I covered three areas of the park this morning. First, I went to The Point. The tide was relatively low and was still going out. I saw two American oystercatchers on the sandbars. One was banded—it had the letters “M” and “P” on both leg bands and a silver band on the right leg by its foot. Information later received from the “American Oystercatcher Working Group” about this oystercatcher is that it was banded on July 27, 2009 on Assateague Island, Virginia. Several terns were seen including royal, common, and Caspian. Other birds seen here included osprey, semipalmated plover, great egret, sanderling, herring gull, laughing gull, and double-crested cormorant. My second stop was the Seaside Nature Trail. No purple martins were seen. Other birds identified along the trail included red-eyed vireo, eastern bluebird, downy woodpecker, ruby-throated hummingbird, royal tern, prairie warbler, and fish crow. The last stop was on the Fishing Pier. Several royal terns were sitting on the pilings beyond the end of the pier. One of them was banded—it had “C5P” on the right leg band and a silver band on the left leg. Information later received from “Virginia Tech Plover” was that this tern was banded as a chick on July 10, 2021, at Fort Wool (Hampton Roads), Virginia. Other birds seen here included American goldfinch, European starling, house sparrow, herring gull, Forster’s tern, and double-crested cormorant.
MY PHOTOS: American oystercatcher x 3, royal tern x 2, Caspian tern, osprey, semipalmated plover
