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Subject:

lower Eastern Shore of MD & VA, Dec. 15-18

From:

Henry Armistead

Reply-To:

Henry Armistead

Date:

Thu, 21 Dec 2006 11:10:31 -0500

In the spirit of the season.  From Chan Robbin's recent Christmas letter, a
handwritten note at the end:  "The female albatross that I banded as a
5-yr.-old at Midway Atoll 50 years ago today was rediscovered there last
week incubating an egg."

THURSDAY, DEC. 14, 2006.  PHILADELPHIA.  A foot long Northern Brown
(DeKay's) Snake sunning on one of the backyard steps.


LOWER EASTERN SHORE OF VIRGINIA & MARYLAND, Dec. 15-18.  A 4-day trip with
Jared Sparks.  George Armistead joins us late on the 15th and works
different party areas on the 2 Christmas counts.  4 sunny, warm days with
light winds.  Idyllic.

FRIDAY, DEC. 15.  OCEAN CITY, MD, area:  

Ocean City Inlet.  11:15 A.M.-noon.  Hazy & foggy but we do see 145
Bonaparte's and 1 ad. Laughing gull,  8 gannets, several Red-throated &
Common loons, 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk, 25 Purple Sandpipers, 2 Long-tailed
Ducks, 30 Forster's Terns, & 20 Brant.  A few scoters way out.   

West Ocean City pond.  Not as many fowl as when I was here in mid-November,
but there are:  4 Tundra Swans, 20 ea. of pintails and shovelers, 30
Canvasbacks, 50 Mallards, 7 coots, 1 Pied-billed Grebe, 4 black and 15
Ruddy ducks, 2 Redheads, 3 Gadwalls, 55 Lesser Scaup & 3 Buffleheads plus a
couple of cormorants.

Eagles Nest Campground and Golf Course.  Really a lovely road.  There's a
beauty, a male Eurasion Wigeon in the golf course pond along with 75
American Wigeon, a shoveler, 15 Gadwalls & 1 coot plus an Bald Eagle
overhead.  Out on the bay are 12 each of oystercatchers and Willets, 975
Dunlin (good, low, tide with lots of flats and mud), 25 Black-bellied
Plovers, 10 Sanderlings, 20 Forster's Terns, 75 Brant, 4 Common Loons and a
Horned Grebe.  25 gannets are easily seen although they're on the sea side
of Assateague Island.

CHINCOTEAGUE N.W.R.  3:45-5:15 P.M. only but eventful nonetheless.  Many,
MANY 1000s of Snow Geese in Snow Goose Pool, a spectacle.  Scoping the
close ones at c. 100 yards there's a Cackling Goose, smaller than the
snows, w/o any Canada Geese nearby for comparison.  A few minutes later
there's what seems to be a blue phase immature Ross's Goose next to the
Cackling Goose. 

The dark Ross's is easily seen to be smaller, a dark, dingy color with a
hint of blue-gray, a nub of an equilateral triangle bill (analogous
somewhat, perhaps, to the stubby bills of redpolls), a domewhat diry white
area behind the base of the bill (reminiscent of that of an adult
white-fronted goose, but not as clean cut), and the long scapulars have
pale, whitish linings that look just like those of the ad. blue morph
Ross's as shown on p. 71 of the National Geographic Society's field guide
and overhang the folded wings.  Very little white on this bird otherwise
but we could not see the underparts.  Good light of the waning sun behind
us, leisurely study.  

I'd be interested in what any of you think about these blue morph Ross's. 
Whatever they are I see one almost every year in the Middle Atlantic
somewhere.  The imm. blue morph is not illustrated in the NGS guide, in
Sibley, or Bellrose but here is what the BNA account by Ryder & Alisauskas
has to say:

"The genetic origin of blue morph Ross' Goose is thought to be the result
of backcrossing or interbreeding of Ross' Goose vs. blue morph Lesser Snow
Goose hybrids, producing small blue Ross' Goose; of a selectively repressed
blue allele in adults currently expressed only in dimorphic (gray and
yellow) young ... or of recurrent mutation of gene(s) controlling feather
color ...  There is no direct evidence, however, confirming a blue allele
within Ross' Goose lineage." p. 4.  Does this clear it all up ... or what??

Also at Chincoteague:  80 Willets and 2 Marbled Godwits on the E side of
Swan Cove.  1 Bald Eagle.  1 Sharp-shinned Hawk.  1 Glossy ibis.  

SATURDAY, DEC. 16.  WACHAPREAGUE, VA, Christmas count.  Thanks to George &
Barbara Reiger for their as usual splendid hospitality.  Ruth Boettcher &
Carissa Smith take Jared, Mel Baughman and me out to Cedar I. in a Parker
where we walk from 8-3:30 while they tour the marshes and flats, finding
the lion's share of the shorebirds and waterfowl.  The walk down the island
is c. 6.5 mi.  Ruth & Carissa look for color-banded oystercatchers and find
several today and, I think, one on Sunday also.

