Wolfe Neck Waste Treatment Plant 11/7--Black-headed Gull

After our first stop at Bombay Hook, and some poking around agricultural fields on the way south, Scott led us to this waste treatment plant in Sussex County where a gull rarity had recently been located. Shari & I always say that no vacation is complete without a trip to a waste treatment facility.

On and over the water we came upon a flock of Bonaparte's Gulls, eating what we don't even want to think about, and in among the bonnies was one Black-headed Gull, which can be separated from the others by its red bill and the black on its underwings. It is slightly larger than a Bonaparte's, but that is virtually an impossible field mark to see in swirling, whirling flock of gulls. Interestingly, a Black-headed Gull was recorded last year at the same location and speculation was that it was a returning bird.

Black-headed Gull is one of the most common gulls in Europe and no life bird for us, though it was for some in the group. But it is just nondescript enough in winter plumage (when it does not have a black head) that I'm sure I'd overlook it 99 times out of 100 if I didn't have someone like Scott to point it out. It is these kinds of birds that point out to me the gaping holes in my birding talents.

We only spent about 15 minutes at the plant. Scott spotted the bird quickly and once everyone had a good look at it (it was difficult to track as the birds played a kind of aerial three-card monte) we were on our way to Virginia.

8 species
Canada Goose  25
Turkey Vulture  5
Bonaparte's Gull  15
Black-headed Gull  1     
Laughing Gull  1
Ring-billed Gull  2
American Crow  5
European Starling  2

Chincoteague NWR 11/8--White Ibis, Brown-headed Nuthatch

Brown-headed Nuthatch
Photos: Shari Zirlin

The two vans arrived at Chincoteague NWR at 7:30 and in 10 minutes we were starting to get overwhelmed with birds. It was like being back in summer with dozens of herons and egrets on either side of the road.

When we decided to go on this trip I thought there were only two birds we could get in Virginia that we didn't have for the year. Brown-headed Nuthatch and White Ibis. We got each one almost immediately on our 2nd stop on the road to the beach.

We passed a couple of White Ibises on the left and since it was a life bird for at least one guy in the van, Scott turned around to give everyone a better look. Most of the ibises we saw were juveniles with various degrees of brown & white mottling on them. They are still stand out birds with their flamboyant pink, curved bills.

As we were watching the ibises roost in among Great Blue Herons, Snowy Egrets and a couple of juvenile Black-crowned Night-Herons, Scott heard the squeaky, baby-toy sound of Brown-headed Nuthatch.

These little birds are notorious for being hard to see since they tend to feed at the very top of pine trees, crawling around on pine cones. So we were amazed to find a few practically at eye-level, investigating a hole in a broken tree trunk.

We did a seawatch for a while but there was nothing special of note--just lots of Black Scoters. Ducks have been scarce on the water so far this fall--maybe the weather is still too warm.

Shari had a couple of nice finds at Tom's Cove just at the end of the road--her requisite American Oystercatcher and the only warbler other we saw on the trip than the ubiquitous Yellow-rumped Warbler--a female-type Common Yellowthroat.

Juvenile White Ibises

Practically an adult.

