2nd NASSAWADOX, Virginia, Christmas Bird Count,
Sunday, December16, 2007.
Most of the count circle is in Northampton County.
GALE FORCE WINDS. Fortunately the first few morning hours were relatively
calm with light, intermittent rain, allowing good landbirding.
About 2/3 of the circle consists of Hog Island Bay, remote marshes, barrier
islands, and sea, none of which was covered because the winds kept the boat
from going.
RARITIES: Only the 2 Black-and-white Warblers.
2006 totals are in parentheses ( ), throughout this report.
snow goose 501 (65). brant 1193 (1031). cackling goose 1 (0). Canada
goose 1434 (334). tundra swan 5 (0). wood duck 28 (2). gadwall 1 (39).
American black duck 173 (558). mallard 79 (282). northern shoveler 3 (1).
green-winged teal 113 (62). ring-necked duck 6 (1). scaup unID'd 4 (0).
bufflehead 323 (464). hooded merganser 148 (188). red-breasted merganser
141 (146). ruddy duck 162 (22).
wild turkey 46 (0). northern bobwhite 1 (1). common loon 7 (84).
pied-billed grebe 6 (3). horned grebe 1 (39). double-crested cormorant 5
(62). American bittern 1 (0). great blue heron 38 (45). great egret 9
(5). black-crowned night heron 2 (1).
black vulture 73 (135). turkey vulture 158 (239). bald eagle 10 (9).
northern harrier 36 (23). sharp-shinned hawk 18 (9). Cooper's hawk 8 (5).
red-shouldered hawk 4 (2). red-tailed hawk 32 (23). American kestrel 25
(19). merlin 4 (3). peregrine falcon 3 (2).
Clapper Rail 6 (12). black-bellied plover 288 (241). semipalmated plover
6 (0). killdeer 61 (28). American oystercatcher 66 (445). greater
yellowlegs 65 (21). willet 190 seen by 6 parties (293). marbled godwit
193, the best place to look for them is right from the post office parking
lot at Willis Wharf, same with the Willets (246). ruddy turnstone 18 (17).
sanderling 2 (132). western sandpiper 24 (21). least sandpiper 5 (0).
dunlin 347 (3472). short-billed dowitcher 31 (101). Wilson's Snipe 11
(2). American woodcock 2 (2).
Bonaparte's gull 5 (0). ring-billed gull 143 low (535). herring gull 455
(175). lesser black-backed gull 2 (0). great black-backed gull 22 (46).
rock pigeon 57 (81). mourning dove 738 (283). eastern screech-owl 1 (5).
great horned owl 1 (3). belted kingfisher 18 (11).
red-headed woodpecker 1 (1). red-bellied woodpecker 43 (25).
yellow-bellied sapsucker 2 (6). downy woodpecker 24 (21). hairy
woodpecker 12 (5). northern flicker 119 (49). pileated woodpecker 15
(16).
eastern phoebe 21 (11). blue jay 23 low, West Nile Virus victim? (35).
American crow 519 (430). horned lark 37 (3). Carolina chckadee 140 of the
little things (127). tufted titmouse 15 low (23). red-breasted nuthatch
14 (1). brown-headed nuthatch 20 (35). brown creeper 6 (9).
Carolina wren 128 (158). house wren 2 (4). winter wren 6 (14). marsh
wren 1 (2). golden-crowned kinglet 61 (16). ruby-crowned kinglet 43 (11).
eastern bluebird 486 (266; this seems to be a GOOD bluebird area). hermit
thrush 27 (22). American robin 1692 (80; what a diference a year sometimes
makes). gray catbird 13 (6). northern mockingbird 56 (57). brown
thrasher 14 (3).
European starling 2069 (725). American pipit 118 (100). cedar waxwing 0
curious (2). yellow-rumped (myrtle) warbler 605 (1172). pine warbler 13
(7). palm warbler 14 both races (98). BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER 2, 1 each
by 2 parties, seen by Roberta Vallone, Jesse Fagan & George Armistead (1).
eastern towhee 18 (10). chipping sparrow 146 (141). field sparrow 99
(69). vesper sparrow 1 (0). Savannah sparrow 141 (141, not a typo).
Nelson's sharp-tailed sparrow 1 (3). saltmarsh sharp-tailed sparrow 3 (5).
unID'd sharp-tailed sparrow 4 (1). seaside sparrow 3 (7). fox sparrow 73
(3). song sparrow 315 (159). swamp sparrow 76 (58). white-throated
sparrow 537 (455). dark-eyed (slate-colored) junco 305 (214).
northern cardinal 109 (86). red-winged blackbird 3638 (4287). eastern
meadowlark 103 (23). common grackle 36 low (152). brown-headed cowbird 35
low (629). purple finch 3 (0). house finch 99 (29). pine siskin 3 (0).
American goldfinch 522 (105). house sparrow 23 low (56).
TOTAL 121 species (133).
18 PARTICIPANTS (21): Bob Anderson, George & Henry (compiler ) Armistead,
Richard Ayers, Ned Brinkley, Jesse Fagan, Dot Field, Dave Gillespie, Renee
Hudgins, Teta Kain, Tom Saunders, Ann & Paul Smith, Jared Sparks, Kared
Terwilliger, Gerry Tracy, Roberta Vallone, John Young.
