[MDOsprey] Field Notes report from Hurricane Bertha - and more on birds in

Miliff@aol.com
Thu, 16 Sep 1999 12:56:41 EDT 

MDOsprey,

     Copied below is the Audubon Field Notes writeup (by M.J.Iliff) from 
Hurricane Bertha in 1996.  It shows at least the areas that produced birds 
and gives some brief commentary on what they were doing. Unfortunately I do 
not have Ned's email report from the Bridge-Tunnel close at end else I'd 
forward that too.  
      I think the unusual observation of Black-capped Petrels _returning_ to 
the Bay on July 14 (when winds were out of the West) can be explained by 
looking at Brinkley's excellent Changing Seasons column in North American 
Birds 53(1):12-16 (the fall issue with all the rare seabirds on the cover).  
Observations in NC show that the seabirds in high winds are almost always 
seen flying _into_ the wind, engaging in dynamic soaring and arcing by facing 
the wind.  They then move along a vector at about a 45 degree angle (I 
presume) to the wind.  Thus, if the wind is westerly, the arcing birds will 
likely be moving NW or SW.  Either of these tracks would have birds moving 
out of the Bay on East winds July 13 and into the bay on West winds July 14.  
It is interesting to note that analogies were drawn between the flight styles 
and behaviors of tubenoses and tropical dark-backed terns (Sooty and 
Bridled). 
       Note in the Field Notes report below that Greater Shearwaters remained 
in the Bay through July 19, though the storm passed July 13.  Point Lookout 
and the Smith Island Ferry will be ideal places to bird, and Hooper's Island 
is worth a check.

Good luck,

Marshall J. Iliff
******************************************************************************
********************          
S.A. Box (Summer Season 1996, from National Audubon Society's _Field Notes_)

    Hurricane Bertha pushed every tubenose that one could reasonably expect 
off the Region in July into the mouth of the Bay and a hit team of active 
Virginia birders camped out at the C.B.B.T. Island #1 to watch seabirds flow 
by.  Their July 13 survey included nine Black-capped Petrels, two (one light 
and one dark morph) Trinidade (Herald) Petrels (p.a.), one unidentified 
Pterodroma, five Greater Shearwaters, three Cory's Shearwaters, seven 
Band-rumped Storm-Petrels (p.a.), 11 Leach's Storm- Petrels, four 
unidentified Oceanodroma, and 71 Wilson's Storm-Petrels (+NB et al.).  The 
next day, 26 Black-capped Petrels were found (including a string of eight 
birds), along with 14 Leach's Storm-Petrels, more than 20 Wilson's 
Storm-Petrels, and single Greater, Cory's, and Audubon's shearwaters (NB et 
al.).  The day before the storm produced one Band-rumped Storm-Petrel winging 
N in the early morning at Virginia Beach, VA (p.a. NB).  Brinkley compiled a 
voluminous report on his observations in Tidewater Virginia, distributed over 
email, which not only included careful records of the birds seen, but also 
extensive notes on their behavior and speculation as to how the storm 
effected all species (not just the rarities).  Most birds were seen moving 
out of the Bay on July 13, but the Black-capped Petrels were returning (!) to 
the Bay on the 14th, interestingly enough.  Other Tidewater observers had 
some luck as well.  Willis found a dead Greater Shearwater on the Goodwin 
Bridge over the Nansemond R., Suffolk, VA, before dawn July 13, Williams and 
Taber saw eight Wilson's Storm-Petrels from the Jamestown Ferry on the James 
R., VA, July 13, and Pearce saw a Black-capped Petrel and another gadlfly 
petrel, probably a Black-capped, from Ft. Story, VA, that evening.  The only 
tubenoses in Maryland were the two Leach's Storm-Petrels and two unidentified 
Oceanodroma in Assawoman Bay, Worcester, on the afternoon of July 13 
(+ph.MJI, ph. JLS).  Among Bertha's numerous potential amendments to 
Virginia's avifaunal list are the state's 2nd and 3rd reports for Trinidade 
(Herald) Petrel, record high Black-capped Petrel counts (among 11 previous 
records), 4th and 5th reports for Band-rumped Storm-Petrels including a new 
high, a new Bay high for Wilson's Storm-Petrels, and all the shearwaters 
except Audubon's (all except Cory's had previously been seen from the 
C.B.B.T.).   

    Certainly related to Hurricane Bertha was the Greater Shearwater well 
described from Bay waters just south of the Maryland line, Accomack, July 16 
(p.a. ph.+BPo).  Another (the same?) Greater Shearwater was reported from the 
central Bay just north of the Maryland line in Somerset the next day (p.a. 
+MC, TB, JK)

Observers: TB = Tyler Bell; NB = Ned Brinkley; MC = Marty Cribb; MJI = 
Marshall J. Iliff; JK = Jane Kostenko; Pearce = Grayson (Butch) Pearce; BPo = 
Bill Portlock; Taber = Brian Taber; JLS = James L. Stasz; Willis = Les 
Willis; Williams = Bill Williams