20 DAYS ON THE EASTERN SHORE OF VIRGINIA, SEPTEMBER
25–OCTOBER 14, 2013. Part 2, Oct. 7-14.
OCTOBER 7, Monday. A
rainbow. Am on the platform 7:15 – 1
& again 2:45 – 3:45. Brian shows Hal
& Lynn and me the location of Steve’s Bay watch atop a 60 foot bluff near
Butler’s Bluff (off limits). That’s “into
thin air” for this area. While there
Lynn spots a Fence Lizard. Rain starts
at 3:45 and becomes a deluge at 4:15.
Bob Anderson, Thuy Tran, Lynn, Hal, and I repair to Oyster
where there is a big evening flight of starlings and blackbirds going somewhere
to the north, perhaps to roost in the Phragmites adjacent to the
saltmarsh by the old Cobbs Island life-saving station. (Like many other
Delmarva Peninsula place
names the possessive form is often used even if it is not the official name)
In spite of the pretty dismal weather 112
raptors are seen going over the platform including 68 peregrines, comprising
61% of the raptors today. Next most
numerous raptor? Osprey with all of 16.
OCTOBER 8, Tuesday.
574 raptors are more like it, with 56 Ospreys, 22 harriers, 111 sharpies,
96 Coops, 187 kestrels, 59 Merlins, and 28 peregrines. The season’s largest
Great Blue Heron flight,
nowhere near a record, but nice to see anyway, in configurations of 4, 8, 3,
12, 4, 12, 2, 3, 17, 5, 20, 1, 10, 17, 10, 1, 1, 1, 8, 13, 1, and 1 for a total
of 145, incl. 1 with a broken leg.
Sometimes they kettle and do circles as if trying to decide whether to
cross the Bay or not.
Also: a Caspian Tern, 2 Royal Terns, 315 Rock Pigeons, a
Common Nighthawk, 10 Great Egrets, 2 Chimney Swifts, 4 unID’d shorebirds but
based on size & manner of flight comprising 3 species, 1 Wilson’s Snipe, 3
Common Loons, 45 waxwings, and only 15 flickers plus unID’d scoters in
groupings of 20, 1 and 6. Some of us
witness a peregrine killing a kestrel.
Near Picketts Harbor Hal & Lynn find 12 Indigo Buntings. Overcast, NE 15-20,
low 60s. I’m on the platform 7:45 A.M. – 6 P.M. Bob Anderson hears a
Golden-crowned Kinglet.
OCTOBER 9, Wednesday.
My most unusual experience this visit: Since it’s rainy, windy, and
gloomy I decide to drop in on and chat with Hal & Lynn at their room in
Sunset Beach Resort, Rm. 145, the room where my family and I used to stay for 1
to 2 weeks before the start of each school year for 20 some years running.
We realize there are loads of birds around in spite of the
downpour and strong NE winds. Here’s our
complete list, compiled from the door of their room, out of the rain and wind,
where we set up chairs and scopes. We
see a Merlin nearly catch a Savannah Sparrow.
8:15 A.M. – 12:30 P.M., overcast, rain (often heavy), winds NE 25-35
m.p.h., low 60s:
Common loon 1, brown pelican 25, double-crested cormorant
150, great blue heron 33, great egret 9, turkey vulture 2, osprey 14, bald
eagle 2, northern harrier 2, sharp-shinned hawk 1, Cooper’s hawk 1, American
kestrel 2, merlin 9, peregrine falcon 5, killdeer 9, Wilson’s snipe 2, laughing
gull 125, ring-billed gull 5, herring gull 30, great black-backed gull 5,
Caspian tern 1, royal tern 12, mourning dove 9, belted kingfisher 1,
yellow-bellied sapsucker 1 (in a Japanese Black Pine right next to the hotel),
northern flicker 11, blue jay 7, American crow 3, tree swallow 60, gray catbird
132, northern mockingbird 1, cedar waxwing 31, myrtle warbler 559
(used the clicker for these; they’re flying N across the gap between the trees
out by the bluff, as are the catbirds), palm warbler 1, common yellowthroat 1,
Savannah sparrow 25, SEASIDE SPARROW 1 (foraging RIGHT NEXT to the hotel
under the projecting roof and among the Crepe Myrtles), song sparrow 1, swamp
sparrow 1, bobolink (heard only, by Hal), red-winged blackbird 8, eastern
meadowlark 1, and brown-headed cowbird 30 for a total of 43 species, almost as
many as get seen on the Big Sit of October 13.
