FYI - this report is for sightings from July 26 through Aug 1 and was compiled
by Lydia Schindler & transcribed by Steve Cordle.
Joe Coleman
Hotline: Voice of the Naturalist
Date: 8/2/2011
Coverage: MD/DC/VA/DE/WV panhandle
Telephone: 301-652-1088 option 1
Reports (voice): 301-652-1088 option 2
(email): voice@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Compiler: Lydia Schindler
Sponsor: Audubon Naturalist Society of the
Central Atlantic States (independent of NAS!)
Transcriber: Steve Cordle
Please consider joining ANS, especially if you are a regular user of
the Voice (Individual $40; Family $50; Nature Steward $75; Audubon
Advocate $150). The membership number is 301-652-9188, option 12; the
address is 8940 Jones Mill Road, Chevy Chase, MD 20815; and the web
site is http://www.AudubonNaturalist.org.
This is the Voice of the Naturalist, a service of the Audubon
Naturalist Society. This report was completed Tuesday, August 2, at
noon.
Top bird this week is BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCK* in VA.
Other birds of interest include TUNDRA SWAN, WILSON'S STORM-PETREL,
WHITE IBIS and other waders, MISSISSIPPI KITE, shorebirds including
MARBLED GODWIT, LAUGHING GULL, terns, BLACK SKIMMER, HORNED LARK,
PURPLE MARTIN, GRASSHOPPER SPARROW, and DICKCISSEL.
The BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCK* at Chincoteague NWR, Accomack Co,
VA, was reported again on July 26; as before it was seen along the
first quarter of the Wildlife Loop.
A TUNDRA SWAN foraged amidst a bonanza of geese, herons, shorebirds,
and gulls on the mudflats at the mouth of Hunting Creek, off the
George Washington Parkway, Fairfax Co, VA, on July 26.
As least 5 WILSON'S STORM-PETRELS were "dancing on the waters of the
Bay" off Port Mahon Rd, DE, on July 30.
WHITE IBIS, mainly juveniles, showed up throughout the area: In MD,
along the causeway to Assateague Island NS, Worcester Co; at the
courthouse pond at Port Tobacco Village in Charles Co; and at Beauvue
Ponds, St. Mary's Co. In VA, WHITE IBIS were seen at Crewe's Channel
in Henrico Co, and they appeared at several locations in WV, including
Stauffer's Marsh in Berkeley Co as recently as Aug 1-this perhaps a
first for WV's Eastern panhandle.
Three MISSISSIPPI KITES were observed soaring over the
Burke/Springfield area of Northern VA on July 30. Single MISSISSIPPI
KITES were seen over Adkins Arboretum in Caroline Co, MD, July 31, and
near Greenbelt Lake, Prince George's Co, MD, Aug 1.
It's shorebird season! At least 22 species, by the thousands and even
hundreds of thousands, are flooding sites such as Bombay Hook NWR, DE.
Among the birds at Bombay Hook is an entertaining gang of more than
100 AMERICAN AVOCETS.
A PIPING PLOVER was found at Salt Ponds public beach, Hampton, VA, on
July 27.
Three UPLAND SANDPIPERS were reported July 26 from Oland Rd, Frederick
Co, MD. As many as 10 UPLAND SANDPIPERS were frequenting the airport
in Salisbury, Wicomico Co, MD, between July 26 and July 30. Two UPLAND
SANDPIPERS were present at the sod farm on John Brown Rd, Queen Anne's
Co, MD, on July 29.
A WESTERN WILLET was at Point Lookout SP, St Mary's Co, on July 30 and
Aug 1.
Two MARBLED GODWITS--and a WILLET--visited the Port Tobacco marina
(off Shirley Rd at Ann Harbor) in Charles Co, MD, on July 30. That
same day a MARBLED GODWIT was seen at Taylor's Gut, north of Bombay
Hook NWR.
WHIMBREL reports came from two DE locations, Cape Henlopen SP and
Broadkill Beach Rd, both on July 30.
Swan Creek/Cox Creek hosted a MARBLED GODWIT on July 30 and a BAIRD'S
SANDPIPER on July 29, as well as 2 BLACK SKIMMERS on July 27. (This
industrial facility in far northeastern Anne Arundel Co, MD is open to
the public only during work hours [Mon-Fri 7:30-3:30]; birders are
welcome but need to sign in.)
On July 31, 3 WILSON'S PHALAROPES foraged in the impoundments along
Broadkill Beach Rd, DE.
Ever-changing arrays of waders and shorebirds are also being enjoyed
at a variety of additional locations, including Paper Mill Flats,
Baltimore Co; the many sites strung along Delaware Bay; the Brown
Station Rd recycling pond, Prince George's Co; and Triadelphia
Reservoir, on the Montgomery/Howard Co [MD] line.
LAUGHING GULL is an uncommon visitor to Montgomery Co, but on July 31
an adult LAUGHING GULL was observed flying up the Potomac near Seneca
Creek. That same day 2 LAUGHING GULLS were reported flying over a yard
in Cheverly, Prince George's Co, MD.
SANDWICH TERNS were among 6 species of tern seen July 31 in DE, mostly
at Gordon's Pond, a part of Cape Henlopen SP outside Rehoboth Beach. A
July 29 trip to Poplar Island, Talbot Co, MD, turned up 5 tern
species, including BLACK TERN. On July 26 a LEAST TERN was again seen
on the Anacostia River in NE DC; it perched on a piling in a marina
about 200 yards north of the Sousa (Pennsylvania Ave) Bridge.
On Aug 1, a phenomenal 27,500 PURPLE MARTINS were reported from
Richmond, VA, where they had commandeered 11 pear trees as a
pre-migration roost site.
DICKCISSELS, along with other field birds, were still being reported.
On July 30, 1 DICKCISSEL was singing along Westerly Rd near
Poolesville, Montgomery Co. On July 30, farm fields in NE Loudoun Co,
VA, held juvenile HORNED LARKS and GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS as well as
DICKCISSELS. And Atlasing near Winchester, in Frederick Co, VA, turned
up evidence of breeding DICKCISSELS as well as dozens of newly fledged
GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS.
Most of this week's reports have been gleaned from the MDOsprey,
VA-Bird, West Virginia Birding List, and DE-Birds list servers.
The Audubon Sanctuary Shop (301-652-3606,
http://www.audubonnaturalist.org/default.asp?page=511) is an excellent
source for guidebooks and many other nature-related titles.
To report bird sightings, e-mail your report to
voice@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx or call 301-652-1088. Please post reports
before midnight Monday, identify the county as well as state, and
include your name and a Tuesday morning contact, either e-mail or
phone.
Thank you for calling, and GOOD BIRDING.
*Of interest to the records committee
