The title might seem a little strong as written. Perhaps it would be more appropriate if it read “The Mighty Seas Tame the Avids.” At any rate, 20 overly intrepid and bordering on fanatical birders spilled forth from four states and invaded the east coast for a weekend of fast-paced target birding. Although many chose to travel to Virginia Beach, VA on Friday the 23rd, at least one brave soul took to the roads on the snow and ice filled 22nd, desperately wanting to pick up another participant and make it to the meeting point on time. Fortunately, regardless of departure date, everyone made it to the Virginia Beach EconoLodge for the official start of our trip at 8:00 p.m. on Friday the 23rd. Of course, some folks couldn’t resist the urge to bird along the way, picking up the likes of purple finches at feeders and waterfowl at borrow pits. Some even arrived early enough to visit a few spots in Virginia Beach for a taste of coastal birding and a prelude of brant, purple sandpipers, and brown-headed nuthatches. It’s so hard to resist the temptation with daylight in hand.
Much to the surprise of the lobby attendant, all 20 of us convened in the breakfast area of the EconoLodge at 8:00 p.m. and soon got down to business. The first item on the agenda was for everyone to introduce themselves. Some folks were new to the group and were welcomed with open arms. For the record, here is the list: Lynne Aldrich (OH), Marje Baughman (OH), Jeff Buecking (MI), Don Chalfont (MI), Lathe Claflin (MI), Bob Conlon (OH), Dave Demmon (OH), Art Evans (VA), Joe Faulkner (OH), Gretchen Fluke (OH), Peter Gottschling (OH), Becky Hatfield (OH), Linda Helm (OH), Doreene Linzell (OH), Greg Miller (OH), Dick Novier (FL), Dave Russell (OH), Dan Sanders (OH), Mike Williams (OH), and myself. We discussed our plans for the next two days which basically were to go on the Virginia Beach pelagic trip on Saturday and then bird the Delmarva peninsula on Sunday, visiting such places as the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, Eastern Shore of Virginia NWR, Chincoteague NWR, Ocean City Inlet, Indian River Inlet, and Rehoboth. We knew this was a rigorous itinerary, but being the avid birders that we were, we figured that it could be done. After deciding to visit a nearby brown-headed nuthatch spot following the next day’s pelagic trip (time allowing, of course) and a meal together after that, we all ventured to our rooms with eager anticipation of the next day’s boat ride. I’m sure visions of great skuas and dovekies were dancing in everyone’s head. They, and several other things, were certainly dancing in mine.
The wake-up calls came early on Saturday, much to the chagrin of our already weary bodies, and at 4:45 a.m. we departed for the Lynnhaven Seafood Marina. I was unable to drive, however, because the effects of the seasickness patch were really taking their toll. There’s nothing like blurred vision and disorientation to start off the day. Everyone arrived at the dock at approximately 5:00 a.m. and we were happy to see that the boat was being prepared for the trip. Winter pelagics have a history of being weathered out, but today we would be taking to the seas. We eventually loaded up, secured spaces in the cramped cabin, and began our voyage at 5:30 a.m. It didn’t take long for someone to spot the first bird of the trip in the form of a black-crowned night-heron under the first bridge we passed. As we moved toward open water, we began seeing silhouettes taking flight in the still dark night. As darkness turned slowly into dawn, the shapes revealed themselves to be scoters. Lots and lots of scoters. It was hard to identify all of them in the low light, but many were surfs. We eventually passed through where they were flying and continued making our way into the unknown. The seas were rough on the way out and the outside air was cold. Minutes turned into hours as the normally peachy shades of peoples faces turned into various shades of chalk with a hint of green. After a few hours, we did begin seeing alcids, with numerous Atlantic puffins on the water and razorbills in flight. Some of the puffins were so full of fish that they were unable to obtain enough lift to take flight. It was quite comical to see these birds flap and flap, going no higher than the crest of the next wave which brought them back down to the surface. Intelligently, they gave up rather quickly. There were, of course, numerous northern gannets as well, wheeling their way through the sky and providing remarkable looks. At some point during this arduous 12 knot eastward march, someone spotted a dovekie on the water. It soon took flight and headed away from the boat. The pelagic leader announced the bird, but failed to even slow the boat down for it. It apparently landed a couple of hundred yards away, but we never went after it. So, only a few people got looks at this bird which was a primary target of the trip and no effort was made to get others on it. A short while later, another dovekie took off from the port stern and flew directly away from the boat. Although the spotter saw the bird, it was not announced and we once again didn’t go after it. Only a couple of people saw this one and we continued eastward.