Most of the sparrows and warblers other than Myrtles are
foraging right next to, within a few feet, of the hotel’s outside walls.
Because of the outré weather no hawk count is
conducted today. 180 cowbirds mixed with
starlings just S of Oyster, 80 more of the same 1.6 mi. farther S and 2
kestrels, 6 Chipping Sparrows, and 14 American Crows in the 11.1 miles from
Oyster to Sunset Beach Resort.
After this very interesting, surprising, morning the 3 of us
head out onto the CBBT. At the Wise
Point pulloff are 8 adult Black Skimmers (some were seen here last winter), 4
Royal & 2 Caspian terns, 20 unID’d terns, and 30 Brown Pelicans.
Out on CBBT island 1 are 30 pigeons, a turnstone, 60
cormorants, 5 Royal, a Caspian & 4 Forster’s terns, 12 pelicans, unID’d
scoters in groups of 3, 12 and 8, a female peregrine, 125 Laughing, 5
Ring-billed, 10 Herring & 15 Great Black-backed gulls, and an unID’d small
landbird. On the way back N to the
mainland a Peregrine comes within 3 feet of the car windshield. Each year a
few die from car impacts on the
CBBT.
Late in the day: 2 Eurasian Collared-Doves at Magotha Road
at 5:22 P.M. and 3 Least Sandpipers at Oyster at 6:38 P.M., hunkered down with
few places to go because of the very high tide.
OCTOBER 10, Thursday.
Up early and out to the CBBT again, 7:30-9:45. Overcast, rain off and on, N or
NE 20-30,
60s, visibility 1-2 miles. Not much to
show for it: an imm. Yellow-crowned Night heron, an ad. Gannet, 2 Royal, 10
Caspian, and 12 Sandwich terns, an imm. Chipping Sparrow, 12 turnstones, a
House Wren, 95 Laughing Gulls, 30 Brown Pelicans, 2 peregrines, 35 Rock Pigeons,
22 Double-crested Cormorants, an unID’d passerine, and unremarkable numbers of
some
other gull species.
Going back to the mainland there’s a Merlin at Mile 10. At the Wise Point CBBT
pulloff 10-10:30: 750
Tree Swallows, 3 Sanderlings, a kingfisher, 2 flickers, 175 Laughing Gulls, 95
cormorants, 40 Brown Pelicans, a Bald Eagle, 1 Willet, a Great Egret, an
Osprey, a kestrel, a Great Blue Heron, 2 Turkey Vultures, and a Monarch.
At the big dirt field W of Arlington Road: 35 Western, 2
Least, and 2 Pectoral sandpipers plus 2 Semipalmated and 2 Black-bellied
Plovers.
Katie sees just 110 raptors today, 70 of them Ospreys plus
25 Merlins, 8 sharpies, a Coop, a Red-tailed Hawk, a kestrel, and 4
peregrines. I’m only there from noon
until 5 P.M. A sapsucker goes over. Later 3 Gray Squirrels along Route 600.
Bob Anderson stops to check out a d.o.r.
Great Blue Heron at Oyster.
OCTOBER 11, Friday.
My day is taken up leading 2 boat trips out from Oyster with Capt. Buddy
Vaughn. Each trip covers a good 20 miles
or more. Buddy’s boat is able to go
along at 25 m.p.h. to minimize the running time between interesting stops. It
is rainy but with little wind at least
both times.
