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CBBT, Mango, Barnacles, etc.



Hi Carolinabirders,

On Mon, 4 Dec 2000, shantanu phukan wrote:
>
>       I am planning a trip upto Delmarva Peninsula next week to look for
> the Tufted and Harlequin Ducks, and am wondering how best to bird the
> Chesapeake Bay Bridge. I understand there are 'islands' on the bridge
> that one can stop at.

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, or CBBT for short, does have islands. 
They often host vagrant landbirds during migrations, and in winter 
birders can usually find a King Eider, Black-tailed Gull, Snowy Owl, or 
other rarity on at least one of them.

However, they are accessible BY PERMIT ONLY. To get one write or phone 
the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel District at PO Box 111 Cape Charles 
Virginia 23310-0111 Phone: 757-331-2960 Fax 757-331-4546. They also have 
a web site at http://www.cbbt.com/
If you are leaving soon enough that the permit can't arrive in time by 
mail, they can hold your permit for you at the administration building 
next to the toll booth. Follow the instructions on the permit, including 
notifying the toll taker that you'll be birding on the islands.

>     Also is it worth checking out Chincoteague and Assateague at this
> time of year if I have already been to Pea Island this fall? Are there
> any other Delmarva spots that are must-visits at this time of year?

Chincoteague, Assateague, and Pea Island are basically all worth visiting 
as often as possible, if only for potential rarities. For information on 
this region in general, check out the birding listservs for Virginia and 
Maryland (MDOSprey) and maybe MarVaDel, and the websites for the 
Baltimore Bird Club <http://www.bcpl.net/~tross/baltbird.html>, Virginia 
Society of Ornithology <http://www.ecoventures-travel.com/vso/>, and 
Maryland Ornithological Society <http://www.MDBirds.org/>. There's also 
an on-line guide to Delaware birding spots at 
http://www.physics.udel.edu/wwwusers/barnhill/Birdhtml/delloc2.html

On Sun, 3 Dec 2000, Ken Behrens wrote:
> 
> +BLUE GROSBEAK - one bird behind the secondary dunes near the park HQ. With
> a group of Field Sparrows. It looked like an adult female. This seems like 
> an exceptionally late record, but I don't have any South Carolina bird
> resources handy. Can anyone tell me how unusual this was?

I can't say for South Carolina. The Triangle checklist lists Blue 
Grosbeak as "very rare" ("not present most years") throughout November 
and December, so up here would be pretty noteworthy. But HBSP being both 
further south and near the coast, the odds are probably better there...

For those birders who felt burdened by the "long" drive to Concord to see 
the Mango, I found a post on the Michigan birding listserv about three 
people who drove 10 hours to come see it. They ran into a couple from 
Ontario and two others from New Jersey at the site. The author, Julie 
Craves, also posted her pictures on the web at 
http://www.umd.umich.edu/dept/rouge_river/mango.html
In another post from Lori Markoff on the Virginia listserv, the author 
drove only 787 miles round-trip to see the bird. Another from 
Steve Moore on the Massachusetts list mentions taking "1 day, 1 hour, and 
10 minutes".

The VA list also has a Snowy Owl sighting from the Rappahannock River 
near White Stone, in Lancaster County. Less than two hours from Richmond, 
just over four hours from Durham. They're getting closer...

My two cents on the Barnacle Geese: I wouldn't add them to any ABA- 
reported list. Some of the Barnacle Geese which have shown up in the 
northeastern US have done so in conjunction not only with Canada Geese, 
but also with individuals of the Greenland race of Greater White-fronted 
Goose, and around times when other birds from that area strayed to the 
US, and when the weather was about right. The Guilford County Barnacles 
have shown up when virtually all of the other out-of-range vagrants are 
coming from the west (latest example: Black-throated Gray Warbler south 
of Miami, FL). They are associating with a flock of obviously feral 
birds, including some white barnyard geese. I could imagine a "countable" 
Barnacle Goose in the Carolinas, but this wouldn't be it.

Good birding,

Josh



Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Biology (Zoology, R.I.P.)

jsr6@acpub.duke.edu
http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/