Mike Iwanik and I departed Charlottesville in the cool, star-filled pre-dawn
for Claytor Lake State Park with hopes of seeing the Brown Booby today (Sunday,
26 October). We arrived at the lakeside gazebo near the park's visitors center
and started scanning the sky and water at 08:55 a.m., joining 2 birders who
were already working to find the bird: William (from Harrisonburg) and Jeff
(from Downingtown, PA). They had not yet seen the booby, and they reported the
sobering news that apparently no one had seen it the previous day (Saturday).
After some discussion, we decided to take up separate stations along the
lakeshore to maximize the sky and lake surface under surveillance: Jeff would
stay at the gazebo while Mike, William, and I would watch from a swimming area
to the west that offered better views of the lake's west-side waters. We
(fortunately) exchanged cell phone numbers with Jeff.
Mike and I departed, following William. We had only driven the relatively short
distance to the parking lot by the swimming area when Jeff called our cell
phones to report, at approx 09:45 am, that he had not only sighted the Brown
Booby but that it had just passed almost literally over his head and the
gazebo!
Mike, William, and I traveled quickly back to the gazebo site, where Jeff got
us on the Brown Booby, though it was now well to the east. Over the next half
hour or so, it wandered in and out of an inlet on the lake's northeast side,
often not far over the heads of fishermen who were concentrating on what was
beneath rather than above their boats. The booby teased us with periodic forays
along the shoreline, heading back towards us. But it would inevitably turn back
to the east. Several times it executed spectacular dives into the water. We
perservered and the booby eventually rewarded our patience by flying to back to
the west along the north shore such that we enjoyed clearly "countable" views
of an adult Brown Booby. YES! But it retreated to the east again, and we
struggled to maintain visual scope contact as it flew in the vicinity of the
dam.
We lost sight of the Brown Booby for 10 - 15 minutes, but I re-found it flying
not far above the water, a bit west of the dam and headed further west along
the opposite (south) shore. The booby continued flying west, coming closer,
affording better views. When it was nearly across the lake from our gazebo
location, it flew out into the lake and landed on the water, where it floated
quietly for about 10 minutes. It then got up off the water and continued its
westward flight, never straying far from the shoreline or flying too high (it
flew typically 2 to 20 feet above the water surface). Continuing west, it
departed our field-of-regard, disappearing to the west, at about 11:30 am.
So the Brown Booby is still enjoying its stay at Claytor Lake. Several other
birders joined us during the time we had the bird in sight. A couple folks
arrived not longer after the booby disappeared, but hopefully it returned for
them later in the day.
Mark Adams
Charlottesville