The 1st trip in the morning concentrates on the
marshes between the barrier islands and the mainland, including the E side of
Mockhorn I. The 2nd trip is
more interesting, does those marshes plus a good look see at the S. end of
Wreck I., Godwin Marsh, and The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC) marsh cabin.
Here are the complete lists, 1st #s are A.M., 2nd
#s are P.M. Tides are 2-3 feet above
normal with a very high high tide in mid afternoon. Had we a couple of hours
to walk around and
do some scoping on Wreck I. who knows what would turn up? For more impressive
numbers of some of the
shorebirds see the description of Ellison Orcutt’s trip on Oct. 13 with Cape.
Buddy Vaughn.
Brown pelican 1/225 (the latter are at their Wreck I.
breeding colony or nearby on the S. end of Wreck I.). double-crested cormorant
35/115. Great blue heron 5/14. Great egret 7/7. Snowy egret 1/1. Little
blue heron 0/4. Tricolored heron 4/12. Black-crowned night heron 0/1 (under
the TNC
cabin, out of the rain). White ibis
0/20. Black vulture 7/0. Turkey vulture 6/3. Brant 4/0.
American black duck 0/0. Osprey
1/0. Northern harrier 0/0. Peregrine falcon 3/1. Clapper rail 1/3 (the 3
under TNC cabin).
Black-bellied plover 75/1,850 (the latter in
impressive flocks on the S. end of Wreck I.).
Semipalmated plover 2/0. Killdeer
3/0. oystercatcher 235/275. Whimbrel 1/1.
Greater yellowlegs 12/3. Willet
125/180. Spotted sandpiper 1/0. Marbled godwit 6/6. Ruddy turnstone 12/7.
Red knot 0/11 (foraging on wet sand on the W
side of the S end of Wreck I.). sanderling
0/20. Western sandpiper 9/15. Least sandpiper 2/0. Dunlin 14/6 (the bulk of
Dunlin arrives later
in the fall). Short-billed dowitcher
75/200.
Laughing gull 175/150.
Ring-billed gull 2/0. Herring
gull 85/85. Lesser black-backed gull 1
ad./1 ad. (the same bird, in Oyster harbor).
Great black-backed gull 20/30.
Caspian tern 12/2. Royal tern
0/35. Forster’s tern 6/0. Black skimmer 0/2. Rock pigeon 1/0. Belted
kingfisher 1/0. tree swallow 500/500. European starling 30/0. BUTTERFLIES:
Buckeye 0/1 (and in this rain,
c. 3 miles from the mainland!)
If I had to miss the action at KSP this was a good day to
miss it for Katie and crew only recorded 80 raptors: 43 Ospreys, 1 harrier, 15
sharpies, 3 Coops, 16 Merlins, and 2 peregrines – all species that are not put
off by a little rain.
OCTOBER 12, Saturday.
Buddy and I wait 1 full hour for the ESB&WF boat trip participants
to show, but they never do. They are
waiting on the other side of the harbor due to either poor directions or
misinterpretation
of the directions they have.
Participants in the other 4 trips get to the right place and the right
time.
Katie et al. find 298 raptors today, among these 107
Ospreys, 32 Coops, 4 Bald Eagles, 45 Merlins, 44 peregrines, and 8 Red-tailed
Hawks.
40 Fish Crows around Sting-Ray’s at 10:45. At 1:11 I catch up to the
SCISSOR-TAILED
FLYCATCHER just S of Cedar Grove X Route 600 that Zak Poulton found yesterday,
where there are 2 Palm Warblers and a flicker also. While waiting at KSP Lodge
1 for the dinner
for trip leaders, volunteers, and exhibitors Bob Anderson, Thuy, and I see 3
peregrines.
I enjoy talking with falconers Ray Peña and Sharron Montgomery and
photographer Bob Schamerhorn. In fact
our shared stories and experiences go on so long that we close the place down
long after everyone else has left. I
absent-mindedly leave my binoculars behind, remember them at Oyster, and drive
all the way back to retrieve them, fortunately left outside of the locked
building.
