KIPTOPEKE, VIRGINIA, SEPTEMBER 2-7, 2010, Liz & Harry Armistead.
ESVNWR, Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge. K.S.P.
= Kiptopeke State Park. S.B.R. = Sunset Beach Resort (formerly America House).
This is the 28th consecutive year (1 miss) that I嚙踝蕭ve spent Labor
Day Weekend here. It嚙踝蕭s my habit to count birds early in the morning from the
bluff in back of Sunset Beach Resort (see below)**. Over the years this has
resulted in a few spectacular counts. But not this time. These little surveys
seem to get less satisfying as the years go on, but 嚙皺 one or two good cold
fronts might change this perception. What HAS been missing for years now are
high counts of cormorants, pelicans, Fish Crows, and Cattle Egrets, which used
to routinely total in the hundreds. Still 嚙皺 there嚙踝蕭s much to see.
The K.S.P. songbird banding operation, with Calvin Brennan as the
principal bander, is off to a very good start, with 715 birds of 48 species (22
warblers ) banded as of September 6, including 41 Traill嚙踝蕭s Flycatchers, 27
Carolina Wrens, 51 Veeries, 57 Black-and-white Warblers, and 211 American
Redstarts. For more detail see www.cvwo.org and go to Kiptopeke Blog.
SEPTEMBER 2, Thursday. The trip down from Pennsylvania yields 238
Turkey Vultures, many perched on towers, as if they know they嚙踝蕭re about to
ride out a storm (effects of distant Hurricane Earl). An adult Bald Eagle is
over Princess Anne, MD. My first Sharp-shinned Hawk of the season is in flight
over Route 13 near Eastville. Dinner at Sting-Ray嚙踝蕭s. Late in the day there
is a malevolent sky, with a high gray ceiling and an unearthly, very narrow,
long whitish streak to the west. At sunset there is a spectacular sort of
thermonuclear orange-yellow glow as the sun slips away. It嚙踝蕭s an ominous sky.
SEPTEMBER 3, Friday. But 嚙皺 Earl passes well offshore. There嚙踝蕭s
light rain most of the morning, torrential c. 7:45-8 A.M., winds no more than
35 m.p.h. Visibility 2-3 miles early, sometimes reduced to 100 yards.
Disappointingly, no 嚙踝蕭hurricane birds.嚙踝蕭 4 guests (i.e. occupied rooms) at
S.B.R. Liz and I team up with Bob Anderson and Thuy Tran for the rest of the
day, when winds and rain (if any) are light. The generally high tidal waters
and rains have, predictably, brought some shorebirds and gulls in to the dirt
fields.
Ramp Lane, ESVNWR. Water in the pond is low, tide is falling. 34
Lesser Yellowlegs, 1 Pectoral, 1 Spotted & 3 Least sandpipers, 1 Short-billed
Dowitcher, 5 Tricolored Herons. Tree and (mostly) Barn swallows foraging over
the saltmarsh. Run into the refuge嚙踝蕭s John Miller, who gives us a friendly
welcome.
Field at Rt. 600 X Bull嚙踝蕭s Drive: 9 Least Sandpipers, 2 kestrels.
Curve in Route 600 n. of ESVNWR: 40 Bobolinks, 15 Black-bellied &
55 Semipalmated plovers, 2 kestrels, 1 Osprey, 8 Semipalmated & 55 Least
sandpipers, 45 Rock Pigeons, and, in the distance, a Merlin repeatedly harasses
an American Crow. Once Bill Clark said to me that a Merlin 嚙踝蕭will tangle with
just about anything.嚙踝蕭 Q.E.D.
Arlington Road n. of K.S.P. (opposite a drive with 2 gateposts, one
with the # 27071, the other with 27095): 2 BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPERS (thanks to
Ned Brinkley for telling us of those), 95 Black-bellied & numerous Semipalmated
plovers, 8 turnstones, 30 Turkey & 6 Black vultures, and 2 Pectoral & 400
Semipalmated-Least sandpipers. Under fair skies, most of these are gone by the
next day.
Chesapeake Bay Bridge & Tunnel, island 1, in the mid-afternoon. I
am struck by the big number of Rock Pigeons, c. 215, around the new restaurant.
2 imm. Yellow-crowned Night Herons on the rocks. 2 Sandwich, 5 Royal & 8
Common terns. 1 dolphin. 8 Buckeyes.
