Early Morning Beach Walk & Other Fun

     Yesterday, I decided that I would end my work week with a quick stroll on Plumb Beach before work. Even at high tide, shorebirds were all around running along the surf at the shore. I only had a short time to be out for, I bet there would have been more to see if I had the chance to stick around. As always, no complaints, I am gracious to have the chance to do such things before work- this would have never happened as a public school teacher!

Semipalmated plovers were all over the beach, appearing out of what seemed like nowhere. Little shorebirds really have great camouflage, I often don't see them until they move!

Semipalmated sandpipers also were all over the beach, running along the waves-- and unfortunately, debris. Semipalmated refers to the tiny amount of webbing (semi) that occurs between the spread toes (palmated). So it's all about the feet.

A sanderling, a little larger than the sandpiper above intermingled in groups of the sand pipers, and vice versa.

This ring billed gull had captured a small fluke/flounder and has no problem putting it down the hatch.

Yum!

Oystercatchers flew back and forth along the beach, always coming and going, usually letting you know with their voices.

A great blue heron, we both were not ready for each other, he was well hidden in the grasses that make up the tidal marsh behind the beach. 

A black scoter who has been reported continuing here is off in the channel between Plumb and the Marina/Dead Horse Bay.

Awful shot, but lucky to have a royal tern loudly announce his presence and fly overhead.

This young ring billed gull seemed very handsome in his grey plumage.

This willet was not happy that I needed to walk past him to head back to my car. 

A group of boat-tailed grackles foraged among the grasses near the entry from the parking area. These are all females/youngsters. Males would be all black, with that grackle gloss of iridescent green/purple. 

A funny nest at work, this is pointed out to me by a coworker, a mourning dove and her chick- they must have been walked past SO MANY times, as that is a large chick!

The cute factor, it's there, for sure!

Sweet things, I hope that baby fledges successfully!

     Oh, and bonus wildlife fun... At the Mets Pirates game last night, a little moth friend found me (by flying into my face and landing on my sandal). I claimed him to be a rally moth as a run was scored after meeting him, but apparently his little moth body can only lend so much rally to a baseball game. I would have needed at least 2 more to get a win, haha!

My new friend at the Mets game. I went last Wednesday, where a budgie made an appearance, and was given the title of the rally parakeet. 

The moth is an oldwife underwing moth. Under the camouflaged wings, you found bright orange, and who ever named this moth, seriously, why??

I made sure he/she was safely released after the game, better luck next time, rally moth.

Assateague Island: Part 3

     this is the last of our weekend adventure in Maryland, in the vicinity of Assateague Island. On the day we left, we rented a canoe and paddled through the salt marsh in Ayers Creek. We rented our canoe through Ayers Creek Adventure and paddled around for 1.5 hours. I added a few additional species for my "Big Year" list, but most importantly, Tim and I had quiet, gorgeous scenery all around us, and very few biting insects to speak of.
     The weekend was really a great way to kick off turning 30 and I look forward to my year of adventure ahead. I'm so thankful to have Tim by my side, able to enjoy the outdoors and exploring new places together. Here's to 30...

Common tern, perched on a buoy. It was easy paddling on the way out, of course should have noted the wind at our backs...

Exploring the salt marsh. It was full of little elevated plastic shelters, I never quite figured out who they were meant for. They were all unoccupied, so no clues to help us.

A rare moment, a sitting barn swallow! Barn and tree swallows zipped about, catching insects on the wing.

Laughing gull was not too pleased with our paddling.

Most other laughing gulls didn't really care that we were paddling around the marsh.

I really loved the laughing gulls who were just plopped down, without a care in the world. Kind of like this guy,

A great blue heron spotted us as we spotted him. But something big was lurking, higher, before we ended our paddle (that turned strenuous, as we had to paddle against wind on the return).

Two mature bald eagles circled right over us. They were awesome to see, and I always love seeing raptors, it was a welcome sight and a great note to end our weekend on!