Our party list includes:  8500 Snow and 225 Blue geese, 1248 Brant, 125
American Wigeon, 226 Surf & 1 Black scoter, 690 Buffleheads, 145 Hooded  &
297 Red-breasted mergansers, 67 Red-throated & 68 Common loons, 115 gannets
(many plunge-diving), 106 Double-crested Cormorants, 9 BCN Herons, 8 Bald
Eagles, 1 Merlin, 2 peregrines, 6 Clapper Rails, 454 Forster's Terns
(perhaps a new high count for the Delmarva Peninsula in the winter?), 1
Ipswich Sparrow, and 97 Boat-tailed Grackles but no marsh sparrows or
wrens, which I attribute, in my infinite wisdom, to the low tides and
bluebird weather.

SHOREBIRDS, one of the big glories of winter on Virginia's Eastern Shore: 
591 Black-bellied Plovers, 182 oystercatchers, 26 Greater & 1 Lesser
yellowlegs, 206 Willets, 30 Marbled Godwits, 13 turnstones, 185
Sanderlings, 1 Western & 8 Least sandpipers, 1675 Dunlin & 8 Short-billed
Dowitchers.  Best of all are 173 Red Knots, 100+ on the SW side of Cedar's
N segment, the rest in 3 adjacent areas of the SE (beach) side of Cedar's
north segment.   

The dynamic nature of barrier islands is compelling described in "The
beaches are moving: the drowning of America's shoreline" by Wallace Kaufman
& Orrin H. Pilkey, Jr. (Duke, 1983).  We see potent evidence of this today.
 The inlet between Cedar and Metompkin is. had been filled in for several
years but is now breached again by a small inlet, the tide rushing out of
it now.  Two-thirds of the way down Cedar a new inlet was formed 7-8 yrs.
ago by Nov. northeasters.  This has largely been filled in now so that the
3 of us easily cross it at low tide.  Cedar's N segment has lost all of its
houses to the advancing sea save for one sort of faux A-frame.  On the S
segment several houses stand high and dry but on pilings 10 feet or more
high that are in the surf, leading Jared to recall the great poem
'Ozymandias':  

"Nothing beside remains.  Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away."   You go, Shelley.

I flush several 4-5 in. grasshoppers and find a lively Ghost Crab.  Mel
finds a dolphin skull.  Deer prints are widespread.  There's quite a lot of
Opuntia (Pricky Pear) growing low to the ground.  Lots of little minnows
far up the extreme reaches of the tidal guts.  
On the way back in at Folly Creek there's a SPOTTED SANDPIPER standing on
an oyster aquaculture float in at 4:30 P.M.  Good views going by but we
circle back and all 5 of us see it to good advantage with our various
binoculars as close as 30 feet.  It does not flush but does its trademark
bobbing up and down, doin' the bop.  White underparts save for the brown
collar extending part way across the breast from the side of its lower
neck.  Light-colored feet.  Medium-length bill.  Did not see the wing
stripe since it didn't fly.  The brown upper parts and the collar the color
of damp sand.  Non-breeding plumage.  Body about the size of a Dunlin. 
Only the 2nd one I've ever seen in winter N of South Carolina.  Good light
with what's left of the sun behind us.  It does not vocalize.  The MD & VA
references indicate spotties are unusual after mid-October.  Nice way to
end the day.  Pleasant compilation and dinner at Island House Restaurant in
Wachapreague.

SUNDAY, DEC. 17.  NASSAWADOX, VA, Christmas count.  Addenda to my report
yesterday:  1 ea. of BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER and unID'd sharp-tailed
sparrow seen.  They didn't say anything but I failed to thank Paul & Ann
Smith for their very helpful advance work in securing permission for their
access to Upshur Neck and their prompt followup, sending folks there their
list and thanks.

Today our boat is skippered by Fletcher Smith with a big assist by Kristina
Baker.  It's a long, rather choppy 14-mile haul with some spray down
Machipongo River and out very exposed Hog Island Bay where they let Bob
Anderson, Thuy Tran and me off on the N end of legendary Cobb I.  Fletcher
and Kristina then go W to Parchaby Tump to do research on the marsh
sparrows, a special project of Fletcher's.  Bob & Thuy walk down the beach
where huge piles of wax myrtle bushes (Myrica) have been torn up by the
sea, some of them with trunks 18 in. around.  An annual tradition on the
counts, I pick and eat some Salicornia. 

I shamble a mile down the marsh side to a decrepit cabin where I sit on the
porch in the sun, remove a couple of layers, eat, drink, and scan into the
sunny distances for birds.  Bob has seen a Black-tailed Jack Rabbit, a
western bunny long-established on Cobb I., whose semi-spherical, pale and
light brown droppings dot the island's north end.    

After 3.5 hours the boat returns and transports us across Great Machipongo
Inlet to the S side of large Hog I., then Fletcher and Kristina go to
nearby Rogue Island for more sparrow work, a site where Cornell collected
sharp-tailed sparrows decades ago.  From the S end of Hog we walk 2.5 mi. N
along the beach and dunes to where a charming, windy dirt and grass road
takes us to the pickup point on the W side of the island, going past the
Red Onion, an octagonal house used by anglers on an inholding of a fraction
of an acre, the rest of the island owned by The Nature Conservancy.  On
either side of the road are large Japanese Black Pines (Pinus thunbergii),
including some big dead ones, and a couple of blooming Yarrow.  Bob and I
see 6 dolphins tossing the sea just beyond the surf line.  