K.S.P. 8 deer.
Dinner at the Eastville Inn, compliments of Bob and Thuy, our 44th
wedding anniversary.
SEPTEMBER 4, Saturday. Spend most of the day glued to K.S.P.
hawkwatch platform, at least 9:45-5:45. Here there are moderately good flights
(for so early in the season) each day September 4-6 respectively with the most
abundant raptors being Osprey (79, 42, 80), kestrel (26, 35, 14), Bald Eagle
(11, 4, 12) and harrier (9, 2, 1) thanks to such vigorous sentinels as official
hawk counter Zak Poulton, Calvin Brennan, Bob & Thuy, Chris & Betsy Foster.
For (much, much) more detail refer to: www.hawkcount.org
We also see 2 Cliff Swallows, 2 Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, a Yellow
Warbler, a 嚙踝蕭 Black-throated Blue Warbler, a Red-eyed Vireo, 1 Brown Thrasher,
a Merlin, some Bank Swallows, 2 Caspian Terns, a 嚙踝蕭 Cape May Warbler, a Hairy
Woodpecker, and I click off 211 Purple Martins, though probably more passed,
uncounted on September 6. Zak sees 17 mockingbirds.
Butterflies are good today, with many around the Abelias at the
hawkwatch parking lot. 10 Tiger & 12 Spicebush swallowtails, 3 Pearlcrescents,
2 Common Wood Nymphs, 20 Monarchs (several remark this is a good year for
them), 1 Eastern Tailed Blue, and 6 Cloudless Sulphurs. The Butterfly Garden
is rather barren and colorless, thanks to the dry summer, but Liz notices lots
of Buckeyes clustered on Winged Sumac just n. of the garden.
We walk around this big, more or less square section of undergrowth
c. 1:30 P.M. and I count 505 Buckeyes. All day long countless hundreds of
others waft in, many low over the grass, others in small helixes of 2-4
spinning high in the air. Never seen so many. My favorite butterfly. These
are all in beautiful condition, their upper wing surfaces as lovely as any
oriental carpet design. Buckeyes in flight do a sort of flap, flap, sail,
coasting/sailing on wings held flat, somewhat reminiscent of accipiters, as do
Spicebush Swallowtails. In other years I嚙踝蕭ve seen Buckeyes in migration way
out over the Bay, a mile or more offshore, and on the remote Bay islands and
marshes.
Dinner at the Firehouse Restaurant in Cape Charles with Bob & Thuy,
Chris & Betsy Foster.
SEPTEMBER 5, Sunday. At the K.S.P. hawkwatch 10 A.M. - 5 P.M.
Good looks at a Wilson嚙踝蕭s and a Nashville warbler as Calvin bands them, and of
a small Rough Green Snake that is also brought in. The Buckeyes on the Winged
Sumac have diminished to c. 265 this afternoon. Unusual so early in the season
are 3 Red-shouldered Hawks. Also see a peregrine, a Merlin, 4 adult Bald
Eagles in sight together, and a Red-breasted Nuthatch, enough found already
this fall to perhaps signal a flight year for them. Dinner at Chris & Betsy
Fosters嚙踝蕭 with Zak, Calvin, Bob & Thuy.
SEPTEMBER 6, Monday. We嚙踝蕭re at the K.S.P. hawkwatch 10-5. A
Brown-headed Nuthatch flies across the gap, another is heard. This species has
become very scarce in the area, comes close to being missed on the Christmas
bird count. A Yellow-billed Cuckoo, a peregrine, many swallows heading south.
Hawk trapper emeritus Jamie Cameron visits. The hawk trapping area was mowed
yesterday and today the setup there is underway. Dinner at Sting-Ray嚙踝蕭s with
Bob and Thuy.
SEPTEMBER 7, Tuesday. Do an abbreviated count from the bluff, then
we, reluctantly, leave for home, where Liz has a 3 P.M. meeting at the
Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, where she serves on the board.
This weekend daughter, Mary, and son-in-law Mike spend at Rigby嚙踝蕭s
Folly, our place near Bellevue, MD, where they see a Bald Eagle, Ospreys, a
hummingbird, a young Virginia Opossum (and, separately, an adult), a Raccoon,
various deer, several Gray Squirrels, and, elsewhere but nearby, several
roadkill Rough Green Snakes.
