Below are the results of our weekly shorebird/gull survey conducted at
Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge on Thurs Aug 16, 2012. All water areas
(impoundments and beach areas) were covered in a 9 hour survey. All individuals
are counted for the target species; other birds seen or heard on the survey are
followed by a dash.
The highlight of the survey was a BUFF-BREASTED sandpiper on SOUTH WASH FLAT
IMPOUNDMENT. One individual was seen in the flooded borrow ditch alongside the
cross-dike road; it fed briefly alongside a Pectoral Sandpiper, making for a
good comparison. The impoundment is accessed by a several mile walk on the
Service Road, or via the Wildlife Tour Bus (note however that the bus is not
allowed to drop off passengers).
The impoundments, with the exception of Tom's Cove Pool, have very little
water, due to lack of rain. Even though numbers of shorebirds are using them
are low, except for semi-palmated plovers, diversity is high, with 24 species
of shorebirds recorded. Still good numbers of birds using the beach. Found 18
marbled godwits but no black-tailed godwit as was reported last week by other
observers. Number of sanderlings has fallen off, but 4623 are still present.
The beach south of the Parking Lot is open as far as the Coast Guard Station.
Joelle Buffa and Clyde Morris
Canada Goose --
American Black Duck --
Blue-winged Teal --
Northern Shoveler --
Northern Bobwhite --
Wild Turkey --
Double-crested Cormorant 19
Brown Pelican 94
Great Blue Heron --
Great Egret --
Snowy Egret --
Little Blue Heron --
Tricolored Heron --
Cattle Egret --
Green Heron --
Glossy Ibis --
Turkey Vulture --
Osprey --
Cooper's Hawk --
Bald Eagle --
Black-bellied Plover 135
Semipalmated Plover 1,254
Piping Plover 10
Killdeer 10
American Oystercatcher 12
Spotted Sandpiper 16
Greater Yellowlegs 59
Willet 615
Lesser Yellowlegs 40
Greater/Lesser Yellowlegs 139
Whimbrel 22
Marbled Godwit 18
Ruddy Turnstone 160
Red Knot 17
Sanderling 4,623
Semipalmated Sandpiper 1,591
Western Sandpiper 1
Least Sandpiper 27
White-rumped Sandpiper 1
peep sp. 708
Pectoral Sandpiper 1
Dunlin 1
Stilt Sandpiper 40
Buff-breasted Sandpiper 1
Short-billed/Long-billed Dowitcher 54
Wilson's Phalarope 3
Laughing Gull 182
Ring-billed Gull 87
Herring Gull 331
Lesser Black-backed Gull 145
Great Black-backed Gull 32
Least Tern 90
Caspian Tern 15
Common Tern 61
Forster's Tern 22
Royal Tern 42
Sandwich Tern 13
Black Skimmer 36
Mourning Dove --
Yellow-billed Cuckoo --
Ruby-throated Hummingbird --
Belted Kingfisher --
Red-headed Woodpecker --
Red-bellied Woodpecker --
Peregrine Falcon --
Eastern Wood-Pewee --
Eastern Phoebe --
Eastern Kingbird --
Fish Crow --
crow sp. --
Horned Lark --
Tree Swallow --
Barn Swallow --
Carolina Chickadee --
Carolina Wren --
American Robin --
Gray Catbird --
European Starling --
Northern Cardinal --
Blue Grosbeak --
Red-winged Blackbird --
Eastern Meadowlark --
Common Grackle --
Boat-tailed Grackle --
Brown-headed Cowbird --
House Finch --
American Goldfinch --
