Eastern Shore of Virginia (August 28-September 1); Rigby’s Folly/Ferry Neck, MD (September 1); Blackwater N.W.R. & Holland Island, Dorchester County, MD (September 2).
Abbreviations: ESVNWR, Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge; K.S.P. = Kiptopeke State Park, Virginia.
FRIDAY, August 28: On the way to Old Virginny: a Pileated Woodpecker flies over McDonald’s in n. Harrington, Delaware. Stop at the sod farm s. of Salisbury, MD, at Passerdyke Creek: 12 Killdeer, 11 American Crows, 14 Turkey Vultures, 2 Barn Swallows, 1,175 European Starlings – no fancy shorebirds. South of Princess Anne, MD, mile post 9, are 3 Cattle Egrets with the cattle – almost always see this declining species in the fields here west of Route 13 at this time of year.
Chincoteague causeway, VA: 91 Great & 30 Snowy egrets, 3 Little Blue & 4 Tricolored herons, 2 Whimbrel, 2 Willets, 4 Caspian Terns, 1 adult Bald Eagle, 165 Black Skimmers, 1 Clapper Rail (seen), 55 Boat-tailed Grackles, and a female Peregrine Falcon on the mud.
Chincoteague N.W.R. Snow Goose pool is loaded. But I have little time. Run into Will McPhail, Steve Hersey, and Jennifer Elmer, bird with them for a while: 195 Blue-winged Teal, 3 Little Blue & 4 Tricolored herons, 43 WHITE IBIS, 1 Hudsonian Godwit (e. end of Swan Cove), 215 Snowy, 9 Cattle, & 135 Great egrets, 45 Black-bellied Plovers, 28 Black & 2 Sandwich terns, 2 Willets, 22 Glossy Ibis, 1 adult Bald Eagle, 45 Black Skimmers, 20 Stilt Sandpipers, 9 Brown Pelicans, and 2 kingfishers. Curiosities: a beefy, large, pure white goose with dull orange legs and bill, no black on the wings plus the strange Great Egret with an all-black upper mandible and a mostly dull yellow-horn-colored lower mandible, held by some to be the African race. Its bill seems more massive than those of the other Great Egrets. Legs jet black. Many 100s of shorebirds here. 9 Sika Deer (elk).
A Pileated Woodpecker in flight over the mainland NASA facility. Nearby Wattsville sports a d.o.r. Gray Fox - about the only way I ever see them. At Willis Wharf the tide just beginning to ebb with few flats exposed: 1 Semipalmated Plover, 325 Laughing Gulls, and 275 starlings.
Anheuser-Busch Coastal Research Center. My lodging for the next 4 nights is at this nifty facility in Oyster, part of the Dept. of Environmental Sciences of the U. of Virginia. Thanks to them and Director, Dr. Arthur Schwarzschild, for taking me in. They have 3 boats. On one side of the wraparound porch hang 12 chest waders and 17 hip waders, ready for use.
SUNSET BEACH RESORT, CAPE CHARLES, VIRGINIA, early morning counts. As has been my habit for 26 of the past 27 years I’ve conducted a morning count from the Chesapeake bluff from c. 6:15-8 A.M. in late summer. By 8 the landbird flight is about over. In recent years numbers of Fish Crow, Cattle Egret, cormorants, and pelicans have declined from what used to be 100s each day. This year the weather is not conducive to big flights of kingbirds, orioles, warblers, or bobolinks, which can consist of 100s of each. The meager results for selected species Aug. 29-31 & Sept. 1 respectively:
Brown Pelican: 29, 25, 15, 25
Double-crested Cormorant: 65, 130, 145, 120
Great Blue Heron: 2, 7, 2 (1 landed on the roof of Pelican Pub), 2
Cattle Egret: 0, 0, 0, 0
White Ibis: 1, 0 , 0 ,0
