PORTSMOUTH ISLAND / REDDISH EGRETS

["Brad Carlson" <bradcarlson1@hotmail.com>]

A late post from last weekend involves a trip to the Outerbanks including 
Portsmouth Island.  On Saturday, my wife Pat and I birded Bodie Island and 
then joined Jeff Lewis at Pea Island for about an hour.  There were many 
shorebirds, but we were unable to relocate the Curlew Sandpiper that Jeff 
and the Tyndall's had seen 30 minutes earlier at the south end of North 
Pond.

On Sunday, Pat and I joined Wayne Irvin, Jeff Lewis and friend Joan for a 
day trip to Portsmouth Island.  We had a very nice trip that included an 
incredible count of Six (6) adult REDDISH EGRETS  all feeding together in 
the mud flats.  I had never seen so many Reddish Egrets in one place (not 
even in Florida).  Based on the Bull Island, SC post I just read, it sounds 
like we have an invasion this year.

We found no other rarities amongst the nineteen (19) species of shorebirds 
at Portmouth, but we counted over twenty-five (25) PIPING PLOVERS primarily 
on the beaches on the NE section of the island, and then again on the flats 
at low tide.  MARBLED GODWITS were in good numbers with about forty (40) 
being seen on the flats.

Wayne and Fran Irvin were planning on making one or two more trips to 
Portsmouth this week so hopefully we will read a post about some rare 
Godwit, Redshank, or Stint that they have located in this wonderful habitat. 
  Stay tuned....

In any case, Jeff's Curlew Sandpiper was reported again at North Pond of Pea 
Island on Sunday, so Pat and I tried for it again that afternoon on the way 
home.  I was hoping to finally get a photograph of this spoecies.  Once 
again, we came up empty handed after about an hour of looking.  We ended up 
with about twenty-three (23) species of shorebirds for the weekend.  Not bad 
at all!

-Brad Carlson
Winterville, NC
BradCarlson1@hotmail.com

_________________________________________________________________
Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com