VA Birders,
Having already posted the highlights, here are a few of the fillers from
Dave Boltz and my visit to the Eastern Shore last Saturday.
Off Chincoteague NWR beach we picked up all 3 scoters, albeit only 2
White-wingeds were noted along with 200 each of Black and Surf. In Tom's
Cove I counted 70 Horned Grebes plus 2 Long-tailed Ducks. Both Common and
Red-throated Loons were easily noted in the area and one No. Gannet flew
past. The causeway into town produced a Tricolored Heron plus the usual
Boat-tailed Grackles. The new causeway section enables one to park over
tidal flats and these produced 5 Semipalmated Sandpipers. We noted Piping
Plovers near the beach parking lot (north side).
In Northampton Co, the overlook from Arlington Rd yielded 3 Great Cormorants
on a green marker (a DCCO was underneath). We also noted a STREAM of No.
Gannets going south past us just two hundred yards off the beach and easily
tallied 1000 in our 20 minutes at this location. On the way out, a farmer
was spraying herbicide on the fields and the action kicked up 17 Savannah
Sparrows; Eastern Meadowlark were noted in the area and the pond at the end
of Arlington Rd held only Bufflehead.
Before the CBBT we saw 9 Brown Pelicans. CBBT #1 produced 2 Purple
Sandpipers and the usual Ruddy Turnstones. Off the rocks were 20
Long-tailed Ducks and nearby was a raft of 145 Greater Scaup. More No.
Gannets were evident, pushing our daily total close to 2000.
Sherwood Lakes produced a few additional species such as Ring-necked Ducks
and Lesser Scaup. The Tree Swallows were somewhat distracting as we tried
to find the actively feeding Pacific Loon.
Kurt Gaskill