Assateague Adventure: Part 2

     On Saturday, 8/8/15 we decided that why not drive to the Virginia side of Assateague Island. Assateague is split between Maryland and Virginia and to get to the Virginia portion of the island, one needs to drive through the famous Chincoteague Island.
     Only a 1 hour drive will get you from the Maryland side to the Virginia side, with a bonus of stopping off at the NASA Wallops flight facility visitor center on the way there. One thing you should bring with you when visiting this portion of the island is some black market, deet-loaded bug spray. The mosquitoes are far more aggressive than they were in MD (don't get me wrong, they were indeed awful in MD) and my husband and I suffered far too many bites (I definitely got attacked worse than he).
     Despite the mosquitoes, we enjoyed this side of the island, although we saw zero ponies on this side, but perhaps that is due to the recent  roundup, swim, and auction that took place in late July. The birds and mammals had a good showing, though:

Upon arrival and parking our car, this great egret was in the adjacent creek, actively slamming his face into the water, coming up with small fish in its beak.

We walked the Tom's Cove loop by the visitors center. We had passed a group who finished a ranger-led walk. I caught snippets of the ranger sharing that now these folks now know that there is tons of life around the area and how they should make observations carefully, because otherwise, you'll miss things that could be right near by.
Just a stones throw away I saw fluttering in the dried reeds below the elevated boardwalk we were on. I was so super stoked to see this common buckeye and a few others just right there below us. The people from the group just passed by, as if their nature blinders went right back on. I was able to point it out to one family, and we also saw a red admiral in the same area. I hope the people from that walk saw more on their trip aside from white egrets and ponies.

On the Woodland Trail we got attacked by dozens and dozens of mosquitoes, so many that a walk down the path would involve speed walking or erratic motions, of slapping, wiping, and swatting. Someone would be coming from the opposite direction, doing the same thing, the biting insects were relentless here. On the walkway we saw a bright red ant. This Velvet or Cow Killer Ant is actually not an ant at all. It is a wingless wasp (in the same group of insects as ants, hymenoptera) that looks for cicada killer (another wasp) burrows. Where they find a cicada killer larvae, their eggs are laid on the pupa that the larval velvet ant feeds on and eventually kills (badass, right?!). The velvet ant earns its name "Cow Killer" as it possesses a sting that is said to be painful enough to kill a cow. They are harmless to people but will sting if stepped on or handled roughly. All I can say is, "wow!" to those warning colors!

We have lots of grey squirrels in NY, we know them well, even my husband shared how this squirrel seemed different from the grey's we know oh-so-well. He was right, this is a Delmarva Peninsula Fox Squirrel!

The Delmarva refers to DEL-MAR-VA, the peninsula made up of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. This squirrel is an endangered subspecies of the fox squirrel (how lucky were we to see this!). Unlike it's cousin the grey squirrel, this guys spends more time on the ground than in trees. They also really love the loblolly pines that are found throughout Assateague in its wooded areas.

This creek along Black Duck Trail led out to a large wildlife trail that supposedly has a pond it surrounds. The pond seemed very dried up, but by the looks of these Eastern Painted turtles just hanging out in the water here, it seems like this is a good freshwater source for wildlife, and stagnant for more mosquitoes. 

Around the freshwater area, aside from mosquitoes there were E. cottontails, and lots of youngsters, very small, and not too afraid. Also saw purple martins, barn and tree swallows, zipping about, grabbing insects. We also observed muskrat swimming through and hiding along the greenery.

Where the pond should have been, we observed cattle egrets, which seems shorter and more squat than the great egrets. They also, when in breeding plumage have buttery yellow plumes on their head and chest.

But like their great egret cousins, they are also equally beautiful in flight!

Soon after seeing this munching bunny, we saw a less lucky bunny, foxes and birds of prey frequent the area, so I hope this little guy wises up and starts learning that big animals=seek cover, fast!

