Below are the results of our weekly shorebird/gull survey conducted at
Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge on Friday, March 1, 2013. All water areas
(impoundments and beach areas) were covered in a 5 hour survey. All individuals
are counted for the target species; other birds seen or heard on the survey are
followed by a dash.
Because of recent rains, the water was too deep for most shorebirds on most of
the Refuge's impoundments but good for other waterbirds. Despite this handicap,
we recorded greater numbers of certain species then we have previously this
winter: willet 157, sanderling 205, dunlin 887 and dowitcher sp. 150. The
willet and sanderlings and about a 1/3 of the dunlin were on the beach. Our
lone wintering American avocet is hanging in there on F pond. Are these sudden
increases in the number of our normally wintering species a sign that spring
migration is starting? I hope so. Or is was it just a sign that the
impoundments were not frozen over like the last survey? Interestingly there
were 600 snow geese near the tip of the Hook with many more along the Overwash
at the edge of Tom's Cove. The highlight of the day was the RAZORBILL spotted
on Tom's Cove. It was located less than a mile north of the Coast Guard
Station; you would need to hike south from the
Beach Parking Lot to see it unless you have a permit to drive on the ORV zone.
Snow Goose --
Canada Goose --
Tundra Swan --
Gadwall --
American Wigeon --
American Black Duck --
Mallard --
Northern Shoveler --
Northern Pintail --
Green-winged Teal --
Surf Scoter --
Black Scoter --
Long-tailed Duck --
Bufflehead --
Hooded Merganser --
Red-breasted Merganser --
Ruddy Duck --
Red-throated Loon 11
Common Loon 26
Horned Grebe 42
Northern Gannet 9
Great Blue Heron --
Great Egret --
Black Vulture --
Turkey Vulture --
Northern Harrier --
Cooper's Hawk --
Bald Eagle --
American Coot 1
Black-bellied Plover 3
Killdeer 8
American Avocet 1
Greater Yellowlegs 23
Willet 157
Lesser Yellowlegs 2
Marbled Godwit 12
Ruddy Turnstone 2
Sanderling 205
peep sp. 12
Dunlin 887
Dowitcher spp. 150
Ring-billed Gull 122
Herring Gull 213
Lesser Black-backed Gull 13
Great Black-backed Gull 65
Forster's Tern 5
Razorbill 1
Mourning Dove --
Belted Kingfisher --
Downy Woodpecker --
Northern Flicker --
Merlin --
Peregrine Falcon --
American Crow --
crow sp. --
Horned Lark --
Brown-headed Nuthatch --
American Robin --
Northern Mockingbird --
European Starling --
Yellow-rumped Warbler --
Savannah Sparrow --
White-throated Sparrow --
Dark-eyed Junco --
Northern Cardinal --
Eastern Meadowlark --
Boat-tailed Grackle --
