Folks,
*Quick Notes (The Short Version)*
Pleasure House Point Natural Area - 4:20 to 6:15 PM - FOY Sandwich Tern,
FOY Least Tern, FOY Short-billed Dowitcher, Greater Yellowlegs, 1
Unidentifiable Peep Sp., 1 Eastern Kingbird, 5 American Oystercatchers, 20+
Black Skimmers, Lesser Black-backed Gull on mudflats nearing high tide when
mudflats were submerged a few inches. Lack of songbirds overall, no
grosbeaks, buntings, or warblers outside the typical Pine Warblers.
*Outing Photographs*
*http://www.rbnature.com/galleries/we-20150503/
<http://www.rbnature.com/galleries/we-20150503/>*
*Full Outing Details (The Long Version)*
Wednesday evening we had beautiful 65 degree F weather in Virginia Beach,
so after work I headed up to Pleasure House Point to see if I could find
some terns & shorebirds. Several species had been reported around the area
recently, with Short-billed Dowitchers being a prime target. Parking on
Marlin Bay Drive and heading south into the park between the two largest
lakes, I hit the beach trail and turned eastward. Very quickly, a group of
3 *Yellow-crowned Night-Herons* hunting along the shoreline were my first
birds of the day. The water was clearly nearing high tide, so I wondered
what I might find at the mudflats. Unfortunately, when I go on after work
outings, I have to take what I get with the tide, I can't plan around it.
Continuing east past the deer carcass pond, made famous now by the Western
Tanager seen there this winter, it was fairly quiet, with just a pair
of *Red-breasted
Merganser* females out on the water. I cut off the beach trail up into the
trees for a brief duration, hoping to see some songbirds, but the trees
were empty from what I could see. Rounding the point where rails are often
seen and heard, I spooked a *Green Heron* from the narrow pond that the
trail winds around. This would be the first of about 4 times this heron got
the better of me, not yielding any opportunity to me for a decent
photograph, something I'm accustomed to with this species..almost like a
larger version of a Kingfisher in that regard.
The park staff has been adjusting the trail along the main point nearest
the Brock Center, so if walking in this area, just follow the paper signs
around the fencing that has been placed. It appears they are replanting the
area nearest to the water, and keeping hikers a bit further upland. At the
mudflats, there was barely any land visible with the waters quite high.
However, there was a ton of birds crammed into the small strip of allowable
space, with gulls (*Herring, Laughing, Lesser Black-backed, and Ring-billed*),
many *Royal Terns*, and even a single *Sandwich Tern* that took some time
to pick out, this being a first-of-year bird for me. Additionally, there
was a troupe of 5 *American Oystercatchers* and about 20 or more *Black
Skimmers* sitting out on the flats. I've seen both of these species here
before, but never together & in these numbers so it was a very nice
surprise, and especially so on a day I expected not to find anything here
due to the high tide. While viewing the mudflats, a group of 17 *Short-billed
Dowitchers*, another first-of-year bird, came flying over looking for a
spot to land. Unsatisfied with what was available to them though, they flew
off. Among the group was also a few Yellowlegs and a single unidentifiable
peep species.* Yellowlegs* showed up a couple other times on flybys as
well, and could have been mixed groups of Lesser & Greaters, though I
couldn't confirm a Lesser with certainty.
Heading back westward along the beach trail, *Great and Snowy Egrets* were
visible out in the marshy islands, and a number of *Clapper Rails* could be
heard cackling from several different locations. Some, seemed just a
hundred or less feet away, but not one could be sighted, they are masters
of camouflage in this habitat, especially at high tide when they aren't
brazen about walking out onto the open mudflats like at low tide. When I
arrived on the upstream end of Pleasure House Creek, a few *Gadwall* could
be seen on the widened area, and a considerable amount of algae has bloomed
in these slack-water areas of the creek. Returning eastward, I decided to
give it one more loop just in case something new showed up at the mudflats
while I was gone. My first surprise was an *Eastern Kingbird* that came
hover-flying down from a tall tree near the largest pond. I saw a pair of
these two weekends back at Whitehurst Tract, but this might be the first
I've seen here at Pleasure House Point. All was pretty quiet til the
mudflats, except the constant cackles of the Clapper Rails. The water, now
very close to high tide, had completely taken over the mudflats, and only a
few of the taller gulls were sticking around. The last of the skimmers took
off just as I arrived, since they're shorter legs put their bodies right at
the water surface. On the way back to the vehicle, a Least Tern and peep
flew over, the tern being another first-of-year species! With 3 additions
to my yearly county list today I was quite excited, and it couldn't have
been a more pleasant day to be out birding, even with the clouds moving in
later in the evening.
*Weekly Recaps & Top Photos*
*http://www.rbnature.com/blog/ ;<http://www.rbnature.com/blog/>*
Rob Bielawski
Virginia Beach, VA
