Hello Birders,
Today, myself, Ellison Orcutt, and Beth Oristian made a run to
Chincoteague. We decided to forego Island 1 on the CBBT and arrived at
Sunset Beach at around 6:20 am. Shortly thereafter we were treated to a
small to moderate migrant songbird flight. Eastern Kingbird (89), American
Redstart (46), and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (38) were the top 3 species
identified, although 150 warbler sp passed us by also. 43 species were
identified in about an hour or so. By 7:30 am the flight was pretty much
over.
The full list is linked below.
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S24724671
We then headed to Chincoteague and spent most of the day there. Areas
covered were the main entrance road, Tom's Cove area, the refuge HQ
(Herbert H. Bateman Educational and Administrative Center), and Wildlife
Loop.
Wading birds were abundant, but shorebirds (16 sp.) were somewhat tricky to
get to grips with. Tom's Cove (long staying Tundra Swan continues) was the
most productive and easiest to observe. The main impoundment on the
wildlife loop is heavily vegetated and yielded few shorebirds.
At the HQ we happened upon a Lark Sparrow near the feeder behind the main
building.
Full list from Chincoteague is below.
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S24724707
Leaving the shore we stopped in at Ramp Road (highlight 1 Whimbrel) and
Island 1 (highlights 1 Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, 1 Brown-headed Cowbird).
All in all a great day out. Fall is in the air.
Arun Bose
Richmond VA.