Canada Goose: 0, 0, 1, 9
American Black Duck: 3, 0 , 0, 0
Osprey: 4, 5, 8, 12 (a definite migration flight)
Bald Eagle: 0, 4, 0, 2
Killdeer: 3, 4, 6, 2
Willet: 0, 1, 1, 0
peep, unID’d: 0, 5, 1, 0
gulls: 240, small numbers other 3 days
Caspian Tern: 1, 0, 0, 0
Royal Tern: 2, 1, 0, 0
Gull-billed Tern: 0, 1, 0, 0
Common Nighthawk: 0, 0, 0, 2
Chimney Swift: 4, 2, 3, 2
Ruby-throated Hummingbird: 0, 0, 6, 1
Belted Kingfisher: 0, 1, 0, 1
Pileated Woodpecker: 0, 1, 0, 0
flycatcher, unID’d: 0, 0, 3, 1
Eastern Kingbird: 34, 47, 56, 58
vireo, unID’d: 0, 0, 3, 0
Fish Crow: 0, 0, 0, 0
Purple Martin: 1, 13, 3, 0
Barn Swallow: 45, 19, 7, 0
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher: 0, 0, 2, 0
American Robin: 85, 90, 35, 65
Cedar Waxwing: 1, 0, 0, 1
warbler, unID’d: 1, 3, 131, 171
Black-and-white Warbler: 0, 0, 6, 1
Prothonotary Warbler: 0, 0, 0, 1 (Ned Brinkley)
Blue Grosbeak: 2, 1, 1, 0
Bobolink: 55, 29, 240, 215
Baltimore Oriole: 2, 5, 9, 4
Monarch: 0, 0, 2, 0
Gray Squirrel: 1, 0, 0, 0
time: 6:35-8, 6:20-8, 6:45 [rain delay]-8:30, 6:25-8
sky: overcast, fair becoming overcast, overcast, overcast
wind: NE10, W20, NE15, N15
temperature at start: 75, 72, 72, 63
precipitation: some, 0, sprinkles sometimes, 0.
observers: HTA, HTA, HTA Ned Brinkley & Bob Fogg, HTA Ned Brinkley
SATURDAY, August 29. Chesapeake Bay Bridge & Tunnel. The hurricane is far offshore. I don’t expect to see any seabirds blown in (and don’t). Am here 8:30-11 A.M. See Will McPail and Steve Hersey again. Best are 3 Black Terns & an imm. Yellow-crowned Night Heron (YCNH). Also: 2 Sanderlings, 38 Rock Doves, 1 Least & 4 Semipalmated sandpipers, 115 Common & 2 Sandwich terns, 13 unID’d peep, and 7 turnstones. At the fishing pier catches include a White Perch, a Cow-nosed Ray, and an impressive 49lb. Cobia (bigger ones up to 78lbs. have been caught here). NE20, partly clear, 75 degrees F. At Wise Point, ESVNWR, there is another imm. YCNH. Dinner with Bob Anderson & Thuy Tran at the Eastville Inn.
Visit the songbird banding operation at Kiptopeke State Park where Ann Gilmore is the bander, Sarah Bastarache is the C.V.W.O. intern, and Joe Beatty a very frequent volunteer. Their season has been slow due to lack of cold fronts. They’ve banded their first Yellow Warbler today. Robert Klages and hawk trapper, Bob Chapman, are setting up their gear today. Calvin Brennan has returned after several years, is the hawk counter again.
Magothy Road. Watch acrobatic swallows dip and turn low over a fallow field: 80 Barn, 1 rough-winged, and 8 Banks. Out at the end by Magotha Bay are 12 Snowy & 5 Great egrets, a Semipalmated Plover, a kingfisher, and 60 Laughing Gulls. High tide, still rising. 2-3 P.M., NW 15, fair, 85. Off to the south and west in contrast to the otherwise clear skies are beautiful, billowing cumulus clouds drifting to the south with the wind as in the background of a scene from a heroic fantasy painting, say, by Maxfield Parrish. Find a quarter in the sand. 14 Bobolinks are on the wires at the entrance to Bull’s Drive, where 5 Killdeer lurk in the shadow of a utility pole.
Ramp Lane, ESVNWR. 3:30 P.M. 90 degrees. Hot. 3 kingfishers, 8 Least and 3 Semipalmated sandpipers, 1 Snowy Egret, 3 Monarchs, 1 Tiger Swallowtail. A Silver-spotted Skipper a little later at Anheuser-Busch C.R.C.