** SUNSET BEACH RESORT MORNING COUNTS. Somewhat sloppy and not in
strict phylogenetic order, but 嚙皺 at least accurately keyboarded. My
apologies. My Excel is rusty. These follow in the order of the 5 mornings.
The Fosters joined me September 4, Ned Brinkley September 6. Below doesn嚙踝蕭t
represent ALL of the birds seen but all seen Sept. 3 ARE listed, when Earl
passes offshore. On September 4 a d.o.r. Rough Green Snake found here. X =
seen but no count done.
September 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. time: 6:30-8; 6:20-8:15; 6:25-8:15;
6:24-8:15; 6:20-7:20 (ended early because we had to skedaddle north to PA).
overcast, clear, clear, clear, clear. NE20-35, NW20, N5-NE10, NE5, SW5-10.
Approximate starting temperature: low 70s, 70, 65, 68, 70. Precipitation:
rain, 0, 0, 0, 0. Number of guests in motel: 4, 12, 25, 24, 4 (usually full
over L.D.W.; I don嚙踝蕭t see how the place survives).
double-crested cormorant 215, 165, 130, 200, 174. glossy ibis 0,
0, 0, 2, 0. brown pelican 85, 20, 36, 30, 20. Canada goose 0, 0, 2, 0, 0.
great blue heron 6, 4, 7, 3, 6. cattle egret 0, 0, 0, 0, 0. semipalmated
plover 0, 0, 3, 0, 0. green-winged teal 0, 0, 5, 0, 0. willet 5, 3, 0, 0, 0.
unID嚙踝蕭d peep 0, 3, 0, 0, 0. sanderling 1, 0, 0, 0, 0. peregrine falcon 0, 1,
0, 0, 0. bald eagle 1i (forced a great black-backed gull to bail out & land in
the water), 4, 6, 4, 2. osprey 0, 12, 14, 2, 1.
royal tern 46, 4, 8, 1, 6. American kestrel 0, 1, 0, 1, 0.
Caspian tern 0, 3, 4, 1, 0. merlin 0, 0, 1, 0, 0. laughing gull 65, 10, x, x,
x. herring gull 20, 55, x, x, x. ring-billed gull 3, x, x, x, x. great
black-backed gull 11, 40, x, x, x.
belted kingfisher 0, 1, 0, 0, 0. ruby-throated hummingbird 0, 1,
2, 2, 0. chimney swift 0, 2, 0, 2, 0. unID嚙踝蕭d empidonax 0, 0, 0, 1, 0.
yellow-bellied flycatcher 0, 1, 0, 0, 0. barn swallow 2, 9, 0, 0, 0. purple
martin 0, 0, 2, 0, 0. eastern kingbird 0, 368, 66, 81, 55. fish crow 0, 0, 0,
0, 0. red-breasted nuthatch 0, 0, 3, 0, 0. cedar waxwing 0, 5, 5, 1,
0.
red-eyed vireo 0, 0, 1, 0,0. unID嚙踝蕭d warbler 1, 99, 32, 8, 2.
prairie warbler 0, 1, 0, 1, 0. magnolia warbler 0, 1, 1, 0, 1. black-throated
blue warbler 0, 0, 1, 0, 0. American redstart 0, 0, 1, 0, 0. blue grosbeak 0,
1, 1, 0, 0. summer tanager 0, 0, 0, 1, 0. Baltimore oriole 0, 17, 21, 3, 9.
bobolink 0, 5, 5, 85, 11.
red-winged blackbird 0, 12, 35, 38, 0. house finch 0, 0, 0, 1, 0.
monarch 0, 0, 1, 3, 0. deer 0, 0, 3 (2 does & a fawn), 0, 0.
THOSE WERE (AND ARE) THE DAYS. 嚙踝蕭Yeah! Kiptopeke!嚙踝蕭 嚙碾 Walter
Post Smith. This time of year always evokes memories of times 20, 25, or more,
years ago. With our then young children, in summer嚙踝蕭s last days, we嚙踝蕭d swim,
nap, or walk the beach after lunch. We always lodged in Room 145 of American
House (later to be Sunset Beach Resort), as indeed Liz and I do this time.