OCTOBER 13, Sunday. The day of the Big Sit, the least productive
I’ve ever been on, perhaps with fewer than 50 species, but it gets off to a
good start thanks to 2 who are there earlier than anyone: Clay Taylor &
Evan Morris. They hear a Great Horned
Owl. I am on the platform 7:15-6:15 for
11 hours.
Once there are 110 Brown Pelicans over the concrete ships,
the most I’ve ever seen there. 12 Common
Loons, they’re picking up a little.
Winds are NE 20-35, overcast, low 60s, rain early on.
Raptors: 478 incl. 142 Ospreys, 9 harriers, 131 Merlins, 54
peregrines, 49 kestrels, 54 sharpies, and 29 Coops.
I take a walk back of the platform, view the banding station
that still has the picnic tables and signage in place, and am nearly
overwhelmed with melancholy. I see a
calico deer, a partial albinistic one.
Ellison Orcutt leads the boat trip this morning out from
Oyster with Capt. Buddy Vaughn. They see
numbers of some species surpassing those of the trips I was on: 52 Marbled
Godwits, 500 or so Willets, a flyby Piping Plover, and 3 Whimbrel.
A little tension on the platform when Zak says he’s seen
Sharron and Ray’s birds and they are stressed.
Sharron: “They are not stressed.”
This goes back and forth for a while, each party firm, fair,
knowledgeable, until Zak mentions a certain species in particular. Sharron:
“We don’t have one of those.” Eventually it turns out Zak was seeing
someone else’s raptors and all ends well between these two good people.
OCTOBER 14, Monday. A
Gray Squirrel at Oyster early in the day.
I revisit the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher at 29535 Seaside Road (Route
600) at 7:57 A.M.
Taylor Pond .
Catbirds are streaming past the break in the trees. 1 Pied-billed Grebe, 2
Ruddy Ducks, 150 Tree
Swallows, 4 Swamp Sparrows. In the pond
are 9 turtle snouts. An Eastern
Cottontail, 1 deer. 8:30 A.M. One last poignant scan of the skyline from
Taylor Pond before … it’s time to head north, time to go. I can see hawks over
the distant area of the
platform: kestrels and sharpies.
Magotha Road: a Mud Turtle basking on the road I
remove. 17 immature White Ibis, 3 Great
Egrets, a Snowy Egret, an imm. Bald Eagle, and a Swamp Sparrow at 9 A.M.
Box Tree Road (Machipongo): 15 Willets, a harrier, a
kingfisher, 2 Bald Eagles, and 5 Fish Crows.
11:45 A.M. The tide is low and
falling still.
Red Bank turnoff from Rt. 600: a
Painted Turtle on the road.
Willis Wharf. 12:15
P.M. 26 Willets, a Snowy Egret, 31
Forster’s Terns, and 9 Painted Turtles in Ballard Pond Park plus a Gray
Squirrel. The tide is too low to be optimal
for shorebirds.
Chincoteague causeway, 2:15-2:45, high tide and that way
above normal: Bonaparte’s Gull 1, Forster’s Tern 70, Boat-tailed Grackle 20,
Willet 2, Spotted Sandpiper 1, Dunlin 35, oystercatcher 17, Semipalmated Plover
2, cormorant 55, Greater Yellowlegs 6, Short-billed Dowitcher 1, and 80 some
herons, in declining order of abundance: Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Tricolored
Heron, Little Blue Heron, Great Blue Heron, and White Ibis.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Thanks to Bob Anderson, Thuy, and Ray for
helping me through my first diabetic low blood sugar episode. The 35 or so
people I showed The Bien
chromolithographic edition of Audubon’s ‘Birds of America’ by Joel
Oppenheimer (W.W. Norton, 2013, $350.00) offered useful commentary to help me
form ideas for my review. Hawk counter
Katie Rittenhouse was always a welcome, a welcoming, and helpful presence on
the platform.
Best to all. – Harry Armistead, Philadelphia.
