Special

Interregional
Report:
Tropical
Storm
Enesto
RICKY
DAVIS
TODD
M.DAY.WALTER
G.ELLISON
VICTOR
W.FAZIO,
III NANCY
L.MARTIN
ROBERT
O.PAXTON
BILL
PRANTY
RICHARD
R.VEIT.RICK
WlLTRAUT
2006 VeatherTAP.corn - 09/01'2006

6:5 ArY1EDT (10:56 orY1T

After
making
landfall
insouthern
coastal
North
Carolina
atOcean
Isle
justbefore
midnight
on1September
2006,
Tropical
Storm
Ernesto
moved
quickly
toward
southeastern
Virginia
(here
8:24
a.m.on1September).
Overnight,
thestorm's
north-northeasterly
palh(and
counterclockwise
circulation)
resulted
instrong
easterly
andsoutheasterly
winds
blowing
directly
toward
theChesapeake
Bay
mouth.
Asthestorm
entered
Virginia,
winds
shifted
southwesterly
andwestedy
through
theafternoon
andnext
morning.
Perhaps
thestorm's
combinations
ofwind
speeds
anddirections,
along
withtheorientation
oftheBay,
resulted
inthehigh
diversity
ofseabirds
inthelower
Bayon2September:
11ternspecies
(among
them
11noddies
belween
foursites),
sixtubenose
species
(including
Sooty
Shearwater
andBulwer's
Petrel),
Red-necked
andRed
Phalaropes,
Sabine's
Gull,
andallthreejaeger
Inaddition
tomost
ofthese
species,
North
Carolina
lakes
and
sounds
produced
aCosShearwater
andaSouth
Polar
Skua--a
most
unexpected
collection
forastorm
whose
winds
barely
topped
112kph[70mph].GraphiccourtesyofandWeather-

TropicalStormErnestooriginatedfrom
a tropicalwaveandbecamea tropicaldepressionon 24 August 2006, as the
storm passedover the Windward Islands. It strengthenedinto a tropical
stormthe next morningovertheeastern
Caribbean Sea while centered about 480

km south of PuertoRico. Continuing

west-northwestward,
the storm slowly
strengthened
and had maximumwinds
of 80 kph [50 mphlby the nextmorning. It turnednorthwestward
on 26 AugustoverthecentralCaribbean
andcon-

10

tinuedto intensif).Earlyonthemorning Cubaforabout18hoursandemerged

off
of 27 August,whilecentered
about112 the north-centralcoastearlyon 29 Aukm south of the southern coastof Haiti, gust. The storm continuednorthwestthe stormwas brieflya hurricanewith wardwith little changein strengthand
maximumwindsof 120 kph [75 mph] made landfall in extreme southern Flori(Figure2).
da early on 30 Augustwith windsof
Enestosteadilyweakenedduringthe about70 kph [45 mphl. Etestoweaknextdayasit passed
verynearthesouth- enedto a depression
laterthatdaywhile
westerntip of Haiti. The storm then moving northward over the Florida
made landfall on the southeastern coast
peninsula.After departingthe eastern
of Cubajustwestof Guantanamo
Bayas coastof FloridanearCapeCanaveral
eara tropicalstorm.Enlestoturnednorth- ly on 31 August,thestormstrengthened
westward, and its center remained over againover the warm watersof the At-

NORTH

AMERICAN

BIRDS

TROPICAlSTORM
ERNESTO
I

lantic while headingnortheastward.

Ernestomadelandfallat 11:30p.m. 31
August near Ocean lsle/kong Beach,
BrunswickCount);North Carolina,just
westof CapeFear,as a strongtropical
storm with maximum sustained winds of

112 kph 110mph]. It movedgenerally

northward
througheastern
NorthCarolina duringl September
and exitedthe
stateasa depression
by evening.Winds
wereneverover96 kph [60 mph] sustained,butrainfalltotalswereveryhigh,
suchas 35.6 cm at WrightsvilleBeach.
By 11:00a.m.on 1 September,
thecenter
of the depressionwas 128 km westsouthwest
of Norfolk,Vilginia,moving
northwardat 22 kph [14 mph]. The
stormmovedinto the HamptonRoads
areaof Virginia(the citiessurrounding
theChesapeake
Baymouthandassociatedrivers)in themid-afternoon,
bringing
up to 36 cm of rain (e.g., to Cape
Charles), then rapidly back offshore
around2:30p.m.,whereit wasabsorbed
intoa nontropical
low andcontinued
to

