At my daughters request (really), she and I went to the beach on Monday
looking for winter birds. In addition to checking out a few ponds, we
visited Ocean City and Indian River Inlets, and hiked the peninsula at Cape
Henlopen. Now, technically, none of these sites are in Virginia. But my
daughter is from Virginia, and that ought to count for something.
The best birds of the day were a flock of approximately 100 snow buntings at
Cape Henlopen at about 4:30. It was a gorgeous afternoon (no wind!) with
beautiful late-afternoon sun. The flock flew in over the dunes and landed
on a sand flat on the bay side. Unfortunately, they took off within ten
seconds, flying away high over the dunes, straight and away, SSE, as if they
were heading right for Assateague. But my daughter did see them. Shortly
before that, on the ocean side, we saw what appeared to be a great cormorant
fly by. Although I have the impression from various field guides that the
white hip patches are present only during breeding, this bird had dull, but
very noticeable, light colored spots in exactly the right place. Theres
nothing like walking on a deserted winter beach in beautiful weather.
My daughter also got her first looks at both loons and numerous species of
diving ducks, including a glimpse of the male common eider at Indian River
inlet. She really enjoyed the male surf scoters and long-tailed ducks.
Although walking on the Ocean City jetty and playing in the sand were at
least as appealing.
Ben Jesup
Alexandria
