birding Festival. ESVNWR, Eastern Shore of
Virginia National Wildlife Refuge. K.S.P., Kiptopeke State Park.
People, some of the folks I got to see and talk with: Bob & Joyce Ake, Bob
Anderson, Mary Arginteanu, Deniz Aygen (raptor trapper), Cameron Barnas,
Larry Brindza, Ned Brinkley, Mitchell Byrd, Marty Daniels, Todd Day, m/m
Tad de Bordenave, Joan Cordle, Dan Cristol, Ed Dewar, John & Martha
Dillard, Bettye Fields, Rafael Galvez, Charlie Gant, Kurt Gaskill, Keith &
Deb Gingrich, Tom Gwynn, Ray Haynie, Susan Heath, Bob Hickman, Earl
Hodnett, Geri Howe, Mike Iwanik, Kendall Jenkins, Val Kitchens, Nan La Rue,
Bill Lagerstrom, Bev Leeuwenburg, Laura McKay, Bill & Maureen Minor, Thelma
Peterson, Mary Pulley, Sue Ricciardi, Sue Rice, Bob Rineer, Larry Robinson,
Jethro Runco (passerine bander), Tom Saunders, Don Schwab, Bernie & Janie
Schaaf, Zach Smith (raptor counter), Sherman Stairs, Dave Summers, Clay &
Pat Sutton, Brian Taber, Thuy Tran, Craig Turner, Lee White, Bill Williams,
Gary & Phyllis Williamson.
Sept. 28, Sat. The 3 ad. eagles are at Rigby as are a Red Fox and a Snowy
Egret on our dock. Do some brush work along our trails then shove off for
Kiptopeke where I arrive at 2 P.M. Hal Wierenga just happens to be at the
K.S.P. gate the moment I pull in and has already arranged for us to share
commodious camp site 2 with Lynn Davidson and himself. Bob Rineer helps me
set up my tent in the strong winds. Bob Anderson, Thuy Tran and I head to
dinner at Sting-Ray's seeing 27 nighthawks along the way.
Sept. 29, Sun. Hal, Lynn & I breakfast together each morning. Several
nights they hear Gray-cheeked and other thrushes going over as well as a
local Barn Owl. We are serenaded by a pair of Horned Owl every night, too.
Ned Brinkley, Susan Heath, Mitchell Byrd, Bob Anderson and I see a good
flight of passerines at Best Western Sunset Beach Resort early in the A.M.
including a Black-billed Cuckoo and good looks at fly-by Cape May, Palm,
Black-and-white & Black-throated Blue Warblers, which Ned has reported in
good detail already on VA-BIRD. A fine hawk flight today with 34
peregrines, 62 Merlins, 347 kestrels, 363 Ospreys (incl. 17 in one kettle),
3 Bald Eagles, 28 harriers, 285 sharpies, 104 Cooper's, 2 Red-shouldereds,
16 Broad-wingeds & 3 Red-taileds = 1,247 total. Janie Schaaf, aware of my
weaknesses, gives me a fine, large Gray Squirrel doorstop that adorns our
campsite picnic table for the rest of our stay and is now kept in the midst
of my bottles of strong drink in Philadelphia.
Sept. 30, Mon. A poor year for Monarchs but Hal, Lynn, Sue Ricciardi, Bob
Rineer, Keith & Deb, & I go to ESVNWR incl. Wise Pt. and tag 3 anyway.
Dozens of Black Vultures roost on the big tower at the refuge. A very hot
day. Even on a poor day the hawk flight here is pretty good: 13
peregrines, 27 Merlins, 68 kestrels, 72 Ospreys, 5 Bald Eagles, 5 harriers,
126 sharpies, 73 Cooper's, 4 Broad-wingeds & 2 Red-taileds = 395 total.