SUNDAY, August 30. Spend most of the day at K.S.P. with Bob Anderson & Thuy Tran where a nice early flight of Ospreys totals 50. With Calvin Brennan’s help we also see a Cooper’s and a Broad-winged hawk, 2 harriers, 2 kestrels, 3 Bald Eagles, 20 Monarchs, and a Summer Tanager. Dinner at Sting-Ray’s, but not before making inroads on a $195.50 bottle of Chậteauneuf du Pape, Domaine du Pergau, 1999, a good way to celebrate the start of the 2009 fall migration season.
MONDAY, August 31. Since it’s raining I delay my Sunset Beach Resort count and haunt Ramp Lane 6:15-6:45 A.M., where the pond is loaded: 74 Snowy & 26 Great egrets, 1 each of the 2 ibises, 2 Green & 3 Tricolored herons, 1 Blue-winged Teal, and 4 Semipalmated & 5 Least sandpipers at point blank range. At K.S.P. a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher is banded, nice to see one in the hand, and I enjoy talking with Richard Guthrie from NY state, who has participated in the Arkansas Ivory-billed Woodpecker searches and told me he’d seen one there.
Seaside hawkwatch site, Bull’s Landing. 1:45-2:30 P.M. Brian Taber drives Calvin Brennan and me down here to reconnoiter. The road hasn’t been mowed since last year. 72 White Ibis, 2 Whimbrel, 1 Willet, 1 Clapper Rail, 2 Seaside Sparrows, 1 Tricolored Heron, 180 Bobolinks, 8 Blue Grosbeaks, 10 Wood Ducks, 20 Blue-winged Teal, a Pied-billed Grebe, 1 Grasshopper & 8 Chipping sparrows, 1 early Palm Warbler. Then we go to the GATR Tract: 1 Yellow Warbler, 1 Indigo Bunting.
World Healing Institute, 21015 Seaside Road, site of the old Coast Guard station formerly on Cobb Island. 6 P.M. Drive in to see this magnificent building. 35 Bobolinks and a doe with a fawn. On the way out un into Ruth Boettcher and her 2 dogs. The soy bean fields in this area are as luxuriant and high as I’ve ever seen them.
Oyster, VA. Feeling the need to go off by myself I do an evening count here. Not so long ago there were huge flights of swallows, Bobolinks, blackbirds, some kingbirds going to roost in the Phragmites here but not so recently. 6:15-7:45 P.M. oystercatcher 105, Barn Swallow 381, Bobolink 105, Snowy Egret 66, Black Skimmer 8, Cooper’s Hawk 1, Bald Eagle 2, kingbird 110, and starling-cowbird-grackle-blackbird combine for c. 5,500. 2 rabbits. NE 15, 68, overcast, rain for last ½ hour, high tide well above normal.
TUESDAY, September 1. Willis Wharf, 10:45 A.M., nice, exposed, half-tide mudflats but not much there: 8 Whimbrel, 2 Marbled Godwits, 2 Willets, 2 Snowy Egrets. In town a Gray Squirrel roadkill, its fussing, scampering, and scolding days over.
At Easton, MD, Routes 33 X 322 a Wild Turkey, and I use the term loosely, forages (on grains, grit?) right in the middle of the road, unconcerned apparently with cars streaming by on both sides.
Rigby’s Folly/Ferry Neck. A sort of cameo appearance 2:30 P.M. until dark but productive. The American Robins roost on Anderby Hall Road environs has built up some to 536, my 4th highest yard count ever, as seen from our dock, joined by 20 Cedar Waxwings. A Pied-billed Grebe accompanies the ailing Horned Grebe. 38 species total, incl. 1 Great & 2 Snowy egrets. 11 Ospreys, 2 Bobolinks, 2 adult Bald Eagles, 1 Northern Harrier, 1 Magnolia Warbler, 1 redstart, 1 crested flycatcher, 2 Green Herons, 3 Great Horned Owls (calling from different points), a martin, a kingbird, a Red-tailed Hawk, a kingfisher, 3 Forster’s Terns (2 of them catch minnows), and 1 Royal Tern. Fair, N10, 78-72.