As we continued, the number of chalky faces increased and the effects of the tossing and rolling were beginning to make themselves evident. I’ll spare everyone the details, but I will say that the five hour ride just to get to where we were going was pretty miserable. A flock of nine red phalaropes and many bow-riding common dolphins provided some relief to the misery, but did not furnish the cure. We were 70 miles out in the ocean and more than half of the people were not too happy about it, although many people were not in the mood to talk. Fortunately, we were attracting quite a number of birds to our chum and the seas were beginning to behave. As the gannets and gulls followed our boat, people began to rally and once again you could hear people conversing with one another. Our following grew and the sun accented every detail of the birds’ feathers. The company of gannets was comprised of every age-related plumage variation you could imagine and finally a few black-legged kittiwakes joined the party. The juveniles with their dark collars and M-shaped markings were spectacular, as was the subtle beauty of the one adult bird which visited over the course of an hour or more. We were really trying to draw in the other main target of the trip out there, the great skua. Our hopes were high considering that the previous weekend’s Hatteras pelagic encountered three of them, and we searched the seas for this hulking cleptoparasite. The huge group of birds behind the boat was like the ringing of a dinner bell for the species. After a while a sooty shearwater wheeled its way into the foray and put on quite a show. This was miraculously early for that species, as it should have been breeding in the southern hemisphere. We studied it for well over an hour and everyone got great looks, but it was still a sooty shearwater, not some mega-rarity that we all dream about on a pelagic trip. In addition to the shearwater, four northern fulmars came to our chum throughout the afternoon, gliding about and flapping with stiff wingbeats.
Several hours passed without a skua and the leaders finally decided to point the boat west and march toward shore. We were informed that we would be arriving late to the dock after spending so much time 70 miles out, but that they would continue chumming until the supply was exhausted. We still had our contingent of gulls behind us, taking advantage of the free chicken and butterfish, and we began picking up more gannets along the way. At one point, the gulls all but disappeared leaving a trail of gannets numbering in the hundreds, plunging for the whole butterfish being tossed out the stern. Eventually we crossed into shallower water and began seeing alcids again. Many more razorbills and puffins were tallied on the way back and common dolphins were once again riding our bow. Peoples’ spirits were much higher on the way back in as we were going with the waves instead of against them. It was a much more enjoyable boat ride until the sun, and it’s warmth, began to set. Time ticked by slowly in the cold evening air and we finally caught sight of lights on the horizon and silhouettes of scoters taking off from the water. After over five hours of westward travel, we finally made it back to the dock at about 7:00 p.m., making this a 13.5 hour pelagic trip. Most of us were quite tired, but the feeling of dry land under our feet renewed our spirits and we decided to reconvene at the restaurant next to our motel at 8:30 p.m. Needless to say, the brown-headed nuthatch excursion was cancelled for that evening.
We all made it back to the motel okay where people tossed their patches into the wastebaskets and quickly washed the grimy salt off of their bodies. Feeling fresh and smelling much better, we got our own room at the restaurant and had a nice, albeit expensive, meal together. Stories were swapped and people voiced their disconcertments regarding the day’s trip. The main objection was that the pelagic trip leaders did nothing to get people on the dovekies that were seen during the day. However, we were pleased that they spent so much time and effort trying to lure in a great skua. Unfortunately, these efforts didn’t produce the bird, but that’s the nature of pelagic trips. Sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don’t. After the meal we worked on the trip checklist, decided on a meeting time for the morning, then retired to our rooms at the motel. It didn’t take long for sleep to come and it seemed like mere seconds before the wake-up call jarred us out of bed the next morning.
