Below are the results of our weekly shorebird/gull survey conducted at
Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge on Friday March 15, 2013. All water areas
(impoundments and beach areas) were covered in a 6 hour survey. All individuals
are counted for the target species; other birds seen or heard on the survey are
followed by a dash. Most of the impoundments were full of water so the
majority of shorebirds were seen using the beach and tidal areas such as Tom's
Cove. Noticeably fewer ducks, geese and swans are around though there are still
plenty to be seen along the Wildlife Loop. The highlight was seeing the
black-tailed godwit in a mixed species flock of shorebirds using the tidal edge
of Tom's Cove close to the southern edge of the beach parking (see attached
photo taken by Dick Rowe while we were there).
Other highlights were the increasing numbers of piping plovers (male and
female) using Wild Beach (10) and the Hook (4);Oystercatchers (31) were using
the beach and tidal areas which is the high number for this year, 305 willets
(249 at Toms Cove) is a high number for this early in spring migration, 842
Dunlin is a high number for this year as well as 60 lesser black-backed gulls
using Wild Beach being a high for this year. Four royal terns seen over
Chincoteague Bay is a first for this species this year.
Clyde Morris and Joelle Buffa
Snow Goose --
Brant --
Canada Goose --
Tundra Swan --
Gadwall --
American Wigeon --
American Black Duck --
Mallard --
Northern Shoveler --
Northern Pintail --
Green-winged Teal --
Lesser Scaup --
Surf Scoter --
Black Scoter --
Bufflehead --
Hooded Merganser --
Red-breasted Merganser --
Red-throated Loon 5
Common Loon 46
Horned Grebe 31
Northern Gannet 1
Great Blue Heron --
Great Egret --
Black Vulture --
Turkey Vulture --
Northern Harrier --
Bald Eagle --
American Coot --
Black-bellied Plover 17
Piping Plover 14
Killdeer 13
American Oystercatcher 31
Greater Yellowlegs 12
Willet 305
Lesser Yellowlegs 1
Black-tailed Godwit 1
Marbled Godwit 25
Sanderling 286
Dunlin 842
Ring-billed Gull 163
Herring Gull 488
Lesser Black-backed Gull 62
Great Black-backed Gull 79
Forster's Tern 4
Royal Tern 4
Mourning Dove --
Belted Kingfisher --
Northern Flicker --
Eastern Phoebe --
American Crow --
crow sp. --
Horned Lark --
Tree Swallow --
Carolina Chickadee --
Carolina Wren --
American Robin --
Gray Catbird --
European Starling --
Pine Warbler --
Yellow-rumped Warbler --
Savannah Sparrow --
White-throated Sparrow --
Northern Cardinal --
Red-winged Blackbird --
Common Grackle --
Boat-tailed Grackle --
Brown-headed Cowbird --
