MIDDLE ATLANTIC 
Woed Sterk is a very rare summer visitor to the Virginia Mountains & Valleys re- 
gion, where there are about 1 1 previous records. This cooperative immature was 
at Ciaytor Lake, Pulaski County 16 September 2008. Photegraph by Stan Bentley. 
an imm. Surf Scoter 15 Oct-5 Nov (CK, BAr, 
MP). Rare away from the lower Bay and 
ocean, a female White-winged Scoter was at 
Shirley Plantation, Charles City, VA 31 Oct-8 
Nov (ph. ABo, ABr). Another at Poplar 9 Aug 
(JR) almost certainly summered there, but 
one at Triadelphia, Montgomery/Howard, MD 
26 Aug (BHi) had not been seen there earlier. 
An imm. Black Scoter was on the New R., Pu- 
laski 15 Oct-5 Nov (CK, BAr, MP), just the 
3rd fall Mountains and Valleys record for the 
state. Two Black Scoters were at Poplar 9 Aug 
OR) and on the Potomac R., D.C. 2 Nov (PP). 
Thirty-seven Long-tailed Ducks made a no- 
table inland record at Triadelphia 10 Nov 
(BHi). A Red-breasted Merganser at Poplar 
16-30 Aug QR) apparently spent the summer. 
An Eared Grebe was unexpected 30 Nov at 
Washington County Park, Washington, VA 30 
Nov (RBi). Pelagic trips out of Worcester, MD 
16 & 22 Aug were productive; the latter yield- 
ed 56 Cory’s Shearwaters, 21 Greater Shear- 
waters, 19 Audubon’s Shearwaters, 486 Wil- 
son’s Storm-Petrels, and 2 White-faced Storm- 
Petrels (PC et al). 
Twenty-four American 
White Pelicans at Fort Story, 
Virginia Beach 17 Nov (KB) es- 
tablished a new state high 
count. Four were at Blackwa- 
ter N.W.R., Dorchester, MD 30 
Nov (HTA), now a regular 
wintering ground for this 
species. A single Brown Peli- 
can at King William, VA 2 Nov 
(FA) was unusual. Single Great 
Cormorants at Black Walnut 
Pt., Talbot 23 Sep QLS et al.) 
and Fisherman’s Island 
N.W.R., Northampton, VA 8 
Oct (BW) were early arrivals. 
Rare in D.C., a Great Cor- 
morant was on the Potomac R. 
1 Nov (GA, FH). An Anhinga 
flew past Rockfish Gap, Augus- 
ta 26 Oct (VL) for a 2nd county record. The 
Anhinga at L. Maury, Newport News, VA con- 
tinued from the summer 
through 30 Aug (NF); one 
at reliable Stumpy L., Vir- 
ginia Beach 9 Aug (EE) 
was likely the same bird as 
reported in Jul. An 
unidentified frigatebird 
flew over Hagerstown, 
Washington, MD 19 Sep 
(AMi, SRa). 
A Great White Heron, 
currently designated the 
occidentalis subspecies of 
Great Blue Heron, was at 
Ciaytor L., Pulaski 11 
Oct-1 Nov (ph. SBe, 
MM); remarkably, there 
are at least three previous 
records from sw. Virginia. 
A Great Egret was very late at Rosedale, Rus- 
sell, VA 26 Nov (E&HM). A bird that came to 
be called a Great White Egret — one of the 
Old World taxa of Great Egret, probably Eu- 
ropean or African — was at False Cape S.R, 
Virginia Beach 4-24 Aug (]G, DLH, ph. ESB), 
almost certainly the same bird that frequent- 
ed Chine, in the spring. Other than a few 
Alaska records of e. Asian modesta, there are 
no reports of black-billed Great Egrets from 
the New World. A Green Heron at Green 
Springs, James City, VA 17 Nov (BW) sur- 
passed the previous local late date by 15 days. 
An imm. Yellow-crowned Night-Heron at 
Kipt. 26 Oct OR) was similarly late. 
Impressive White Ibis counts included 139 
birds at Back Bay 5 Sep OG) and 175 birds at 
Bull’s Landing, Northampton 1 Oct (HTA). 
Sixteen juv. White Ibis were at Hog Island 
W.M.A., Suny, VA 2 Aug (AD, TT); one lin- 
gered through 3 Oct (ph. RE); and one was 
notable at Hughes Hollow, Montgomeiy 15-31 
Aug (DG et al). Clearly the hotspot for Vir- 
ginia birding this season, Ciaytor L., Pulaski 
hosted an imm. Wood Stork 16 Sep (ph. SBe), 
only the 4th record for the Virginia Moun- 
tains & Valleys since 1985. Two Glossy Ibis 
were seen 13 Aug at Piney Run, Carroll, MD 
QGre et al.), where the species is very rare. 
An ad. and juv. Mississippi Kite continued 
from summer at Salisbury, Wicomico, MD 9 
Aug (EP); the 4 birds at Piscataway Park, 
Prince George’s continued through 24 Aug 
(m.ob.). A Mississippi Kite flew over Rockfish 
Gap, Augusta 19 Sep (VL), only the 4th fall 
county record. A relatively rare and irregular 
fall migrant and winter visitor, single North- 
ern Goshawks were seen over Rockfish Gap 
29 Sep (VL) and 18 Oct (BTe, VL); another 
was over Harvey’s Knob, Botetourt/Bedford, VA 
18 Nov (BGi). One was banded at Kipt. 3 Nov 
(RK, fide BT), and other singles included an 
early imm. female at Bull’s Landing, 
Northampton 1 Oct (HTA), one at Chine. 10 
Nov (SB), and an imm. at Rum Pointe G.C., 
Worcester 28 Nov (MBu, MJl et al.). An imm. 
r A One of the season's highlights was an ad. Brswn Baoby discovered by Ben Simpson while kayaking on Ciaytor L., Pu- 
•) fl Ml 4 Oct. Like the imm. Brown Booby that visited Fort Story, Virginia Beach, VA 5-9 Aug 2006, it was "twitchable," 
and birders from several states documented this bird through 28 Oct. in addition to furnishing only the 7th Virginia report 
(and 3rd with evidence) for this pantropical sulid, this was oniy the 2nd inland record of any booby for the United States away 
from the Southwest. The first such record was the imm. Biue-footed Booby that roosted at Granite Shoals, Bumet/Llam, TX 2 
Jun 1993-6 Oct 1994 and reappeared at L. Bastrop, Bastrop, Tt 10 Dec 1994-12 Apr 1995. 
It is tempting to theorize that powerful Hurricane Ike, the 3rd most destructive hurricane ever to make landfall in the Unit- 
ed States, brought this booby inland, and this possibility cannot be ruled out. Ike made landfall around 0200 on 12 Sep at 
Galveston, TX and by midnight of 14 Sep had crossed the Midwest and the Canadian border. The storm's decaying center was 
thus never near Ciaytor L, though the storm ms relatively broad, and certainly, storm-displaced birds may turn up virtually 
anywhere as they attempt to return toward maritime environments. But in the anoais of tropical-storm-displaced birds, there 
are very few reports of sulids at all: most are of exhausted birds found on beaches from the adjacent ocean or Gulf of Mexico. 
So the reasons for this bird's appearance remaiii a mystery. 
This guil frequented the Patuxent River in Prince George's County, Maryland 11-22 
(here 13) August 2008; it showed characteristics of both Black-headed Gull and Ring- 
billed Gull and was probably a hybrid of these species. Photograph by Fred Shaffer. 
VOLUME 63 (2009) • NUMBER 1 
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