Cape Charles Seabird Watch, Fall 2003

• Main Authors: Williams, J. W., Paxton, B. J.
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: W&M ScholarWorks 2004
• Subjects: Barrier Island; Cape Charles; Northampton; Smith Island; Dovekie; Razorbill
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/ccb_reports/402; https://scholarworks.wm.edu/context/ccb_reports/article/1401/viewcontent/ccbtr_04_16_Williams_Cape_Charles_Seabird_Watch_Fall_2003.pdf

Virginia’s first full-time systematic seabird watch was conducted 9 November through 20 December 2003. The project was a collaborative effort among The Center for Conservation Biology of the College of William and Mary, the Virginia Coast Reserve of The Nature Conservancy, the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, the United States Coast Guard, and the Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge. The watch site was the 191 foot tall Cape Charles Lighthouse, located 2 kilometers north of the southern tip of Smith Island, an Atlantic coastal barrier island in Northampton County on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Two full-time technicians, Elizabeth Rogan and Jason Wade, manned the site 32 out of a possible 42 days, logging 184.25 observation hours. They documented the passage of 75,138 birds of 57 species of which 71,298 were seabirds, that is, species that utilize the ocean as a migration corridor and/or as a primary foraging resource. Birds which fall within this designation include Red-throated and Common loons, Horned and Red-necked grebes, Northern Gannet, Great and Doublecrested cormorants, 17 duck species, Parasitic and Pomarine jaegers, 5 gull and 5 tern species, Razorbill and Dovekie. The additional 3,840 birds included songbirds, marsh dwelling waterfowl (ducks, geese, swans, and herons), and shorebirds. Watch data, including metrological conditions such as wind speed and direction, ambient air temperature, percent cloud cover, visibility, relative humidity, and barometric pressure were recorded hourly following a prescribed protocol. Meteorological information was obtained with a Davis Vantage Pro Wireless Weather station. Also recorded were minutes of observation, species flight distance from shore, and flight altitude above the water surface. Reference markers demarcating distances up to 2 kilometers were placed off shore to aid in determining flight distance from shore. Visual observations were made with Leica Televid 20-60 power ...