Figure
1. Tropical
Storm
Ernesto
made
landfall
near
Long
Beach,
North
Carolina
atabout
11:30
p.m.(here
11:04)
on
1September
2006.
Thesouthern
North
Carolina
coast
hasbeen
"ground
zero"
foratleast
17landfalling
hurricanes
andtropical
storms
since
Hazelof
1954,
andmost
ofthese
have
produced
records
ofpelagic
birds
onland
orinshore.
raphic
courtesy
ofand WeatherTAP.
corn.

the northeast.
The storm was underestimated in the

then exited across the Delmarva PeninsuTubenoses

MiddleAtlantic,with propertydamages, la, and accelerated
up the coast.Bertha, Given the track of the storm, it was not
flooding,and power outagescatching however,
wasa stronger
stormandstruck surprisingthat storm-petrels
were obforecasters
offguard.Students
of"hurri- in midsummer--the
differenttimeofyear servedin somenumbers
in thee.partsof
canebirds"werealsocaughtoff guard: perhaps
accounting
forthemuchsmaller the North Carolina sounds or in the
the storm'srelativelyweak windswere number of Black Terns in Bertha, the mouth o[ ChesapeakeBay. However,
not expected
to bringmuchmorethana greaterstrength
wasunderestimated
by mostobof thestorm(a Category Ernesto
fewSootyTernsduringthe dayof pas- 2 hurricaneat landfall)perhaps
the rea- servers,
whowereimpressed
by thenumsage(1 September)
throughthe Coastal sonforgreaternumbers
of Black-cappedbersof storm-petrels
involved,probably
Storm-Petrelsbecause the storm was never classed as a
Plain.Instead,17 pelagicspecieswere Petrelsand Band-rumped
recorded between North Carolina and
in Bertha. Observers who remember Hurhurricanewhile in U.S. territory(other
Virginiafrom interior/inner-coastal
ar- ricaneDavidof 5-6 September
1979liken than at Guantanamo, Cuba). Pamlico
eas,and Maryland,the Districtof Co- the proportionsof terns (including18 Sound,Dare, NC held at least 100 Willumbia, New Jersey,Pennsylvania,
and noddies in North Carolina, one in New son'sStorm-Petrels
near BonnerBridge,
New York also recordedmany of the Jersey)to thatstorm,andindeedDavid's plusup to 2 Leach'sStorm-Petrels
and3
samespecies.Because
the stormgover- track across the Lesser and Greater An- Band-rumped
Storm-Petrels
2 Sep (BP,
land passageoccurred mostly on a tilles did resemble that of Ernesto. How- ph.Jk, LoisSchultz);15+Wilsonwere
Thursdayand a Friday,birdercoverage ever,Davidhadbeena muchmorepow- still there3 Sep,and 3 Wilson'sand a
of affected areas was moderate. Oberfulstorm(reaching
Category
5 status) Band-rumpedwere seenfrom the Hatserversin the Chesapeake
Bayareawere beforeit struckthe Georgiacoastas a
galvanizedby former regionaleditor Category
1; it madelandfallduringdayHarry Armistead'searly-morningmo- lighthours;anditstracktookit alongthe
bile-phone
reportof twoBrownNoddies BlueRidgemountains,
muchfartherwesl
-I- I-I-at the extremesoutherntip of the Del- than Bertha or Ernesto. Tern counts in
marvaon 2 September--a
daythatmight Davidweremuchhigherthanin Ernesto,
not havegottenmuchbirdingattention particularly
in the Carolinas,
wherehunhadwordnot goneout via the lnternet dredsof Bridledand SootyTernswere
that Sooty Terns were widespread foundon thecoast.Davidalsodisplaced
aroundthe Bay area,in additionto the frigatebirds,
whereas
theonlyonenoted

noddies.
Birders familiar with hurricanes in the

in association

with

En]esto was at Ft.