I listed 69 species--there were a few I missed or didn't list because I only heard them once.
Snow Goose  100
Canada Goose  25
Gadwall  1
American Wigeon  10
American Black Duck  20
Mallard  10
Northern Shoveler  5
Ring-necked Duck  2     Swan Cove
Black Scoter  500
Bufflehead  25
Red-throated Loon  1
Common Loon  10
Pied-billed Grebe  1
Horned Grebe  3
Northern Gannet  1
Double-crested Cormorant  25
Great Blue Heron  5
Great Egret  10
Snowy Egret  5
Little Blue Heron  10
Tricolored Heron  27     
Black-crowned Night-Heron  2     
White Ibis  10
Black Vulture  1
Turkey Vulture  1
Sharp-shinned Hawk  2
Bald Eagle  1
American Oystercatcher  1
Black-bellied Plover  2
Semipalmated Plover  10
Greater Yellowlegs  10
Sanderling  14
Dunlin  15
Western Sandpiper  1
Long-billed Dowitcher  5
Laughing Gull  1
Ring-billed Gull  10
Great Black-backed Gull  2
Forster's Tern  5
Royal Tern  20
Mourning Dove  1
Belted Kingfisher  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  2
Downy Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker  3
Blue Jay  1     Heard
American Crow  1     Heard
Horned Lark  1
Tree Swallow  5
Carolina Chickadee  1     Heard
Brown-headed Nuthatch  1
Winter Wren  1     Heard
Eastern Bluebird  1
Hermit Thrush  2
American Robin  1
Gray Catbird  1     Heard, Visitor Ctr
European Starling  3
Common Yellowthroat  1
Yellow-rumped Warbler  50
Chipping Sparrow  1
Savannah Sparrow (Ipswich)  1
Song Sparrow  2
Swamp Sparrow  2
White-throated Sparrow  10
Red-winged Blackbird  15
Boat-tailed Grackle  10
Purple Finch  1     Heard, Visitor Ctr
Pine Siskin  1     Heard, Visitor Ctr
American Goldfinch  2

Saxis WMA 11/8--Virginia Rail

Saxis WMA
Photo: Shari Zirlin

Late afternoon found us headed west to the Chesapeake Bay. We were hoping for some Short-eared Owls but came up empty on that bird. But Scott showed us a neat trick. As the sun was setting, we walked along a road that went through part of Saxis Marsh. Scott quieted us all down then rapidly clapped his hands. Within a second of his stopping the marsh exploded in Virgina Rails calling from both sides of the road. There's no way to tell how many were out there, but we figured easily 10 or 12.

Seaside Road 11/9--Western Kingbird

Western Kingbird
Photos: Shari Zirlin

Sunday morning we headed south on the peninsula. Before visiting the larger birding spots, Scott took the group down a place called Indiantown, or at least to a crossroads near there, in the hopes of finding what he called "an East Coast regular rarity." Western Kingbird is not a year bird for us (we had a couple in May in NM) but it is still a cool bird, with it lemon yellow breast. Both vans drove around the area, picking up a few interesting birds along the way until Scott called us to say that he had located the bird, sitting on a wire. It was a quiet Sunday morning--I don't know if the residents of the house saw 13 birders creeping slowly down the road or what they thought we might be looking at. I was just glad they didn't come out on their porch with a shotgun or mean dogs.

12 species
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Killdeer  5
Mourning Dove  25
Northern Flicker  2
American Kestrel  1
Western Kingbird  1    
Blue Jay  1     Heard
American Crow  5
Carolina Wren  2     Heard
Eastern Bluebird  5
Northern Mockingbird  2
European Starling  10

Eastern Shore of Virginia NWR 11/9--Golden Eagle

Here's another bird I don't call on my own. After finding the kingbird we drove way down to the tip of peninsula to an NWR that reminded us of some sections of Gateway NRA in NJ & NY since both places have sections of repurposed army bases.

Generally, I don't like hawk-watching because when I stare into the sky, I have a difficult time separating the speck birds from the vitreous floaters in my eyes. So I may only glance at a kettle of vultures and I will almost always miss the one interesting raptor in their midst. But with help from Scott & Linda I was able to see this year's Golden Eagle, picking out the white on the tail even though it was way up in the clouds.

Later, at another area, I saw a second (or perhaps the same one) a little better, in that I could make out the white spots beneath the wings of a juvenile bird.

Still, I'd rather see one perched, or at least flying relatively low as Bald Eagles do. Incidentally, Bald Eagles were so numerous on this trip that by the end of the trip I stopped looking when when was called out, as if they were doves or Mallards.

More satisfying to me than seeing the Golden Eagle was seeing, instead of hearing, a few Purple Finches.