After a quick night of blissful slumber, we all met in the motel parking lot at 6:15 a.m. to begin our fast-paced day of blitz birding. We had a lot of locations to visit, numerous target birds, and only one day to do it. A fellow from Florida who was on the pelagic trip the day before met us in the parking lot and then all eight vehicles worth of us headed north to Island #3 of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. Traffic was almost non-existent on the bridge-tunnel and we had no problems getting onto the island. Everyone piled out of their vehicles and began seeing birds almost right away, but one vehicle wasn’t there yet. Although there weren’t too many birds off of the east side of the island, the north side and its jetty really produced. Here we found an adult great cormorant in breeding plumage, several purple sandpipers, a couple of ruddy turnstones, and a long-tailed duck. In addition, scores of surf scoters were flying between Islands 3 and 4 along with several red-throated loons and a few common loons. Northern gannets were cruising by as well and a harbor seal put in an appearance at the end of the jetty. It was becoming a very nice, sunny morning and we were enjoying the birding. Fairly quickly though I was forced to rush people along to Island #4, the next island to the north. The missing vehicle still hadn’t been located yet.
When we arrived at Island #4, the radio crackled with the sound of a voice from the missing vehicle–all of us were linked up by Family Radio Service radios. They had missed the islands entirely and were turning around from the north end of the bridge-tunnel. They soon joined us and we were finally all back together again. The birds here were even better than those at Island #3. One thing we noticed though was the lack of gulls on the islands. Traditionally this is a prime spot for gulls, but not that day or even that winter. We found more great cormorants here, a couple in breeding plumage plus a few immatures, a double-crested cormorant, and purple sandpipers on the jetty. To the west were seven adult brant which looked absolutely gorgeous in the sunlight as well as an adult male and two female harlequin ducks. All that can be said about the male harlequin is WOW! We got our fill of these then began to watch the waterfowl fly between the islands. After several hundred surf scoters we finally found six white-wingeds and five blacks undergoing their morning’s movement. We also had an adult male surf scoter posing for us just off the southwest side of the island. More red-throated loons were observed and enjoyed and northern gannets continued their travels. We too needed to move along to check out the north end of the bridge-tunnel where Dave and Art had a drive-by white-winged gull.
We pulled ourselves away from the island, said goodbye to our companion from Florida, and seven vehicles of us continued north to a parking area on the west side of the road, encountering yellow-rumped warblers along the way. We all got out and scanned the beach area where the gull had been seen, but were unable to locate it. A pair of American oystercatchers and a sizeable group of brant in the distance made up for the missing gull however. After a few minutes here, we continued north to Eastern Shore of Virginia NWR where our main target was common teal. Although this subspecies hasn’t been elevated to full species status yet, we were hoping for an escrow bird normally found in Eurasia. We eventually wound our way back to the pond observation area and began our search for the teal. The space was limited here and many were forced to wait in the background while folks scanned the ducks. Eventually, some folks wandered around to the other side of the pond for a different perspective. Although we didn’t find the teal, we were treated to a large group of flyover tundra swans, tree swallows, gadwall, American black ducks, northern shovelers, and quite a few green-winged teal foraging in the cattails. We also had a few shorebirds here with killdeer, three common snipe, and a woodcock. The split-off group squeaked out field, savannah, and song sparrows to beef up the trip list. Here we bid adieu to Mike Williams and Dave Demmon who had to go to work the next day and then pressed northward, our caravan now at six vehicles.
Our next stop was Chincoteague NWR and it’s two target birds, Eurasian wigeon and brown-headed nuthatch. As we crossed over the bridge, hundreds of acres of saltmarsh filled our vision. It was a spectacular sight to us midwestern folks, but we didn’t have time to stop and enjoy it. We did pass a large group of shorebirds on the way out to the refuge and decided to check them out on the way back. Meeting at the visitor’s center parking lot, folks were able to empty their bladders before heading out to Black Duck Marsh. We got back into our vehicles and went for our quarry. As we parked along the roadside next to the marsh we were able to see some ducks in the distance partially concealed by a row of trees. So, we continued down the road on foot and were able to look back behind the trees and scope the birds in question. After seeing several American wigeon and the usual duck suspects, Dick proclaimed his find–the Eurasian wigeon. It was a beautiful adult male and eventually all were able to get good scope views of it as it ducked in and out from behind the trees. To make things even better, it decided to come out in the open where all could get totally unobstructed looks. What a bird. As all were sharing in the moment, greater yellowlegs, dunlin, least sandpipers, and snow geese flew near us and added that something special to the event. We all took our final looks then headed back to the visitor’s center where we would look for brown-headed nuthatch. Upon arriving, several groups with radios fanned out around the area and down its trails. This strategy worked and about 5-10 minutes after our arrival, Dave Russell radioed that he and Art had some nuthatches. They kept a close eye on these birds as they foraged in a nearby tree and soon the whole pile of us converged on their location. It took a while to get everyone on these birds, but eventually everyone got satisfactory looks. The sky was now gray and it was hard to discern colors on these nuthatches which were backlit most of the time. Occasionally they would creep in front of a branch and their brown heads would gleam for a split second. A few folks took a closer look at some nearby snow geese before we headed back to the parking lot. Here we agreed to make a quick stop where all the shorebirds were on the causeway then head up to Ocean City, MD. This would also be the leg of the trip where everyone could stop and grab a quick lunch.