Johnston,
Charleston,
SC31 Aug(BMc),
regionliken Ernestoto Berthaof 1996, a Magnificent.
(For observers
listedonly
which struckCarolinaBeach,North Car- by initialsherein,pleasereferto the corolina duringthe night 12 July,moved responding
regionalreportin this issue
mostlyovernight
towardChesapeake
Bay, for full names.)

VOLUME

61

(2007)

NUMBER

Figure
2. Track
ofTropical
Storm
Ernesto.
The
storm's
track
roughly
resembles
thatofDavid
of5-6September
1979.
Green
indicates
storm
status
astropical
depression,
yellow
astropical
storm,
redashurricane.
Caphiccourtesy
ofand Unisys,
Inc

11

TROPICAL
STORM-ERNE$O

NAIIONAL

TROPICALSTORM I

WEAtHER SERVICE NA'I1Oht4L HURRICANE CENTER

AND HURRICANE I
FROM ADVISORIES

FORCEWIND SWATHSOF ERNESTO

1 THROUGH :12

hurricanessince 1893, but over half of

these (37) were a result of Bertha of

1996prior toErnesto,
theweakest
of all
the storms that have broughtBlackcappeds
intothestate.Bulwer's
Petrel,reported twice previously in Virginia
(1993, 1996),is notyeton thestatesofficial list (but is confirmed in North Car-

olina, with at least two records),while

SootyShearwater
is unrecorded
in Virginia in Sep. It is remarkablethat the
mostabundantprocellariids
in adjacent
pelagic waters in early Sep--Cory's,
Greater,
AudubonS
Shearwaters--appear
to havebeenlittleaffected
byErnesto,
althoughthe paucityof coastalobservers
(virtuall) no seawatching
occurredon
theAtlanticcoasts. of NewJersey)
surely produced
anincomplete
ilnpression
of
thestormseffects
on largertubenoses.

Jaegers,
skuas,
andlarids
The diversityof stercorariids
andlarids
in the coastal

Figure
3. Extent
ofhurricane(red)
and
tropical-storm-force
(orange)
winds
associated
withTropical
Storm
Ernesto.
Winds
inVirginia
andstates
toe north
never
reaed72kph[45mph]
sustained,
sothestorm
wasclassed
asatropical
depression
asitcrossed
theNorth
Carolina
border
intoVirginia.
Because
winds
associated
withthedepression
were
moderate,
many
birders
assumed
Ernesto
would
entrain
fewbirds
andsodidnotcheck
local
patches
forstorm
refugees.
Graphic
courtesy
ofand theIVational
Oceanic
andAtmoseric
Administration.

teras-Ocracoke
FerD' 4 Sep (RD). In-

abel in Sep 2003). A Band-rumped

land, 3 Wilson's Storm-Petrels were at

Storm-Petrel

was seen well and video-

BuckhornRes.,Wilson,NC 1-2Sep,with tapedat PennWarnerTract,Bucks,

PA2a Leach's
Storm-Petrel
there2 Sep,while 3 Sep(vt., ?DF et al.; Figure6), potenanother Leach's and 11 Wilson's Stormtiallya 2ndaccepted
recordfor thestate:
Petrelswere at JordanL., Chatham,NC a specimen
from the shoreof L. Erie at
2-4 Sep (NathanSwick,WCo, ph. Bill ManchesterBeach,Erie 24 Feb 1998 was
Majoros,m.ob.;Figure4). To then., Vir- not accepted,
but onevideotaped
at Bald
ginia's
storm-petrels
weremostlycoastal: EagleS.P 19-20Sep2003, afterHurrion 2 Sep,the Nansemond
R. in Suffolk, caneIsabel,wasrecentlyaccepted
asthe
VA had 15 WilsonS (CLW; 14 still near statefirst. CoastalNew Jerseyhad rethe GodwinBridge4 Sep);one wason portsof just 7 Wilson'sStorm-Petrels,
2
the PotomacR. at Dyke Marsh,Fairfax, at Seaside
Park(fideVoiceof NewJersev
VMPrinceGeorgek,MD OK); and 50+ Audubon)and 5 at Cape May (MO'B
wereobsen,ed
at C.B.B.T.,Northampton, RC,CJVet al.), both2 Sep.
VA (hereafter, C.B.B.T.; ESB). Farther
Vet)'muchin keepingwithbirders'
exfrom home was a Wilson's Storm-Petrel
pectations,
procellariids
wereveryfewin
on the Susquehanna
R. at Harrisburg, this relativelyweakstorm,with 4 indiDauphin(oppositeFront St./StateSt.) 2 viduals representing four species
Sepand at RoyahonBoatLaunch3 Sep nonetheless
a remarkable
total:a CoryS
(DH)--there arecurrentlyno document- Shearwater was at Buckhorn Res., Wiled records
of thisspecies
for Pennsylva- son,NC i Sep(RD); a Bulwer Petrel
ma. Reportsof Occanoduma
werehigh- (Figure7) and a Black-capped
Petrel
est from C.B.B.T., where 71 Leach's

