18 DAYS ON THE LOWER EASTERN SHORE, September 25-October 12, mostly in Virginia
(at Kiptopeke), part 2 October 2-7, 2011.
OCTOBER 2, SUNDAY. Another brief watch at SBR, 7-8 A.M., with Ned Brinkley.
Far fewer birds this morning, just 18 warbler individuals, but also 7 Bald
Eagles, 5 sharpies, 8 kestrels, 2 peregrines, a Sandwich Tern, 2 Ospreys, and a
Red-eyed Vireo. 55嚙碼F., winds NW 20-25.
Otherwise it is back to the platform 10 A.M. 嚙碾 5 P.M. Someone sees a Snow
Goose (Bob Anderson?) and an imm. Little Blue Heron briefly settles in among
the small willow woods swatch down by the state park launching area. 30
Bobolinks. 3 Great Blue Herons going over high. Bob Anderson sees a mangy Red
Fox. Colder, windier, and cloudier than yesterday, which was also cold. I don
my padded, full-body-length jump suit and am more comfortable than on Saturday.
391 raptors, incl. 121 Ospreys, 102 sharpies, 9 Merlins, and 5 peregrines - an
example of what a 嚙踝蕭poor嚙踝蕭 day is here at the height of the hawk migration.
Bald Eagles and redtails are counted conservatively here and elsewhere (a
little too conservatively in my opinion), and always have been, to take into
account what may be local birds.
[George嚙踝蕭s observations at Rigby嚙踝蕭s Folly continue today resulting in 34
species, among them: 5 Bald Eagles, 5 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 8 catbirds, 48 Cedar
Waxwings, 1 Black-throated Green, 1 Connecticut (he thinks the same one as
yesterday) & 8 Magnolia warblers, 4 Indigo Buntings, and 13 Common
Yellowthroats. Unlike his Luddite father, he enters his records into eBird.]
OCTOBER 3, MONDAY. Some rain, NW 20, overcast, high 50s. Tiring of the cold,
relatively unproductive weather I decide to wend, ramble, and meander, do some
legwork for the Christmas Bird Count by checking out roads that run E of Rt.
600, noting their condition, length, and habitats, in some cases talking with
landowners. This involves 28 roads and takes from noon until 5:30 P.M. Thus
I嚙踝蕭m only on the platform from c. 9-11:45. This is a good decision as another
嚙踝蕭poor嚙踝蕭 day results in 嚙踝蕭only嚙踝蕭 387 raptors, incl. 166 Ospreys, 6 Bald
Eagles, 77 sharpies, 24 kestrels, 29 Merlins, and 26 peregrines.
Somewhere in the disaster that is my work area are by now partially redundant
notes I made last year on all of these roads plus those W of Arlington Road.
Don嚙踝蕭t see much. Find 13 kestrels the entire time. Go from the ESVNWR roads
N to Island View Lane a little ways S of Oyster, which has no island view and
is very rough and bumpy, but yields a Horned Lark and Savannah Sparrow.
At Ramp Lane there are 9 Snowy Egrets, a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, 3 kingfishers, 2
adult Bald Eagles, and an eagle nest I嚙踝蕭d not noticed before - in the
extensive piney woods down towards Wise Point. The other eagle nest is in
plain view on Raccoon Island as one looks towards the lighthouse on Smith
Island from where the boat launch is. That嚙踝蕭s 2 active nests in close
proximity.
Beautiful, large Magnolia grandifloras on Bull嚙踝蕭s Landing Drive, where Roy
Bull in 1965 put Will Russell and me in touch with Lynwood Horner, who would be
our excellent boat guide for many, many years. Two adult Bald Eagles over
Magotha Road with its fine view of Magothy Bay, where I once had over 1100
Buffleheads in sight simultaneously.
Martins Landing Road: a Great Egret. Dunton Cove Drive: a Gray Squirrel & 1
fawn and there is a trailer-type house here where the owner has several dozen
cats that populate his small lawn, a spectacle. Braxton Farm Road: 4 Wood
Ducks. Nathan Lane: 8 Palm Warblers. Riverside Farm Lane: 4 Palm Warblers, a
Cooper嚙踝蕭s Hawk & an Osprey. Poplar Grove Lane: a doe with 2 fawns. Also see
single Monarchs at 4 spots, harbingers of the pretty good flight that is soon
to be.
OCTOBER 4, TUESDAY. Back on the platform 9:00-6:15. 74 Northern Flickers,
which have been notable so far by their paucity, and Blue Jays are almost
non-existent. Keith Gingrich sees the Red Fox. A kettle of 66 Broad-winged
Hawks. Lots of birds at Calvin嚙踝蕭s nets, which are closed early in the day to
deal with the buildup, esp. of catbirds. His team bands 330 birds. Hal & Lynn
help out at the nets.
