Today at Chincoteague, I saw an adult male Gadwall across from the
Boardwalk Trail/visitor's center in Tom's Cove. He was swimming out far
from the waterfowl that were resting on the sandbar, off the right, as if
he was going to go to the beach to Parking Lot 1. I needed a scope to see
him. I tried to get some pictures, but he was so far out. I think I got one
or two that are usable. However, I'm still in the area and it will be a few
days before I can upload them. I also had an adult Black-bellied Plover in
full breeding plumage. I saw it in the evening, around 7pm or so. I was
driving along the road toward the beach. He was walking in the mudflats off
the right side of the road, no more than 10 feet or so from the road. I got
some great looks and pictures of it.
Bald Eagles were also highly entertaining today. There was an adult sitting
next to a large tire in the marsh (seen along the Wildlife Loop) with an
IMMATURE eagle. The immature was clearly eating something, though it was
impossible to tell what because of how far off it was. The adult just sat
next it while "Junior" ate. The adult eventually flew off and "Junior" just
sat there, as if it was waiting for the adult to return (which it probably
was). Then, along the back part of the trail, facing east, I was watching
some shorebirds when I saw another immature sitting on what looked like the
remains of a wooden tower. It eventually hopped off and walked around the
mudflats next to it, picked something up, and returned to its perch. When I
zoomed in with the scope to see what it was he'd "caught," I discovered
that it was a ball! It was white and big - baseball-sized or softball-sized
- hard to tell for sure how big. He had it in his mouth, then put it
between his toes and tried to pick at it. It seemed confused! Got some pics
of it. Hopefully, they turned out ok. As I was leaving the island at
sunset, something scared the daylights out of a large flock of seagulls -
at least 100, I'd say (the best of my knowledge, none of themw ere singing,
"I Ran (So Far Away)," though I had the windows up so I can't say for
certain - LOL!) - probably another eagle. The full list is below/
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23639134
Alyssa Freeman,
Richmond. VA
