CAPE CHARLES
Part 5. The Redeye Circuit. Five Christmas Bird Counts in Virginia and
North Carolina, December 26-31, 2003. Harry Armistead and Jared Sparks.
Tue., Dec. 30. Some years I get tense about compiling the Cape Charles
count, anxious for everything to work out right, uptight on count eve. But
last night and this morning went well and I am relaxed the entire time.
Grizzled, at times incomprehensible, but reliable and wise to the
waterways, Albert Heath takes us in his huge, plain scow (no seats, grab
rail, or life preservers) out to the south end of Smith Island: Ruth
Boettcher, Arthur Knight, Dan Cristol, Jack Carroll, Jared, and me. Windy,
overcast, occasional showers but gradually it clears and the winds diminish
some. A great flight of Red-throated Loons offshore. I see 260 some but
Ruth and Jack, lugging a scope, count over 800. There's an imm. male
Common Eider at the base of the old lighthouse, a circular brick foundation
now out in the sea 100 yards. Dan and Arthur go up the west side of the
island, summit the 190 foot lighthouse, work their way north of the trees
through the marshy swales, and then go a couple of miles farther way up the
beach (Oh, to be 40 again), almost out of my sight. These 2 also have a
scope and find 2 Piping Plovers (1 an apparent Great Lakes bird by virtue
of its color bands) and a first-year Iceland Gull. Jared works the
interior in back of the dunes, with its impenetrable tangles of green
briar, bayberry, Baccharis, Red Bay and other small trees, and poison ivy.
Isabel has blasted the first line of vegetation behind the dunes consisting
of very large bayberry bushes, some Yaupon, and Red Bay. They all seem
dead now but I hope will regenerate. Jared, an arborist, thinks they will.
Most of the dunes have been wiped out. A computer monitor on the wrack
line detracts some from this near wilderness setting. There are more Sea
Oats on the south end than I remember. Perhaps they are actually spreading
here at the extreme north end of their range. Still plenty of deer sign.
I have never seen a bunny on Smith Island but it is presumed that a
subspecies unique to Smith Island, Hutchens Eastern Cottontail (Sylvilagus
floridanus hutchensii), is extinct, wiped out by previous hurricanes and
other storms.
My day is spent about 2/3rds on the beach, 1/4 just behind the dunes (as
usual a dead zone for birds), the rest in the saltmarsh north of the tree
windrows. I walk about 7 miles in hip waders. At 10:30 A.M. I rest and
lunch on the beach opposite the old lighthouse foundation. Six Slim Jims,
two "male" Hershey bars, a six-pack of small, powdered doughnuts, and a can
of ice tea. I find a kittiwake flying south beyond the surfline. Next
December I vow to have 3 small parties working in separate areas on the
barrier islands here, as we did in 2002. Some of our party totals include
63 Common Loons, 178 gannets, 1 White Ibis, 1150 Brant, 527 Red-breasted
Mergansers, 3 adult Bald Eagles, 1354 Dunlin, a horned owl, and 2 Seaside
Sparrows.
George has assembled a crack team to cover the Ferry sector on the count,
the largest party area - extending north, west of Route 13, from Kiptopeke
State Park most of the way to the town of Cape Charles. Paul Lehman, Brian
Sullivan, Marshall Iliff, and he work separately most of the day, spending
much of it afoot, and are able to amass such totals as: 79 Hermit
Thrushes, 55 Winter Wrens, 32 titmice (good for here), 139 Carolina Wrens,
77 Carolina Chickadees, 64 towhees, 116 Chipping, 115 Fox, and 545
White-throated sparrows, 15 House Wrens, 523 pipits, 35 Red-bellied
Woodpeckers, 19 Palm Warblers, and 35 Horned Larks. In addition they find
a Common Moorhen, a Blue-headed Vireo, 3 Vesper Sparrows, 4 Virginia Rails,
2 Common Mergansers, and the count's only 9 thrashers and 14 Lapland
Longspurs plus 15 Common Redpolls. Most of these latter species are not
recorded on the count every year.
This sector is where outstanding western strays or lingering warm weather
birds, if they are found at all, are seen on the count. But there are none
of these bellringers this year. Ferry sector in any year will also usually
have the highest numbers of pipits, Horned Larks, Palm Warblers, and other
field birds. However, there are not many Palm Warblers this year, and,
unbelievably, they see no Killdeer. The count total for Killdeer is only
3, an all-time low. As if their totals aren't enough this party also does
selective poaching in other's territories finding 2 Short-eared Owls at
Oyster, a Eurasian Collared-Dove at South Townsend, and some Clapper Rails
and Seaside Sparrows at Bull's Ponds (ESVNWR). To show the quirky nature
of the Cape Charles count, Ferry in addition to zero Killdeer has but 27
juncos, 9 meadowlarks, and 10 Common Grackles.
The most amazing overall totals for today's Christmas count are 8,076
Red-throated Loons (incredibly high) and 382 Yellow-rumped Warblers
(incredibly low; previous low was 1,391 in 1998). Non-avian critters seen
or heard by others today include: Spring Peeper, rat snake, Green Darner,
Red Fox, Raccoons, and 2 butterflies: cabbage white and Painted Lady.
Diane Cole saw 15 White-tailed Deer bucks in one field. I have posted
complete details of the count earlier and elsewhere. Anyone wanting them
should contact me.
Best to all - Harry Armistead, 523 E. Durham St., Philadelphia, PA
1919-1225. 215-248-4120. harryarmistead at hotmail dot com.
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