A doe seen from the platform. The Monarchs ARE starting to come, 44, the most
so far, 7 of them get tagged by Annalisa. A Solitary Sandpiper flies by as do
2 Common Loons. Great Blue Herons go over high in configurations of 1, 1 & 4.
Baltimore Oriole, tanager sp, Common Nighthawk, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak
seen.
Kyle et al. record 12 warbler and 7 woodpecker species plus 846 raptors, incl.
15 harriers, 240 sharpies, 53 Coops, 214 broadwings, 194 kestrels, 33 Merlins,
and 20 peregrines.
OCTOBER 5, WEDNESDAY. A red letter day. I use the clicker and record 812
northbound flickers, that, combined with Ned嚙踝蕭s 1386 earlier in the day at SBR
totals to >2000 for the Southern Tip, the only good flight of them I see this
time. There are also many southbound ones, confusing the issue. I see 547 by
9 A.M. Lots of landbirds incl. Baltimore Oriole, tanagers, sapsuckers,
Bobolinks, a pileated, et al.
I reprise my earlier mistnettng life by helping out some at the nets 10:30-1,
just hanging out, or, some of the time, extracting 9 Yellow-rumped & a
Black-and-white warbler, a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, a Northern Parula, 2 catbirds,
and 2 Red-eyed Vireos. Fall arrivals banded incl. both kinglets and
White-throated Sparrow. A Marsh Wren is a rare capture here.
Other highlights incl. a kettle of 9 Bald Eagles, 525 raptors (with 24
harriers, 177 broadwings, and 13 ea. of Merlin and peregrine). Several
Black-throated Green Warblers are banded, not caught here much because they
usually stay up higher in the trees than the nets. Calvin et al. band 411
birds. There嚙踝蕭s a spectacular Mourning Cloak right next to the banding
station.
Lynn electrifies us with a cell phone call. She and Deb have found a
RED-NECKED PHALAROPE at Taylor Pond. While not an extreme rarity it IS the
first record for the Southern Tip. Earlier in 2011 several of us helped revise
the ESVNWR list which is a Southern Tip list, extending up to include KSP and
down to Fisherman Island. This phalarope wasn嚙踝蕭t on it.
Some of us go trooping down to see it at 4:35: Joe Beatty, Hal, Ned, Bob
Anderson. There it is spinning on the water嚙踝蕭s surface with 6 Pied-billed
Grebes and a Ruddy Duck. Also in the pond are 21 turtles (Red-belly Cooters
and Painted Turtles) and, in the area, at least 20 phoebes (6 together on the
white, plastic fencing), 3 Yellow-rumped Warblers, 2 kingfishers, a Barn & 20
Tree swallows, and a peregrine. THANK YOU, AGAIN, JAMES TAYLOR.
Lynn嚙踝蕭s star turn during this visit isn嚙踝蕭t over yet. From the E end of the
platform she spots a CLAY-COLORED SPARROW that a bunch of us (Hal, Tim Roberts,
Kyle, Bob Anderson, Jackie Catino) watch at leisure, 6:10-6:30 P.M., in good
sunlight while it feeds on seeds of a Panicum type grass in company with an
Indigo Bunting and a White-throated Sparrow, really pigging out. We watch it
at c. 50 feet through binoculars and 30X power scopes. Bob Anderson (Captain
Video) videos it.
Am on the platform, or nearby, 7:45-6:30. A Great Horned Owl calls next to my
sleeping quarters at 8:55 P.M. 80 or so Monarchs pass by the platform.
OCTOBER 6, THURSDAY. 嚙皺 嚙踝蕭as we entered the day's tenth hour the previously
"semi-rowdy" gang of regulars became downright rowdy, but still fun, perhaps
making for a bird or two being missed as everyone on the platform was laughing
too hard. It has been requested (and I've been offered money) not to go into
further details, but, you want to have fun and see hawks? Come to Kiptopeke!嚙踝蕭
嚙碾 Kyle Wright, part of his commentary on www.hawkcount.org.
How lucky. This is the 3rd 1000+ raptor day this visit. 1070 hawks with 28
harriers, 236 sharpies, 122 Coops, 236 broadwings, 19 redtails (a lot for so
early in the season), 7 Bald Eagles, 271 kestrels, 77 Merlins, and 27
peregrines. Am on the platform c. 9-6.
The Phillies lose last night but the Gray Squirrel than ran across home plate
in St. Louis steals the show, becomes the subject of several videos and other
commentary (to see some of this Google: squirrel St Louis), becomes known as
the Rally Squirrel.
School groups come from Kiptopeke Elementary School. On display are a captured
Red-tailed Hawk and an adult 嚙踝蕭 Cooper嚙踝蕭s Hawk. Calvin嚙踝蕭s crew nets a
Northern Waterthrush impaled with a Porcupine quill, with signs that it had
been inflicted by another one. Impossible to extract the quill so it is cut
off flush to the bird嚙踝蕭s skin.
