All,
I could not resist going down to Lake Anna on Saturday (Sep. 6) to
see what avian effects Tropical Storm Hanna might have. I did not
expect sea- or coastal birds because of the easterly track of the storm,
but did hope for grounded overland migrant waterbirds. I got to the
eastern end of Lake Anna (Dike 3) at 8:23 a.m. and left the area at 5:00
p.m. I spent my time as follows: Dike 3 from 8:23 to 9:33 a.m., Lake
Anna Beach Marina (adjacent to the south end of the main dam, accessed
from Rt. 701; offers a view of the entire eastern end of the main lake)
from 9:39 to 11:38 a.m., Dike 3 from 11:43 a.m., to 1:45 p.m., Lake Anna
Beach Marina from 1:48 to 4:34 p.m., and Dike 3 from 4:38 to 5:00 p.m.
The rain was heavy to torrential from 7:45 (when I was still a little
north of the western end of Lake Anna) to 10:10 a.m., from ca. 10:20 to
10:25 a.m., and from 11:40 a.m. to 1:27 p.m., with lighter rain
inbetween the heavy stuff and tapering off after the last of the heavy
rain. Estimated wind speeds were as follow: Under 20 mph at 8:23 a.m,
up to ca. 25 mph by 9:30 a.m., up to ca. 30 mph by 11:40 a.m., over 35
mph by 12:11 p.m., up to 45 or 50 mph by 12:22 p.m., 25 to 35 mph at
12:40 p.m. but soon increasing to 45 - 50 mph again, still about 45 to
50 mph at 1:27 p.m., down to 25 mph at 2:00 p.m., up to 35 - 45 mph at
2:20 p.m.thru at least 3:45 p.m., then slowly diminishing. The results
were few but at 10:08 a.m. a Sooty Tern in beautiful plumage flew past
the front of the car about 20 to 25 above the substrate (at Lake Anna
Beach Marina) at ranges down to 40 or 50 feet. I had to deal with
naked-eye because the rain rate screwed up the windows in fractions of a
second, and made later attempts to get binoculars on it as it flew low
over the water a little later. This was only a couple of minutes before
the first burst of heavy to torrential rain ended. Note that this bird
was well out into the NW to WNW sector of the storm (I did not really
expect this). At 11:06 a.m. I saw an adult Herring (I think) or
Ring-billed Gull fly low over the water well to the WNW over the main
lake and then land on it. From 4:03 to 4:06 p.m. I watched 3 tern sp.
flying over the main lake well to the WNW, then enter the mouth of Rock
Creek. They were pale ventrally and seemed to be light brown dorsally
(but glare was somewhat of a problem by then). I believde them to be
tropical terns wanted to scope them or chase down to Dike 3 to try to
get better looks at them but the owner of the marina came over to talk
at that point and I felt obligated to chat with him (he's a nice guy,
too). The marina entrance was open all day but he did not open up his
office/store, so I had nobody to hand my day-use fee to. When he came
over I offered to pay him but he declined it and seemed pleased that I'd
had an enjoyable day doing such a wierd thing. At 4:19 p.m. an adult
Double-crested Cormorant flew past and continued until out of sight up
the lake. There were up to 3 Bald Eagles drifting around the area and
foraging into the lake (successfully) after the rain ended, a flock of
Mallards hanging around the area all day, up to 6 Killdeer on the lawn
of the marina, and ca. 2 Ospreys sporadically foraging (unsuccessfully)
over the lake alot of the day, but not much else. I saw no Black Terns
at all (vs. 25+ there during the passage of Tropical Storm Edouardo
(spewlling?) on Sep. 1, 2006), no Common or Forster's or Caspian terns,
no shorebirds other than the Killdeer, etc. But it was an enjoyable, if
slow, day...and one bird can make all the risk and time spent so
worthwhile!
John Bazuin