We wandered out of the refuge and made our way to the causeway to get a closer look at the shorebirds taking advantage of some mudflats. Dan spotted some American oystercatchers along the way and the mudflat area produced lots of dunlin and some western sandpipers. After a few minutes here, we ventured onward. Everyone stopped somewhere between Chincoteague and Ocean City to obtain food and gas and we were now beginning to encounter the predicted rain. As we drove northward, the rain went through spells of increase and decrease, but that didn’t stop one vehicle from spotting some wild turkeys along the way. We all eventually ended up at the Ocean City Inlet in Maryland and were immediately greeted by red-throated and common loons in the waterway, sanderlings in the parking lot taking advantage of puddles, and a dreadful downpour. Not willing to be dissuaded, we donned our rain gear and took to the breakwall. It didn’t take long to get great scope looks at nearby red-throated loons in immaculate winter plumage, a contrast of gray on white virtually unmatched anywhere in the bird world. As we scanned around where the inlet entered the ocean, we found five gorgeous long-tailed ducks complete with long tails and the previously reported razorbill. It was nice to get a fairly stable look at this species and Linda Helm was able to add it to her life list as she wasn’t on the pelagic trip the day before. There were purple sandpipers and ruddy turnstones on the breakwalls and nine harlequin ducks flew around in the inlet providing looks which were quite the opposite from what we had earlier in the morning. As the rain continued we decided to depart Ocean City and head straight up to Rehoboth, DE to try for the on-again, off-again tufted duck. We also said goodbye to another car in our convoy as Peter and Lynne had to head back to Virginia Beach. And then there were five.
We pressed northward, skipping the Indian River Inlet for the time being, and ventured straight up to Silver Lake in Rehoboth, DE. When we rounded the corner, we immediately saw lots and lots of ducks on this urban waterfowl refuge. In addition, the rain began to let up. We found the correct parking area after briefly stopping where we weren’t supposed to and began scanning the hordes of ducks. Here there were oodles of canvasbacks and ruddy ducks to sort through and it didn’t take us long to find a sandy colored female ruddy duck, the victim of leucism. She was quite interesting to say the least. As we searched through the canvasbacks we were able to pull out several redhead, a female ring-necked duck, and a female greater scaup which gave us fits as she spent almost all of her time with her head tucked, asleep. There was also a pied-billed grebe and several American coots here, adding to the throng of waterfowl. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to find the tufted duck. Deciding to split our efforts, two vehicles, mine and Dick’s, went over to the Spring Lake Condos to search their pond. The tufted duck had been reported from over there recently and we took the back way to it with directions provided by some locals. We arrived without difficulty and began scanning. Canvasbacks and a couple of redheads became immediately apparent, as did a certain gull. Not having my scope at the time, I asked Lathe to take a look at it through his and begged him to tell me what color the bill was. He proclaimed that it was red with a black tip. Hot dog…an immature black-headed gull. I quickly radioed the other group which was still over at Silver Lake and informed them of the find. I rattled off directions and they were on their way. Unfortunately, two things happened. First, because we took the back way to the pond, I was completely turned around with my directions. I transposed north and south as well as east and west and sent the group on a wild goose chase to the wrong end of town. Second, the black-headed gull flew off within minutes of us finding it. So, when the rest of the group finally got to Spring Lake after 20 minutes or so of driving around, we had no gull to show them and I had egg on my face. We looked around for a few more minutes, not finding the tufted duck of course, and headed back to Silver Lake. We once again scanned the ducks which were beginning to fly out for the night and still had no luck finding the tufted duck. A nice sharp-shinned hawk made a couple of fly-bys around the lake and then something happened which absolutely elated me–the black-headed gull decided to make an appearance at Silver Lake. It flew around for several minutes providing okay in-flight views, complete with dark under primaries. I was quite relieved at this because it was a lifer for several people and I botched up the first attempt. Everyone’s mood noticeably improved and we decided that we had seen every duck there was to see in Rehoboth. It was time to move on. Dave and Art had to drive back to Richmond, VA that evening so we said our goodbyes and the four remaining vehicles headed south to Indian River Inlet.