Oct. 1, Tue. More hot weather but still a decent flight: 10 peregrines,
23 Merlins, 84 kestrels, 25 Ospreys, 1 Bald Eagle, 9 harriers, 131
sharpies, 17 Cooper's, 1 Broad-winged, 3 Red-taileds = 304 total. Nice
catches by Deniz include an imm. female peregrine, a Merlin, a harrier and
a Red-tailed. During processing hawks are kept inside ventilated cans to
keep them calm and restrained in the dark. Best question from a visitor
this year: "How do you get the hawks to fly into the cans?" Rafael Galvez,
from Peru but now resident in the Florida Keys, visits the hawk platform.
He is a good hawker, and, unlikely as it seems, manages a choral group from
the Republic of Georgia which sings ancient vocal music passed down by
generations through oral tradition.
Oct. 2, Wed. Best count of nighthawks today: 36. Pretty good hawk flight
in spite of continued hot weather: 7 peregrines, 16 Merlins, 162 kestrels,
14 Ospreys, 6 harriers, 260 sharpies, 37 Cooper's, 1 Red-shouldered, 17
Broad-wingeds, 2 Red-taileds = 522 total. Larry, Hal, Lynn & I go to Wise
Point and Fisherman's Island but find few Monarchs. I haul home a nice new
plastic milk crate, booty from the island beach. Bob Rineer, Zach & I have
extended looks at a spectacular Gulf Fritillary present at ESVNWR for some
time, a most beautiful, locally-rare butterfly, also seen this year at Cape
May, Richmond and other spots. At night I fall over a rusty metal grill
and get a bad scrape on my right shin, several other bruises and scrapes.
Deb, a nurse, is most helpful, as are later the nice folks at the Cheriton
clinic, who give me a tetanus shot and antibiotics. 15 days later my right
ankle and foot are still swollen but all is basically O.K.
Oct. 3, Thu. Hot weather again. 14 peregrines, 11 Merlins, 180 kestrels,
12 Ospreys, 1 Bald Eagle, 12 harriers, 182 sharpies, 69 Cooper's, 5
Broad-wingeds & 2 Red-taileds = 488 total.
Oct. 4, Fri. A most unusual hawk flight: 116 peregrines (53% of the
flight today !!), 5 Merlins, 41 kestrels, 3 TV's, 21 Ospreys, 7 harriers,
12 sharpies, 10 Cooper's, 1 Broad-winged, 3 Red-taileds = 219 total.
Charlie Gant & Bob Hickman give me a ride to Willis Wharf for the first
trip I lead for the E.S.B.F., the Machipongo River cruise. 22 of us see
215 Willets, 26 Marbled Godwits, 2 Bald Eagles, 3 peregrines, 3 harriers,
40 Black-bellied Plovers & a Merlin plus a Diamondback Terrapin. This is
aboard Capt. Monty Webb's 'Safari'. A nice boat ride but I miss most of
the 116 peregrines at K.S.P., the best day of the year for them. At the
E.S.B.F. it is moving to see the Kiptopeke Founders honored. Have a nice
talk with Doris & Walter Smith. Dorothy Mitchell is also present as are
some of Fred Scott's family. The Founder's Stone is installed at K.S.P.
with their names plus Mike Mitchell and Charlie Hacker. I take part in a
video being prepared to send to Charlie, who is very ill. These Founders
began banding at Kiptopeke in 1963, 2 years before Will Russell (with a
slight assist from me) began the Cape Charles Christmas Bird Count. This
afternoon there is also a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Sunset Beach Resort
for the official opening of the Virginia Coastal Birding Trail, pioneered
by David Whitehurst, for which there is an attractive 100-page guidebook.
Enjoy talking to the Rev. Tad de Bordenave today who lives in Richmond and
is Director of Anglican Frontier Missions (in N. Africa, Middle East and s.
Asia). Imagine our surprise to discover we had attended the same 2 schools
but 3 years apart. A lot of catching up is had while Tad's wife sketches
the Deodora cedar in front of the hawk watch. Clay & Pat Sutton, fine
naturalists from Cape May, give the E.S.B.F. keynote address.
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