     On the VA side of Assateague, we added on some more species for my personal big year of animal species. For birds, just check out my bird report here. The eastern painted turtle is the only reptile observed on this trek. Insects, I identified the red admiral butterfly, the common buckeye, the black swallowtail butterfly, and the velvet ant. Mammals we saw were the eastern cotton tail, muskrat, Delmarva Penninsula fox squirrel, and a white tail deer as we left the island.
     I still have one more portion of our trip to report, but, I will leave that for yet another day.

Assateague Adventure: Part 1

     I had the pleasure of turning 30 on August 8th (but refuse to ever grow out of my 20's) and decided that instead of the usual birthday shenanigans (which usually involves drinking copious amounts of adult beverages) I decided I would want a more memorable experience. My absolutely wonderful, fantastic, and amazing husband and I took off for Assategue Island for a weekend of outdoor adventure. Also, an amazing way to kick off my personal challenge of an every animal species big year.
     We stayed in the nearby town of Berlin, MD at the Atlantic Hotel, which is like a bed and breakfast, without the breakfast. The National Seashore of Assateague Island is only 15 minutes away, and a greasy spoon type joint, called "Bucks," on the way to the park, provided a great place to stop and pick up a breakfast sandwich and coffee to enjoy on the beach.
     Upon going over the familiar-ly named Verazanno Bridge, you are introduced to a wonderful barrier island, our first glances supplied us with birds everywhere and ponies off in the distance. And from that point the adventure begins...

Assateague is most famous for its feral pony population. The ponies seem to have some uncertainty as to how they got here, and how they have been there since the 1600's. Some says a spanish shipwreck, with horses on board sank offshore, others say early colonial settlers brought horses here to graze. Either way, there population is monitored closely by the parks.

Probably the island is best well known from the where horses "Misty" and "Stormy" famous title ponies in a series of popular children's books.

The pony population is managed by parks. In Maryland they are darted with a contraceptive to reduce pregnancies. In Virginia, the famous pony swim from Assateague to Chincoteague where foals are auctioned off, this event took place just a week or so before we arrived, at the end of July.

The ponies are not shy and walk through campsites, like they own the place, which I suppose they do. They get uncomfortably close, but seem pretty used to folks. I did watch some people touch them, which I would never do. I would not want a bite or swift kick to the abdomen, I would highly suggest keeping your distance and not touching the ponies. The park highly suggests this too.

They sure do have an amazingly beautiful place to call home!

I really like this shot of this small group heading out to join more ponies out on the marsh. They are all paints too, which I tend to like as a color pattern on equines.

This scenery, with ponies, it's like a dream!

A palomino paint, my two favorite coat colors/patterns! What a gorgeous little thing!

The landscape is amazing and on such a small sliver of barrier island it boasts a bunch of habitats, from sandy ocean beach, to salt marsh, to amazing dunes, loblolly pine forests, and small freshwater ponds.

A life bird for me, a juvenile tricolored heron, who isn't all that big, as he is no bigger than these gulls!

My husband really liked watching this guy strut across the mud at low tide, and what a handsome fellow, this little blue heron is!

We watched him happily forage and do so successfully!

A tide pool makes laughing gulls, snowy egrets, glossy ibis, and greater yellowlegs pretty happy!

We walked along some amazing dunes, the National Seashore park has many short trails, no more than .5 miles each. The dune trail was the hardest as you did have to walk along much sand. 

Payoff on the dune trail... a blue grosbeak, another lifer! And a handsome one at that! Wow!

And thankfully he stuck around enough, and within close proximity to capture that lovely blue!

     The Maryland portion of Assateague Island can be accessed either by the state park or by the national seashore, which is managed by the National Park Service.
     This was only the FIRST half of the day, we drove to Virginia and visited the park down that way too, but I'll get to that in another post.
The species lists for this day, in just this portion of the island is as follows:
Birds: Just see my bird list, here.
Herps: Diamondback terrapin
Mammals: Feral Pony
Inverts: Blue Crab (AND TONS of Mosquitoes)