The inlet was a bit slow as far as birds were concerned, but the wind was quite brisk. At least one scope got knocked down in the gale and we were unable to add any new birds to the day’s list. There were a few Bonaparte’s gulls bucking the wind and several gannets flew by for our viewing pleasure. In addition, there were more red-throated and common loons here as well as some ruddy turnstones and sanderlings. However, that was about it. We loitered around for a while and decided to call it a day. Directions were given to our motel in Salisbury, MD and we soon took to the roads of Delaware for the final time. As the day turned into evening, we spotted a huge flock of snow geese flying over the road as well as a great horned owl and a couple of woodcock. These were the only road birds of note on our way to Salisbury and we were soon at our night’s accommodations. Everyone did their own thing for dinner that evening, some going out to a restaurant and others eating pizza in the rooms, and we convened in the lobby of the EconoLodge for a trip wrap-up at 9:00 p.m. We discussed the day’s birding, which we were able to accomplish with some daylight left over at the end, and did our checklist. We had some great birds on the trip, but unfortunately we had some glaring misses as well. Poor Dick, who had driven up from Florida, had only three target birds for the trip–great skua, tufted duck, and common teal–and we managed to miss all three of them. The dovekie could be considered another partial miss because not everyone got to see the birds on the pelagic trip. However, we shouldn’t dwell on the negative, but instead focus on the positive. The last thing we did at the wrap-up was have everyone write down their three favorite birds for a tally. The results were quite interesting with a surprising winner and they can be viewed by following the link below. In addition, our final checklist, beginning at 5:30 a.m. Saturday and ending at 7:00 p.m. Sunday, stood at 97 species. This too can be viewed following the link below. We soon made our final arrangements for driving back the next day and everyone said their goodbyes. People left at varying times on Monday, some including a whole day of birding on the way back, and everyone made it back to their final destinations without incident. All in all it was a very successful trip and I think everyone had a good time. After our return, I asked everyone for their lifer tally from the trip. The group (N=20) came up with an amazing 69 total life birds and the award for the most lifers goes to Art Evans who was able to add 14 birds to his list. Way to go Art.
A special thank you goes out to all who participated either formally or informally on this trip. Your patience with me, especially when we were flying through all of those birding spots on Sunday, is much appreciated and I look forward to many more trips with you. Thanks!
Trip List — 97 Species
X = Seen, but numbers not counted.
R = Seen en route to that destination.
In addition, we saw approximately 40 common dolphins on the Virginia Beach pelagic trip on 2/24/01 and one harbor seal at Island #3 of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel on 2/25/01.
Trip Favorites
Fourteen people were asked to name their three favorite birds of the trip during our wrap-up on February 25, 2001. Here are the results:
1. Northern Gannet – 7 votes
2. Sooty Shearwater – 6 votes
2. Harlequin Duck – 6 votes
4. Great Cormorant – 5 votes
5. Eurasian Wigeon – 4 votes
6. Dovekie – 3 votes
7. Purple Sandpiper – 2 votes
7. Black-headed Gull – 2 votes
9. Razorbill – 1 vote
9. Northern Fulmar – 1 vote
9. Brant – 1 vote
9. Black-legged Kittiwake – 1 vote
9. Surf Scoter – 1 vote
9. Red Phalarope – 1 vote
9. Atlantic Puffin – 1 vote
9. Red-throated Loon – 1 vote
9. Long-tailed Duck – 1 vote