Part 2: the Redeye Circuit 2002.
Dec. 30, Monday. Cape Hatteras CBC. The 4 of us split up and cover
Hatteras village until 1 P.M. or so. Matt & George find a hummingbird.
While trying to relocate it we see several Monarchs and a Red Admiral. Our
day Monarch total is a dozen. The temperature goes up to 71. A total of
14 hummers, all presumed Ruby-throateds, are seen on the count. Several
have been banded already by Sue Campbell of the N.C., State Museum who has
established that they overwinter here successfully. Our morning list is 78
species including 1,500 gannets, 7,500 Double-crested Cormorants, 2
Blue-winged Teal, 1 Clapper Rail (well-seen), 4 knots, 1 ad. Lesser
Black-backed Gull, 15 Royal Terns, 4 Tree Swallows, 2 Sedge Wrens, 28
catbirds, 5 thrashers, 6 well-seen Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrows and 1
Seaside Sparrow. Interesting birds others see on the count are: 1 Osprey,
1 King Rail, 2 Soras, only 1 Bonaparte's Gull (unbelievable), 1 Thayer's
Gull, 2 Prairie Warblers (regular here), 2 Black-and-white Warblers, 1 N.
Parula, 9 Ovenbirds (regular), 2 Baltimore Orioles, 5 Painted Buntings
(regular even though they do not breed), 2 Green Herons, 1 Yellow-throated
Warbler, 2 saw-whet owls, a Lark Sparrow, 12 Turkey Vultures (uncommon and
irregular) and 2 saw-whet owls. Matt Sharp, answering nature's call, found
a beautifully-marked Cottonmouth (O.K., WHERE would YOU put the
tourniquet?), curled up on top of some grass with its mouth open, ready to
strike. George got several photographs and also approached to within 25
feet a Sharp-shinned Hawk on the ground feeding on a meadowlark, getting
some shots of that minor spectacle. The hit-or-miss nature of this CBC is
shown by some of its totals: 1 Red-tailed Hawk, 6 Rock Doves, 1 Downy
Woodpecker, 0 titmice, chickadees or nuthatches, 3 Chipping & 2 Field
Sparrows and 10 juncos. c. 127 species for the count, some of them subject
to review and possible rejection, esp. 2 species I have not mentioned.
We spend most of the afternoon at Cape Point (Cape Hatteras per se) where I
revel in doing my usual walk around the point as well as the Salt Pond.
Jared spots 3 Ipswich Sparrows and I see 4 immature kittiwakes, the only
ones seen on the count. We fail to find Ricky Davis's Western Tanager but
on our own see some scarce birds others have already found: a Glossy Ibis,
a Cattle Egret and 2 American Bitterns. There are 97 vehicles at the point
but no fish are being caught. I hand capture an adult Brown Pelican but
alas it is not banded.
Dec. 31, Tuesday. Cape Hatteras (Buxton) to Philadelphia. 414 miles.
Jared & I stop on the C.B.B.T. for a couple of hours, see 5 Common Eiders
spread out on 3 islands, 1 a 1st year male. At Island 3 we see briefly but
well a Harbor Seal. While on Island 1 we run into Paul Sykes, compiler of
the Little Creek, VA, CBC that day. He reports seeing a Common Gull. Not
knowing whether Todd Day yet has this bird for his Virginia Big Year, I
call George, who has joined others at Cape Henry (Ft. Story) including
Todd, who recently tied Ned Brinkley's previous record VA Big Year at 345
species with a Thayer's Gull on the C.B.B.T. (originally found by Paul
Lehman on Dec. 28). As soon as George answers on his cell phone he says:
"We are looking at a Clark's Grebe", so Todd has the record with 346 ...
and he HAS already seen Common Gull in VA in 2002. Ned is with him and has
in fact, in his typically generous, enthusiastic fashion, helped him get
this record in 2002. At this point Paul Sykes leaves the C.B.B.T. almost
immediately to look for the grebe, forgetting his list of C.B.B.T. birds
for the day. I call George again and give him Paul's numbers, which Ned
takes to the compilation tonight. Let's hear it for modern communication.
As it is every year this has been an exhausting but memorable and
stimulating 6 days with plenty of marvelous sights: birds and mammals,
spectacularly good weather, marvelous places, and great people. The
spectacle of Cape Hatteras, a great seascape with countless thousands of
cormorants in great strings of flying birds as well as enormous pods of
them feeding in the water, plus hundreds of gannets and pelicans, is as
good a way to end the year as I know. Nevertheless, Liz and I enjoy seeing
the New Year in with 2 other couples after my arrival back in Philadelphia
at 6 P.M.
Best to all.-Harry Armistead, 523 E. Durham St., Philadelphia, PA
19119-1225. 215-248-4120. Please, any off-list replies to:
harryarmistead@xxxxxxxxxxx
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