26 species
Black Vulture  2
Turkey Vulture  100
Golden Eagle  1
Northern Harrier  1
Sharp-shinned Hawk  3
Cooper's Hawk  2
Bald Eagle  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1
Downy Woodpecker  1
Blue Jay  1
American Crow  10
Tree Swallow  1
Carolina Wren  5     Heard
Eastern Bluebird  1
American Robin  200
Gray Catbird  2
Northern Mockingbird  1
Cedar Waxwing  20
Yellow-rumped Warbler  50
Field Sparrow  1
White-throated Sparrow  1     Heard
Dark-eyed Junco  1
Northern Cardinal  1
Red-winged Blackbird  10
Purple Finch  3
American Goldfinch  2

Prime Hook 11/10--American White Pelican

On the last day of the trip we did some "clean up" birding at Chincoteague then started the drive north. Our first stop in Delaware was Prime Hook, a favorite of ours, and here the last new bird for the trip was not one I would ever need help with.

Out at the end of the road to Fowler Beach are a couple of concrete structures and atop those structures birds roost.  Scott wandered down the beach and came back to get his scope. He didn't want to say to soon what he thought he saw, so as the group followed, various possibilities were offered to him, all of which he shot down. But Shari knew. She could see the big white blob on the roof, sitting with the cormorants, and when Scott put the American White Pelican in the scope, she wasn't surprised. At first, it head its head tucked in to its feathers and while we knew what it was, it wasn't much to look at. But then it straightened up and its huge orange bill came out for display and you have to say, that is one impressive looking bird. The day before we'd seen Brown Pelicans at one of our stops--they look like big birds until you compare them to the white species which dwarfs them. 

46 species
Canada Goose  125
American Black Duck  2
Mallard  20
Hooded Merganser  35
Ruddy Duck  30
Pied-billed Grebe  1
Double-crested Cormorant  20
American White Pelican  1     
Great Blue Heron  8
Black-crowned Night-Heron  1     Fowler Beach
Black Vulture  1
Turkey Vulture  3
Northern Harrier  3
Sharp-shinned Hawk  2
Bald Eagle  2
Red-tailed Hawk  1
American Coot  12
Black-bellied Plover  4
Killdeer  1     Heard, Fowler Beach
Greater Yellowlegs  25
Lesser Yellowlegs  8

Greater & Lesser Yellowlegs comparison
Photo: Shari Zirlin

Ruddy Turnstone  1
Sanderling  3
Dunlin  500
Laughing Gull  5
Ring-billed Gull  10
Forster's Tern  15
Royal Tern  1
Mourning Dove  15
Belted Kingfisher  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1     Heard
Downy Woodpecker  1
American Kestrel  1
Tree Swallow  1
Carolina Chickadee  1     Heard
Carolina Wren  1     Heard
Hermit Thrush  1     Heard
Brown Thrasher  1     Heard
Northern Mockingbird  3
European Starling  200
Song Sparrow  1     Heard
Swamp Sparrow  1
White-throated Sparrow  10
Dark-eyed Junco  3
Boat-tailed Grackle  10
Brown-headed Cowbird  200

A Reflection on Election Day

I was at the boat launch at Assunpink today when I ran into a young fellow, probably early twenties, maybe late teens, hard to tell. He asked me if I minded dogs and I said no, since I've found that people who ask generally have well-behaved dogs so he let his out to run around and that was fine. He asked me about my scope and after going through the usual routine of "no, it's not a camera," and then after explaining that "no, it's not a scope for stars, it's a scope for birds," we talked a little about what birds I find there--I trotted out eagles because that always impresses non-birders. Then he asked me if birds were mammals. 

"Uh, no, birds are avians." (I couldn't think of a better word.) Then, I don't exactly know why I said this, "They're descended from dinosaurs." 

He thought that was interesting and then asked, "Are dinosaurs before Christ, like 6000 years ago?" 

"A little more than that, like 60 million years ago." (I know. It's more like 65 million to 200 million years ago.)

"Ah." It was obvious he had no concept of "deep" time. 

Now friends, this guy is allowed to vote! Of course, I have no way of knowing if he actually exercised his franchise today, but if there was ever an argument for voter suppression, here it is. 

But he was a very sweet guy and his dog didn't bother me at all.