Three birders from Williamsburg traveled to the Eastern Shore today
(December 12) to find needed birds for our Virginia year lists! We (Bill
Williams, Fred Blystone, Shirley Devan) hit the first CBBT island just as
the sun came up and we were rewarded with a lone Harlequin Duck and about 5
Long-tailed Ducks along the rock point out in the channel. Also saw Black
Scoters and Surf Scoters along with the ubiquitous Bufflehead. As we left
the parking lot, a submarine was moving out to sea.
We headed to Oyster where the highlights included American Oystercatcher.
Then up to Willis Wharf where the tide was coming in fast and the shore
birds were bunching up on the mud flats. Bill Williams counted over 170
Marbled Godwits + many Willets, Dunlin, Short-billed Dowitchers, and Ruddy
Turnstones.
We traveled mostly on Seaside Road (Route 600) and a bit on Route 13. We
came back to Cape Charles where we spotted a lone Snow Goose in the pond
among the several hundred Canada Geese at Bay View Housing Development. We
also had a Red-throated Loon out in the bay off the boardwalk there.
We spent quite a bit of time on Magotha Road where Bill heard (and briefly
saw) a Sedge Wren and heard a Virginia Rail in the marsh. We also saw
several Pine Warblers, Eastern Bluebirds, Downy Woodpeckers, a Pileated
Woodpecker plus Song Sparrows along the roadside.
We stopped briefly at ESNWR on the back side (Ramp Road) and found Gadwall,
American Wigeon, and Great Egrets on the pond and in the marsh.
We spotted at least 2 Black-crowned Night Herons around the pond near the
highway on Fisherman's Island on the way back across the bridge.
Our final stop was Island #1 again on the CBBT at 2:30 pm. Finally, we found
the Purple Sandpipers and Ruddy Turnstones we missed in the morning. Extra
Bonus: the Harlequin Duck was sitting up nice and tall preening on a rock
near the point and the Long-tailed Ducks were still in view.
Total # of species was 77. How close we were to 80!!! Where were the
Northern Cardinals, Tufted Titmice, and American Robins when you need them?
A wonderful day was had by all. Many thanks to Fred for driving and Bill for
navigating to the best spots and finding the birds. Bill picked up 2
Virginia year birds. Fred picked up 5 (I think). I picked up 6. Full list
from eBird is below.
Shirley Devan
Williamsburg Bird Club
cell: 757-813-1322
-----Original Message-----
From: do-not-reply@xxxxxxxxx [mailto:do-not-reply@xxxxxxxxx] ;
Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2006 7:02 PM
To: sedevan52@xxxxxxx
Subject: eBird Report - Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge ,
12/12/06
Location: Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge
Observation date: 12/12/06
Notes: Observers: Bill Williams, Fred Blystone, Shirley Devan. Counted
from first island of CBBT up to Willis Wharf through Oyster, Cape Charles,
Seaside Road, Magotha Road, and ESNWR.
Number of species: 77
Snow Goose X
Canada Goose X
Gadwall X
American Wigeon X
American Black Duck X
Mallard X
Lesser Scaup X
Harlequin Duck X
Surf Scoter X
Black Scoter X
Long-tailed Duck X
Bufflehead X
Hooded Merganser X
Red-breasted Merganser X
Ruddy Duck X
Red-throated Loon X
Common Loon X
Pied-billed Grebe X
Horned Grebe X
Northern Gannet X
Brown Pelican X
Double-crested Cormorant X
Great Blue Heron X
Great Egret X
Black-crowned Night-Heron X
Black Vulture X
Turkey Vulture X
Northern Harrier X
Sharp-shinned Hawk X
Red-tailed Hawk X
American Kestrel X
Clapper Rail X
Virginia Rail X
Black-bellied Plover X
Killdeer X
American Oystercatcher X
Greater Yellowlegs X
Willet X
Marbled Godwit X
Ruddy Turnstone X
Sanderling X
Purple Sandpiper X
Dunlin X
Short-billed Dowitcher X
Bonaparte's Gull X
Ring-billed Gull X
Herring Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull X
Rock Pigeon X
Mourning Dove X
Belted Kingfisher X
Red-bellied Woodpecker X
Downy Woodpecker X
Northern Flicker X
Pileated Woodpecker X
Blue Jay X
American Crow X
Fish Crow X
Carolina Chickadee X
Carolina Wren X
Sedge Wren X
Eastern Bluebird X
Northern Mockingbird X
European Starling X
Yellow-rumped Warbler X
Pine Warbler X
Song Sparrow X
Swamp Sparrow X
White-throated Sparrow X
Dark-eyed Junco X
Red-winged Blackbird X
Eastern Meadowlark X
Common Grackle X
Boat-tailed Grackle X
Brown-headed Cowbird X
American Goldfinch X
House Sparrow X
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2 (http://www.ebird.org)
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