After yesterday嚙踝蕭s flicker bonanza I count just 5 today. A Common Loon goes
over. The Clay-colored Sparrow is relocated again and seen by Lynn, Ned,
possibly others. The best day for Chimney Swifts: 45. Two Porpoises are seen
off in the distance beyond the concrete ships. Lynn finds an early Ring-necked
Duck, a 嚙踝蕭, on Taylor Pond. Best of all is a kettle of c. 220 Broad-winged
Hawks right overhead. Liz arrives from Philadelphia. 72 Monarchs are counted.
A few other folks see the mythical green flash at sunset from the platform.
OCTOBER 7, FRIDAY. Let the Eastern Shore Birding and Wildlife Festival begin.
For my part I lead 3 boat trips out of Oyster with Captain Buddy Vaughn, who in
addition to being great company, knows all of the tidal guts, marshy tumps,
sandbars, and islands as no one else I嚙踝蕭ve ever boated with.
The 1st trip, 9-12:30, is with Cheryl Jacobson, Jan Lockwood, Harriet Fraser,
and Janice & Fred Reinhardt. The low tide is a disadvantage and I don嚙踝蕭t
suppose we cover more than about 20 miles through the marshes and tidal guts E
and a little S of Oyster.
But that嚙踝蕭s enough to see, among other biota, 3 Tricolored Herons, a Clapper
Rail, 45 oystercatchers, 225 Black-bellied Plovers, 45 Western & a Least
sandpiper, 30 Short-billed Dowitchers, 55 Dunlin, 90 Willets, 26 Marbled
Godwits, 4 Spotted Sandpipers, 35 Caspian and a late Gull-billed tern, 525 Tree
Swallows, 55 Fish Crows, 2 harriers, and a Cooper嚙踝蕭s Hawk plus 6 Monarchs, 4
Buckeyes, and 19 Diamondback Terrapin.
The 2nd trip is more spectacular, 1:30-5:30, covering perhaps 35 miles, the
rising, and then risen, tide concentrating the shorebirds, heading out to the
productive S end of Wreck I., past The Nature Conservancy嚙踝蕭s watch house, Ship
Shoal Inlet, Ship Shoal I., Myrtle I., then ALL the way down to the great Thoms
Creek flats, and back close along the west side of Mockhorn Island, and
including such obscure entities as Red Drum Drain and Rat Creek (with the Rat
House seen in the glimmering distance). Buddy嚙踝蕭s boat reaches speeds of 30
knots in between areas of interest, comfortable on a sunny day with light
winds. On board are Sandy & Pat Norris, Ernie & Val Sears, and Liz Armistead.
We see 嚙碾 a partial list 嚙碾 1610 Black-bellied Plovers (S end of Wreck I.), 225
oystercatchers (several banded but unable to read their numbers), 20 Snowy & 18
Great egrets, 9 Tricolored, 2 Little Blue (adults) and 2 imm. BCNHs, 2
Gull-billed Terns, 2 White Ibis, 3 peregrines, a Piping Plover (S end of Wreck
I.), 3 pintails, 3 Green-winged Teal, 95 Sanderlings, a Pied-billed Grebe, 350
cormorants (several S bound skein formations at great distance), 5 Ospreys, 25
Western & 3 Least sandpipers, 250 Short-billed Dowitchers, 45 Dunlin, 1 Marbled
Godwit, 30 Royal, 45 Caspian & a mere 5 Forster嚙踝蕭s terns, 2 kingfishers, 4
harriers, 20 Boat-tailed Grackles, and 19 Brown Pelicans (close range, most of
them flying towards and then right by us) plus 5 Monarchs and 6 Buckeyes.
This is the way it must feel when one wins the lottery 嚙皺 the rush and the high
continuing well after disembarking from these boat trips. Complete lists of
all the birds seen on them are available on request (whereas most birds are
listed herein, all birds would be listed therein). I was trying to figure out,
much later, my apparently flawed transcription of a phone number 嚙碾 610 425 575
嚙碾 but realize, with some effort at recall, that those are the estimates for
the 3 groups of Black-bellied Plovers seen today.
Elsewhere today: 2 Wood Ducks at KSP before the boat trips. A lovely adult 嚙踝蕭
Merlin (blue jack) perched in back of the platform, well-seen through the
scopes. A d.o.r. Gray Squirrel on the way to Oyster. The hawk counters today
counted 715, with 20 harriers, 70 Ospreys, 220 broadwings, 57 Coops, 10 Bald
Eagles, 129 kestrels, 48 Merlins, and 27 peregrines. I was only present 0.5
hours but at least got to see the Blue Jack. 933 Monarchs today, the best
during this sojourn. 14 White Ibis are seen from the platform. Most always
they are seen only on the seaside E of Routes 13 or 600.
Best to all. 嚙碾 Harry Armistead, Philadelphia.
