[MDOsprey] Pelagic cancelled; Virden Conference Center a Winner; Three super birds on Del. coast on

arnold stanley (sarnol1@gl.umbc.edu)
Mon, 14 Jun 1999 14:29:52 -0400 (EDT)


Hi,

This posting primarily concerns Delaware, but since many Ospreyers were
involved or interested, I'm posting it to the net.

As is now common knowledge, the pelagic trip out of Lewes on 13 June was
cancelled due to high winds and rough seas off shore.  But the rest is
good news.

First, the Virden Conference Center that Marcia had suggested is a real
winner.  Though the walls are a bit thin, I think those that stay there
are apt to be more quiet, and we had few neighbors, let alone neighborly
noise.  As Marcia had said, it sits next to a marsh.  Some of the birds
that I heard or saw FROM THE ROOM, or from the small screened porch
attached to the room were:  Willow Flycatcher, Green Heron, Willet,
skimmers (three flying by), chat, Yellow Warbler, Marsh Wren, N. Bobwhite,
and Great Crested Flycatcher.  Of course, I wouldn't have done this much
birding from the room had the pelagic gone as scheduled.

The other good news was the sighting of some terrific birds on the way to
Lewes on Saturday, viz:  LITTLE EGRET, WHITE-FACED IBIS, and POMARINE
JAEGER (on land!).

I was at Bombay Hook early in the morning on Sat. (12 June), and the
Little Egret had not
been seen the day prior.  After doing the Boardwalk Trail (lots of Willow
Flycatchers) and searching all the impoundments, I went to lunch.  When I
returned to Raymond Pool (about 11:30)  Glenn Lovelace from Delaware gave
me the unhappy news that I just missed the bird.  But he said it was
tending to move back and forth between Raymond and the marsh around the
Boardwalk Trail.  So we waited and chatted a bit, and he was right; Here
it came, landing almost beside us at the southeast corner of Raymond.
Then Jane Kostenko and Tyler Bell drove up not more than a minute or two
later.  Now that's timing!

The bird then flew back south towards the boardwalk and disappeared.  But
again, it wasn't more than about 20 or 30 minutes when it put in its third
appearance for the morning, this time landing on the fence around the
water control structure at the southeast corner of Raymond.  And I believe
it was Jim Stasz that arrived just as the bird landed.  Again, what
timing!  It stayed a short time then took off again for the marsh around
the boardwalk, with Jim backing up in pursuit.

While the field marks of grayish lores, double plume, and dingier feet
have been shared, I found this bird to have these additional field marks
that could aid in identification.  First, the bird's head has a very
smooth appearance; there is no crest or tuft of feathers as in the
Snowies; the silhouette is very slick.  Secondly, this bird has some very
light brown steaks on the head, nape, and back.  This is particularly
helpful if the bird is flying away from you, because the steaks on the
back ARE visible at one or two hundred feet away.  This field mark was
very helpful on Sunday when I again walked the Boardwalk trail, and saw
the bird fly away from me toward the canal along the boardwalk.  I would
have pursued it for another good look, but it started to rain, so I
instead bulldozed my way through the thousands of biting flies back to the
car.

During all the pauses between the Little Egret episodes on Saturday, many
of us got
good looks at the White-faced Ibis among the 100 or more glossies, also in
Raymond Pool.  Since it's not easy to closely examine 100 or more glossies
for the one with the extensive white around the eye, I noted that the
White-face has a much REDDER BROWN back than the glossies.  The glossies
were a darkish greenish, grayish, blackish (take your pick) on the back.
I got to where I could scan the ibises, and pick out the White-face by
color alone.  Also, the White-face has decidely reddish legs, as opposed
to the non-descript dark legs of the glossies.  My impression was that the
White-face was also a bit smaller, but this is only an impression to which
I gave little additional thought.

The last impressive sighting of the day was a Pomarine Jaeger seen from
the observation tower at the Little Creek WMA.  Mary Gustavson and Bruce
___________ were at the tower when I arrived, and Bruce was just running
back to the car for his camera, sharing with me the news of the sighting.
He's the one that found it, and when I got to the tower, he and Mary got
me right on the bird.  Then, quite fortuitously, the bird, originally
sitting on a sandbar, decided to fly a short distance, aiding considerably
in its identification.  It remained in place until I left, about 30
minutes later.

So, no pelagic, but some fabulous birding nevertheless, and a nice place
to stay on Saturday night.

Stan Arnold
Glen Burnie, MD