I spoke with several hunters who specialize in hunting Clapper Rails here on
the Eastern Shore yesterday evening, and they all noted that the high tides
with strong north-northeasterly winds were unusually good ("best in years")
for seeing hundreds of Clappers on the "seaside" (eastern side) of the Shore
yesterday and would be very good today (Saturday), especially in the morning
through about lunch time, with winds forecast to be gusting to 45 mph. One
hunter noted that across large areas, "no marsh grasses were visible at
all," so the rails were taking refuge on upland edges.
This is also a good time of year to see other rail species at the edges of
marshes, not just on the Eastern Shore but on the western shores of the
Chesapeake Bay and all tidal rivers as well. All five species have been
noted during high tides and northeast storms in coastal areas.
Amazing counts of scoters (62,000 or more) came from Avalon, New Jersey
yesterday - and a little bird told me that many thousands of scoters were
seen in the central Chesapeake Bay yesterday, so that the Chesapeake Bay
Bridge-Tunnel and Kiptopeke State Park might be great places to scope the
Bay for a few hours today ....
Ned Brinkley
Cape Charles, Va.