TERRA INCOGNITA. This area is rather unexplored by birders compared to
much of the rest of Virginia's Eastern Shore. It seems to be very good for
bluebirds, Pileated Woodpeckers, and Chipping Sparrows. It is definitely
excellent for shorebirds, not just way out on the marshes, mudflats, oyster
bars, and islands, but, fortunately today, even in the marshy areas right
next to the mainland. Why there have been so few waxwings both years is
curious. This year there were much bigger numbers of meadowlarks, both
kinglets, Fox Sparrows, and House Finches. I'm surprised there are not
more sapsuckers: 6 in 2006, but just 2 found this year.
THE COUNT CIRCLE INCLUDES all of Hog I., the N third of Cobb I., the rather
immense Hog I. Bay, parts of Parramore and Revel islands, so-called Webb's
Island, most of Upshur Neck, and the towns of Exmore, Willis Wharf,
Machipongo, Nassawadox, Weirwood, Marionville, Franktown, Birdsnest,
Treherneville, and Red Bank as well as 2 nurseries plus such unique,
disparate entities as Parchaby Tump, Rogue Island, Gull Marsh, Spider Crab
Bay, Chimney Pole Marsh, Short Prong Marsh, Fowling Point, Big Easter and
Little Easter marshes, Sandy Island, Crabbing Marsh, the Ramshorn, and
Brickhouse Neck. O.K.?
MISSED SPECIES. This is as interesting as the ones we did see. Missed
(2006 #s, if any, in parens): wigeon (6), pintail (53), coot, Lesser
Yellowlegs (8), Laughing Gull, Forster's Tern (1), Fish Crow (4), and
Boat-tailed Gracke (23). In recent years there have been fewer Fish Crows
and Boat-tailed Grackles in some areas, such as at the Cape Charles C.B.C.
There is little fresh water in the count circle, so the dabbling ducks
don't have a surfeit of habitat to inhabit.
EFFORT: PARTY HOURS: 37 (60) on foot; 31 (22) by car; 0 (16) by boat; 0
(3) by golf cart. PARTY MILES: 18 (40) on foot; 199 (146) by car; 0 (80)
by boat; 0 (9) by golf cart. OWLING: 1.25 (1) hours; 2.25 (3) miles.
TIME: 6:30 A.M. - 5:30 P.M. 7 party areas with 7-16 sub-parties.
WEATHER. Overcast, starting to clear off around noon, then clear to fair.
Wind 10 m.p.h. from the SW increasing through the day to 40 m.p.h. with
occasional higher gusts, sustained winds of 25 m.p.h. or more, shifting to
WSW then W. Temperature 61 falling through the day to c. 45 degrees F.
Precipitation: some light rain in the A.M. Tide low and rising to high
then falling at day's end. It was often difficult to use binoculars
effectively in exposed areas during periods of peak winds.
GROUPS BREAKDOWN: waterfowl 17 (21). heron types 4 (4). shorebirds 15
(16). woodpeckers 7 (7). sparrows (not counting towhee & junco) 11 (11).
raptors 11 (11). owls 2 (3).
BOAT WEATHERED OUT. We were due to have 1 boat but because of the gale
force winds it was inconceivable to go out on the water today.
Consequently we missed (2006 #s in parens) gannet (114), Red-throated Loon
(255), all the scoters (surf 595, white-winged 5, black 159), goldeneye
(1), Long-tailed Duck 166), the Ipswich Sparrow (1) race of Savannah
Sparrow, and probably a few other species. Even so, the count was able to
record the 3 species of tidal marsh sparrows, Marsh Wren, a respectable
shorebird list (including even Sanderling), and quite a few waterfowl.
However, another result of no boat was lower numbers of Common Loon, Horned
Grebe, black duck, oystercatcher, Sanderling, Great Blue Heron, Willet,
Dunlin, Short-billed Dowitcher, and Great Black-backed Gull. Last year we
were blessed with 2 boats, each motoring c. 40 miles - excellent aquatic,
marsh, and island coverage.
EDITING DOWN. A few species were edited down to try to eliminate
duplication, including Ruddy Duck, Black-bellied Plover, Peregrine Falcon &
Great Egret.
MAINLAND AUGMENTATION. Due to the boat cancellation 3 observers redeployed
to the mainland plus there were a few more there to begin with. This
resulted in higher numbers of some of the commoner landbirds. Curiously
the number of miles and hours by car and foot was a lot less than in 2006.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND VERY GRATEFUL THANKS. Most of all to Steve Parker for
hosting the compilation at The Nature Conservancy Virginia Coast Reserve's
charming old house at Brownsville, a registered historic landmark. Steve
also granted permission for access to islands that enjoy The Nature
Conservancy's stewardship, that, infortunately we were not able to go to
because of the gale. Thanks also to TNC's Alexandra Wilke for advice on
where to see shorebirds. My thanks to participants Paul and Ann Smith for
securing access to restricted areas on Upshur Neck. Thanks to Patrick
Bell, Manager of First Tee, and Liz Green, Manager of Virginia Landing
Preserve, for granting the Smiths access to those areas on Upshur Neck.
Thanks to Jared Sparks for keeping me abreast of what lay ahead for us with
regard to weather and tides.
Best regards to all.- Henry ("Harry") T. Armistead, 523 E. Durham St.,
Philadelphia, PA 19119-1225. 215-248-4120. With e-mail, please always
use: harryarmistead at hotmail dot com.
