Hi Again Folks,

After observing the Yellow-nosed Albatross on the ORV zone near the Va. state line, I was useless for about an hour.  Nothing like a mega-rarity to mess up your birding day.  My heart and mind were still racing, and I had a hard time settling down to look for my target birds.  I did some more scanning, and found a single COMMON LOON flying by (big trailing feet, so I couldn't turn it into a Pacific), and also found my first BROWN PELICAN for the year.  Around 9 a.m. I finally packed up, and headed back north.  I counted 19 RED KNOTs which were not there during the trip down and a flock of ten more pelicans.  I probed into most of the dune crossovers, but it took me a while to find Fox Hill Level, which is the best shorebird spot in the zone.  The place was flooded, and half of the road was under water, including the entire circular parking area at the end of the road.  I stopped at both the bend in the road and near the end, spending more than an hour scoping the shorebirds that came and went, and usually appeared in small groups at a time.  Because I couldn't view them all at once, it was difficult to count the birds, but there was certainly a good variety.  The best for me was a pair of BLACK-NECKED STILTs, a county bird, and Ron and Carol Gutberlet were able to see these birds later on.  Also present were Black-bellied Plover, Semi Plover, Greater Yellowlegs (2), Dunlin, Short-billed Dowitcher, and at least one (probably more) WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER (at least only one at a time).  Of more interest I had a good look at a rather out-of-season WESTERN SANDPIPER (dark legs, good droop in the bill, good rust in the scapulars, but not much color on the cap).  Also, I saw what I was sure was a very late PECTORAL SANDPIPER (larger than peeps, heavy color on throat and breast with clear delineation from the pale belly, and medium-length yellowish legs).

I had been in contact with Zach Baer, who had gotten word of the albatross while he was conducting a sea watch at the OC inlet.  He kept his watch for a good while in hopes that the albatross would pass the inlet.  We agreed to meet up after I left the ORV Zone, and it was at Castaways that we began our afternoon birding in tandem.  This is the first time I had visited this place since its change of management, and what a nice facility and friendly people greeted me.  Wow, they were so helpful.  Zach and I counted eight BLACK SKIMMERs from the dock there, but nothing else new for the day for me.

The remainder of the day would be spent visiting Truitt's Landing, North Vaughan, and Georges Island Rd., and then reversing direction back to N. Vaughan and Truitt's, where we ended the day.  We took back roads from OC to Truitts, hoping for some vernal pools with phalaropes or other interesting birds.  There were many flooded fields, but the best we found in them were Glossy Ibises.

Our two visits to Truitt's produced two calling LEAST BITTERNs, many SEASIDE SPARROWs, and Zach saw a single SALTMARSH SPARROW.  Also, a flock of a couple dozen BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERs flew from a distant impoundment, but we did not find the ibis flock we were hoping for, since Zach was looking for White-faced.

North Vaughan did not produce the hoped-for Gull-billed Tern, but I had several new birds for the day, including BROWN-HEADED NUTHATCH, BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON, VIRGINIA RAIL, and at least three N. BOBWHITEs, two of which were flushed from the entry road.

We spent a fair amount of time searching for terns at George's Island Rd., without any notable terns.  Our best birds for that location were a couple of TRICOLORED HERONs and a flyover WHIMBREL, our only one for the day.

All in all, a very satisfying day in what Mark Hoffman unabashedly terms "God's Country."  Oh, to just live there for a year--what birds one could find.

Stan Arnold
Ferndale (AA Co.)