With the pelagic trip canceled Sat (8/14) due to Charley,
Robert Ferrell,John Fox,Ross Shearer and I decided to go to
Stumpy Lake in VA Beach Saturday AM in an attempted to relocate
the female Anhinga I found there on Friday (8/13) afternoon. We
not only relocated her sitting in pretty much the same spot as
the previous afternoon but also observed her interacting with a
second female Anhinga. We great scope views of both before they
flew off in the general direction of the spill-way.
After leaving Stumpy, we went to Back Bay NWR. Not much to
report from there though we did get good looks at Prothonotary
Warbler, and a Yellow-billed Cuckoo sitting on the wires (yes you
read correctly, on the wires!), and a good variety of swallows
including Bank, Barn,N. Rough-winged,Cliff,Tree, and Purple Martin
near the visitor's center. In the afternoon, we had 3 Least Terns
(2 adult,1 juv.) sitting on the beach at First Landing State Park.
On Sunday (8/15), we were joined by Ned Brinkley and Adam D'Onofrio
at Rudee Inlet where we boarded the Waverunner with Captain Pat Foster
for an all day deepwater pelagic trip. The trip was very successful
not only in terms of birds but also in terms of some great Yellow-finned
Tuna fishing and good looks at Fin and Pilot Whales as well as Off-shore
Bottlenosed Dolphins. Birds seen included Wilson's and Leaches
Storm-petrel, Greater,Cory's, and Audubon's Shearwater,Sooty and
Bridled Tern and perhaps the best bird of the trip,considering the
time of year, a Red-necked Phalarope.
All in all not a bad weekend. Lots of life, state and year birds for
all. I added 11 species to the Big Year List, boosting my list to 303.
What was the 300th you might ask...anti-climatically Cory's Shearwater,
but not one that will soon be forgotten! Good birds, great company, lots
of tuna steaks...it just doesn't get much better!!!
Good Birding,
Mike Boatwright--
Amherst, VA
You are subscribed to VA-BIRD. To post to this mailing list, simply send email
to va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx. To unsubscribe, send email to
va-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
