Posted for Ned Brinkley:
- - - - - -
It seems very likely that Tropical Storm Hanna will pass through Virginia
some time on Saturday. Wind gusts could be as high as 60 knots, making this a
potentially dangerous storm. If the landfall is at night in the Carolinas,
and the storm travels rapidly toward southeastern Virginia (as forecast), the
likelihood is very high that the storm will transport numbers of terns and
probably tubenoses into inshore waters and possibly interior lakes and rivers.
We do not have a great deal of information about how tropical storms
displace seabirds, but from past records during the first week of September,
it
would seem reasonable to assume that tropical terns (Bridled, Sooty, possibly
noddy) and storm-petrels (particularly Leach's) will be present in unusual
numbers/locations and that a high variety of terns and shorebirds could be
observed at or near the coast in particular. Typical locations for
observation have
been Sunset Beach, CBBT, Nansemond River at Town Point, James River at
Kingsmill, Fort Story. Most of these locations are birded by local birders,
and
most have partial access restrictions (or are privately owned), but there are
numerous places to watch for birds that almost never get coverage: Rudee
Inlet, Sandbridge, Back Bay, Little Creek (restricted access), Craney Island
(restricted hours/access), among many others. One key to looking for
hurricane-driven birds seems to be that they try to reorient toward the ocean
rather
rapidly, which means that the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay is an ideal place to
monitor, whether at Virginia Beach/Fort Story or from the CBBT (Island 1 is
open to the public, and during several storms in 1996, many Black-capped
Petrels, Band-rumped Storm-Petrels, and a few Trinidade Petrels were seen
well,
among others).
It is advisable to have a scope and a good camera with telephoto lens, so
that documentation of seabirds is possible. Because most of us get to sea
only
a few times of year (and get rusty with identification of the subtler
seabirds in particular), having photographs to study and share later - along
with
good field notes (and accurate, conservative counts of all birds seen - a
waterproof notebook is good, and data can be shared using eBird and this
listserv) - can increase confidence in identifications and make great learning
experiences. There's no reason not to report "storm-petrel species" if one is
not
entirely certain about an identification. All-dark-looking terns in the
distance could be juvenile Sooty Terns, noddies, or even Black Terns, an
underrated source of confusion after tropical storms.
It is also advisable to heed warnings of local authorities and not venture
into conditions that may result in injury or worse. During the very weak
Ernesto (this time of year, 2006), birds seemed to hang around and leave the
Bay
only slowly, so it may not be important to be out in the breeze and rain, as
we once thought. There will likely be some seabirds around on Sunday, if the
forecast is accurate. Finally, if one finds a beach-washed corpse of a
seabird, it could be of real interest to science - a photograph and
measurements
should be taken, at least (or if one has a salvage permit, the corpse can be
retained and held for an institution).
Ned Brinkley
Cape Charles, VA
--
Edward S. (Ned) Brinkley
Director of Manufacturing
New Ravenna Mosaics & Stone
Exmore, Virginia
_www.newravenna.com_ (http://www.newravenna.com/)
Features Editor, North American Birds journal
American Birding Association
Colorado Springs, Colorado
_www.americanbirding.org_ (http://www.americanbirding.org/)
---------------------------------
Todd Michael Day
Jeffersonton, Virginia
Culpeper County, USA
blkvulture@xxxxxxx
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