Hello all
The team of Allen Larner ( Staunton ) & Janice Frye ( Richmond ) ( Augusta Bald
Eagles ) joined in on the fun of birding the Eastern Shore for the Kiptopeke
Challenge . We started at 3 am & finished at 8 pm a total of 18 hrs. of hard
birding . For this effort we netted a total of 125 species of birds . The
starting temp. was 75 degrees & very humid ( reminded me of a muggy summer in
mid July here in the Mts. & Valleys ) with the high temp. of 93 degrees , still
very humid . Our first stop was Island one of the CBBT & our last stop was at
Chincoteague Nat. Wildlife Refuge . This was Janice's first time in doing the
Kiptopeke Challenge & she was still going to the very end . We had some misses
like Cattle Egret , W B Nuthatch , Towhee & Goldfinch .Eastern Kingbirds were
every where we stopped . We saw about 250 to 300 + . Also Cuckoo's were seen on
& off the whole day . We had 9 + Yellow -billed & one Black - Billed We ran
into a large group of Swallows with the bulk being Barn ( 80 % ) & 12% being
Cliff. ( the rest about 1 % ) . While perched on a wire & as I was scanning
them I ran across one that looked like a Cave Swallow but I only had a fleeting
second when they flew off the wire . I was unable to relocate the bird . Below
is a list of birds seen or heard during the event .
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Am. Black Duck
Mallard
Blue - winged Teal
No. Shoveler
Lesser Scaup
No. Bobwhite
No. Gannet
Brown Pelican
D C Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Green Heron
Black - crowned heron
Yellow - crowned Heron
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle
No. Harrier
Sharp - shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Red - tailed Hawk
Am. Kestrel
Merlin
Clapper Rail
Virginia Rail
Black - bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
Am. Oystercatcher
Black - necked Stilt
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
SolitarySandpiper
Willet
Spotted Sandpiper
Ruddy Turnstone
Sanderling
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Pectoral sandpiper
Dunlin
Short - billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Snipe
Wilson's Phalarope
Laughing Gull
Ring - billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black - backed Gull
Caspian Tern
Royal Tern
Sandwich Tern
Common Tern
Forster's Tern
Least tern
Black Skimmer
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared Dove
Mourning Dove
Black - billed Cuckoo
Yellow - billed Cuckoo
Great Horned owl
Whip - poor - will -- about a hundred yards past the banding station . Bird
gave its alarm call as we got near.
Chimney Swift
Belted Kingfisher
Red - headed Woodpecker -- saw about 8
Red - bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
No. Flicker
Acadian Flycatcher
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Flycatcher
White - eyed Vireo
Red - eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
Am. Crow
Fish Crow
Tree Swallow -- 6
No. Rough - winged Swallow -- 1
Bank Swallow -- 1
Cliff Swallow -- 100 + possible Cave Swallow mixed in -- could not get it a
good I D on it .
Barn Swallow -- 250 +
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Brown - headed Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
Sedge Wren -- Erye Hall -- next to pond .
Blue - gray Gnatcatcher
Eastern Bluebird
Veery
Am. Robin
Gray Catbird
No. Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
E. Starling
Cedar waxwing
Yellow Warbler
Black - throated Blue Warbler
Pine Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Black & White Warbler
Am. Redstart
Common Yellowthroat
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Seaside Sparrow
No. Cardinal
Blue Grosbeak
Bobolink
Red - winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Boat - tailed Grackle
Brown - headed Cowbird
Baltimore Oriole
House Finch
House Sparrow
Allen Larner
Staunton
