Todd Day's 'rarities round-up' on the Eastern Shore, an informal effort to
find western species of note on the Shore, produced some nice sightings today
between Willis Wharf and the Eastern Shore of Virginia NWR, between dawn and
5:00 p.m. I'll mention just a few here; the search will continue tomorrow, and
Todd will probably summarize the results at greater length later. Highlights
included Orange-crowned Warbler (at the refuge), Cave Swallow (at the State
Park; only 1 today), Northern Goshawk (1 at the hawkwatch), hundreds of Purple
Finches, Pine Siskin, Green Heron, Pectoral Sandpiper, American Woodcock,
Brewer's and Rusty Blackbirds, Sedge and Marsh Wrens, Harlequin Duck,
Long-tailed
Duck, Virginia Rail, Red-breasted Nuthatches, White-crowned Sparrow, tens of
thousands of blackbirds and robins, and an Ash-throated Flycatcher, found by
Todd, Ian Topolsky, and Tad Finnell and relocated by Sue Heath, Bev
Leeuwenburg,
Sam Stuart, Brian Taber, Bill Williams, Mitchell Byrd, Ralph Wall, Adam
D'onofrio, Mike Boatwright, George Wheaton, myself, and several other folks.
The
bird was just off the Butterfly trail and was nicely photographed by Stuart. I
think this is the first one for the state in over a decade. No sightings of
yesterday's 15 cranes, many Tundra Swans, or Swainson's Hawk, but many will be
out looking again tomorrow, including around the barrier islands by boat.
Ned Brinkley
Cape Charles, VA
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