I flush some more grasshoppers and we see two does.  A butterfly is S bound
across the inlet, possibly an anglewing.  Andropogon (Broom Sedge) grows in
the higher, grassy areas.  Cobb and Hog are beautiful and wild but do not
have very many birds.  Other than Baccharis and Wax Myrtle there are only a
few Red Cedars and Loblolly Pines.  Hog's beach is impressive, over 100
yards wide, low and gently sloping, with millions of Razor Clam shells,
most from 1-5 inches long.  Both islands have many Sand Dollars.  As is the
case on these Christmas counts in protected areas the Baccharis halimifolia
still retains a few whispy white seeds.  But this year I find no residual
yellow blooms of Seaside Goldenrod. 

Our party list, with many shorebirds seen near Willis Wharf, includes:  600
Brant, 295 Surf, 5 White-winged & 67 Black Scoters, 140 Long-tailed Ducks,
28 Hooded & 95 Red-breasted mergansers, 3 Ruddy Ducks Bob sees flying
incongruously with the scoters, 160 Red-throated & 22 Common loons, 12
Horned Grebes, 45 gannets, the count's only BCN Heron, 1 Bald Eagle, 1
Merlin, 1 peregrine, 134 oystercatchers, 205 of both Willets & Marbled
Godwits, 1 Whimbrel, 115 Sanderlings, 2400 Dunlin, 32 Short-billed
Dowitchers, only1 Forster's Tern (cf. 454 yesterday only a few miles to the
N), 355 Myrtle Warblers, 1 Ipswich, 1 Nelson's Sharp-tailed & 4 Saltmarsh
Sharp-tailed & 1 Seaside sparrow.

Delightful atmosphere at The Nature Conservancy's headquarters in the
lovely brick house at Brownsville, thanks to Steve Parker.  I do the
compilation sitting with my back to the fireplace, am full of appetizers
and drink.     

MONDAY, DEC. 18.  George, Jared & I spend an hour, 8-9 A.M., trying to
relocate the Ash-throated Flycatcher seen on the Nassawadox count yesterday
but to no avail.  This is on the W side of Rt. 600 about 1 mi. S of Oakland
Park.  We do see 15 Chipping Sparrows, a House Wren, 30 House Finches, a
phoebe, and 12 bluebirds while c. 2000 Snow Geese go over including a
presumed Ross's Goose, a white-phase adult.  

DEAL ISLAND, MD.  Noon-3 P.M.  Clear, winds SW 5-10, temperature a very
balmy 65-70 degrees F., tide high.  Both Deal I. W.M.A. and the Chesapeake
Bay around Deal I. per se seem to be running on empty.  Jared spots 2
Northern Water Snakes sunning, that slither off the bank into the tidal gut
when I gently nudge them with my left topsider.  It's hazy out over the Bay
but one can nonetheless see the 2 peregrine hacking towers on S. Marsh I.,
Bloodsworth I., Solomon's Lump light, the one remaining house on Holland
I., and the Martin N.W.R. tower on Smith I. in the blurry distances. 
Here's our partial list, as much to show the low numbers as anything else
(does not include any "mainland" birds). 

20 Canada Geese.  2 Mute & 12 Tundra swans, 0 Gadwalls and wigeon, 10 black
ducks, 1 male pintail, 6 Green-winged Teal, 45 Surf Scoters, 40
Buffleheads, 1 female goldeneye, 7 Hooded Mergansers, 2 Common Loons, 1
Pied-billed & 1 Horned grebe, 1 gannet, 3 Double-crested Cormorants, 22
Turkey Vultures (over Dames Quarter), 8 Bald Eagles (my best count ever
here), 11 harriers, 2 Sharp-shinned Hawks incl. a diminutive immature male
I mistook for a robin, flying very low over the ground and then perching on
a brush pile, 1 ad. female peregrine perched on a snag on Little Deal I., 1
Great Horned Owl perched in a Loblolly Pine looking at us, 2 Marsh Wrens, 1
catbird, 40 Myrtle Warblers & 3 Savannah Sparrows.

Headin' home.  A roadkill Red Fox at milepost 30 of the Salisbury bypass,
Route 13.

Best to all. - Henry ("Harry") T. Armistead, 523 E. Durham St.,
Philadelphia, PA 19119-1225.  215-248-4120.  Any off-list replies to: 
harryarmistead at hotmail dot com (Please, never to 74077.3176 at
compuserve dot com)


FREEDOM IS NOT FREE.  Philadelphia "Inquirer", Thu., Dec. 14, 2006, p. A23:
 "CONTROLS PUT ON AGENCY'S RESEARCH.  The Bush administration is clamping
down on scientists at the Geological Survey, the latest agency subjected to
controls on research that might go against official policy.  New rules
require screening of all facts and interpretations by agency scientists who
study everything from caribou mating to global warming.  The rules apply to
all scientific papers and other public documents, even minor reports or
prepared talks."