After banding and the afternoon activities we嚙踝蕭d repair to Walter Smith嚙踝蕭s
room in the Edgewood Motel for happy hour with Doris Smith, Fred Scott, John &
Martha Dillard, the other Smith couple (he嚙踝蕭d served in New Guinea in WWII),
or others = gin and tonics, chips, dip, and nuts, then go to dinner, sometimes
at places now defunct such as Etz嚙踝蕭s in Cape Charles or Paul嚙踝蕭s in Cheriton.
During the drinks and treats the U. S. Open tennis was always
playing on Walter嚙踝蕭s television. Things were really up in the air then.
There was no state park, no national wildlife refuge. The now ESVNWR had until
recently been an Air Force base, Fisherman Island a Navy installation. John
Maddox was working his Byzantine machinations with several properties which he
later sold to various government agencies. Legendary John Buckalew would visit
the song bird banders occasionally.
Charlie Hacker trapped raptors where they嚙踝蕭re trapped now, but
with a dozen or more folks in bright clothes, with folding aluminum chairs, and
colorful coolers right out in the open only feet from the incoming hawks, and
in they came regardless. Wind direction was indicated by the smoke of
Charlie嚙踝蕭s pipe. 嚙踝蕭There are 2 kinds of birds: hawks and hawk food嚙踝蕭 嚙碾
Charlie.
There wasn嚙踝蕭t much of a hint then of the later cast of characters,
rogues gallery even, who would make their mark here, or, had just begun to:
the several Brians (and a Bryan), the various Bobs, Bill, Sully, Bart,
Fletcher, Marshall, Jethro, BJ, Dot, the New England hawker who called
Sharp-shinned Hawks 嚙踝蕭shaapees嚙踝蕭, Little Joe, Reese, Dorothy & Mike, Don,
Chris & Betsy, Rudy, Marty, Jamie & Sue, Earl, Ned, the Odell clan, Robert,
Jen, the Maryland 嚙踝蕭Gargoyles嚙踝蕭 entourage (with their semi-secret, somewhat
obscene, pep rally gesture [don嚙踝蕭t ask]), Renee & John, Tony & Suzanne, Deniz,
Thuy, Kathy & Bob, Joe, Calvin, and many others.
The carefully-designed projects of William and Mary still lay
ahead, but Mitchell started the raptor banding station at Wise Point. Will
Russell had founded the Christmas Bird Count in 1965, conducted by 10
observers, 2 later to be honored as MacArthur fellows (Jared Diamond & John
Terborgh); another, a Brit with a Ph.D. in Ornithology, reported a Common
Cuckoo that year out on Smith Island, and described it pretty well. The
songbird banding had been going on since, I think, 1963.
Years later there would be a one day count of 5,100 kingbirds, a
banded MacGillivray嚙踝蕭s Warbler, nearly 9,000 raptors in one day, 51 Merlins
banded in one day, 364 peregrines seen on another, 1,000+ Ospreys another day,
counts of 400+ White Ibis, and many other unimaginable maxima. One day a King
Rail landed on the hawkwatch platform. Western hummingbird species would be
encountered several times, some of them to be banded. Bill Williams once saw a
Humpback Whale from the hawkwatch platform.
And who would have imagined there嚙踝蕭d be a refuge manager who was
actually interested in what we were doing, would hang out with us on her own
time? Almost every refuge manger I嚙踝蕭ve known has been of the 嚙踝蕭hooks and
bullets嚙踝蕭 persuasion.
Although I didn嚙踝蕭t know him, I asked Roger Tory Peterson to write
a letter to big shots he might have influence with, encouraging them to help
establish what would become ESVNWR. To my delight he did and also surprised me
with a rather lengthy, cordial, personal letter, dated July 12, 1984, which I
treasure. The Big Man always came through for the right causes.
So here I am in Philadelphia, with a cool NW breeze coming through
the windows, wishing I was there. Soon enough I will be.
BOB AKE嚙踝蕭S BIG YEAR. Bob嚙踝蕭s big year blog, very entertaining and
interesting, can be seen via www.cvwo.org, then go down to the left side where
his blog is listed. Right now he嚙踝蕭s on St. Lawrence Island, Alaska, somewhat
incommunicado, and his North American big year total stands, for the moment, at
an astounding 698.
Best to all. 嚙碾 Harry Armistead, Philadelphia.