Non-avian taxa; a doe with 2 fawns browse on the Schlines’ lawn plus another doe elsewhere. 1 Gray Squirrel. 1 Red Fox. 2 Diamondback Terrapin. 4 Red-spotted Purples. I eat dinner with a beer (Stella Artois) out on the dock and enjoy watching the gathering dusk with the owls calling, the robins piling in, the terns diving, and a Ring-billed Gull kleptoparasitizing a Laughing Gull, relieving it of a small fish.
Has dried up some since last time but still plenty of moisture and some standing water. A huge maple limb has fallen, just brushing the garage. It is hollow with extensive honeycomb. Tyler Contracting Company’s bulldozer is gone but the huge backhoe-loader remains as the shoreline riprap replenishing project slouches on. The permits for it await me in Philadelphia on my return, an infuriating 9 months after they were applied for, along with an additional $460 invoice (on top of the upfront $500 fee) from Lane Engineering (for “professional services” = 8 hours of work). It’s not as if I was trying to get away with anything, just do it the right way. Maybe the wrong way next time. Phooey! Since the last visit someone (perhaps an “engineer”?) has tied white ribbons around 3 adjacent, small Persimmon trees on the trail behind the garage,
WEDNESDAY, September 2. Rigby’s Folly – a doe and a fawn as I go out the drive, then 5 bucks together in a field at Bellevue X Ferry Neck Roads. A refresing 62 degrees F. with low humidity at the start. On the way down to Crocheron the presumed-to-be-injured American White Pelican soldiers on at Sewards, Blackwater N.W.R., where it has been since winter. 150 yards away 30 Forster’s Terns and 18 Double-crested Cormorants are at rest on the defunct Christmas tree reef. 3 Bald Eagles over the marshes along Shorter’s Wharf Road. At Crocheron before launching 28 Royal Terns sit on a dock.
Southeast Bloodsworth Island: a Monarch, a Cloudless Sulphur, 27 additional Royal Terns, 85 cormorants.
Holland Island. One objective is to band all remaining Brown Pelican chicks. A surprisingly high 86 are tagged. Another objective is to take cloacal samples to test for Avian Influenza (done at Ohio State) and to draw blood to check for West Nile Virus or other diseases (U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Ft. Collins, CO). Cloacal swabs are done with 20 chicks, blood is extracted from 30. Six of us include Cindy Driscoll, D.V.M., and Carol McCollough (both from the Oxford Cooperative Laboratory), Dave Brinker (MD D.N.R.), Lisa Balmert, John Weske & myself. Veterinarian Driscoll is also interested, among other things, in cetacean strandings and extralimital occurrences.
South segment, Holland Island. 10:45 A.M. – 3 P.M. As we approach c. 125 pelicans are on Holland’s middle segment and an impressive 725 (= grand total of 850, at least) on the south segment, many of these no doubt NOT local breeders, having wandered in from points south. A Cloudless Sulphur, 2 Monarchs, and a Cabbage White. Dave and John find one pelican nest still with 2 eggs, another with very young chicks, these all perhaps record MD late dates.
Unusual way out here are 2 Turkey Vultures. Other goodies: 1 Clapper Rail, 1 kingbird, 2 Canada Geese, 18 Barn Swallows (in sight simultaneously), 1 black duck, 3 Bald Eagles (2 adults perch in their nest tree, the isolated Loblolly Pine on the extreme south end), 12 unID’d peep, 1 Least Sandpiper, 95 Herring Gulls (Middle Holland), 7 Boat-tailed Grackles, 7 Fish Crows, 4 Ospreys, 3 Red-winged Blackbirds, and 3 Chimney Swifts.
In the hammocks there is no sign there was a burgeoning heronry earlier in the summer other than 2 Tricolored Herons and a single Great Egret. Temps in the 70s, NE-E 15+, tides high, fair. Find a nice (and large) old bottle. Strange to see NO oystercatchers today. Nice, leisurely late lunch 4-5:30 P.M. in the little eatery in Church Creek with wide ranging conversations, gossip, and humor. Surprisingly several of these otherwise reasonable, sensible people order eggs and scrapple, but those have been my breakfast the previous 4 days.
Trappe, MD. I do not stop but it certainly looks like a roadkill Pileated Woodpecker. Best to all. – Harry Armistead, Philadelphia.
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