(Figure 5), 3 Band-rumped, and 8

unidentifiedwere recorded(ph., ?ESB;
RLAk); the number of Leach's is the

highestobsen'edat thislocation(previoushighcountwas20 afterHurricane

Is-

12

mid-Atlantic

is never

greaterthan during hurricanelandfall,

but observers
wereshocked
b) thenumbersof ternsandjaegers
counted
during
andafterthe passage
of Ernesto,
at least
in areas to the n. of the storms landfall

point.Therarestof thisgroupwasanintermediate-morph
SouthPolarSkuaat
Buckhorn
Res.,Wilson,
NC 1 Sep(RD),a
species
reportedonlyoncebeforein the
statesinterior(L. Waccamaw.
duringand
afterHurricane
Diane,13-14Sep1984).
The sightof this greatbird harassing
a
BaldEagle,whichexecuted
"barrelrolls
in attemptsto evadethe skua,"must
havebeenremarkable.
Reports
of single
Pomarine
JaegerscamefromFt. Macon,
NC 1 Sep(NB), the PotomacR. at VioletresLock,MD 2 Sep(DCz, RH et al.),
andC.B.B.T.2 Sep(ESB),but a staggering32 passed
CapeMa%NJ2 Sep(MO'B,
CJV,RC et al.), nearlya recordcount
there. ParasiticJaeger,which usually
outnumbers

Pomarine

In autumn

re-

ports,totaledonly 31 duringand after

the storm,mostof thesefromMaryland
andNewJersey:2 a C.B.B.T.(ESB);12at
TilghmanI., Talbot,MD ORe,LR);oneat
Holland Pt., Calvert/AnneArundel, MD
(TMD); one at EasternNeck N.W.R., MD

(WGE, NLM); onefromOceanCity Inlet,MD (MLH); 10 at CapeMay,NJ2 Sep

were studied off the northernmost island
(MO'B,CJV,RC et al.; 3 therethepreviof the C.B.B.T. (?ESB);and a Sooty ousday[RC]);oneat SouthAmboy,NJ2
Shearwaterwas carefullyidentifiedat Sep(fideVoiceof NewJersey
Audubon);
CollegeCr., JamesCity, VA (BW, BTa, one in Lancaster,
PA 2 Sep(DH); one
TA). Virginiahas recordsof some61 near the Fort Hunter BoatLaunch,below
Black-cappedPetrelsassociated
with YorkHavenDam. Harrisburg,
Dauphin,

NORTH

AMERICAN

BIRDS

TROPICAL
STORMERNESTO

entrainee.
The firstbirdswere
PA 3 Sep (DH); one over the Suseque- champion
reported1 Sepin North Carolinaat the
LongLevel,Ibrk, PA3 Sep(T. Hopson); Wright BrothersMemorial,Kill Devil
andonead.at Conejohela
Flats,Lancast- Hills, Dare (one;JL), Ft. Macon (3; NB,
er, PA 3 Sep (Tom Raub). Three juv. JF), BuckhornRes.,Wilson(2; RD), and
Long-tailedJaegerswere seenat Cape the GoldsboroWT.P (3; ED). Most of the
camefromthe mid-AtMay 2 Sep(MO'B, CJV,RC et al.), one reports,however,
was at Hains Pt., D.C. (PP), and one lanticstates.In Vilginia,8 (7 ads.)were
dark-morphjuv. spent 20 minutesha- seenmovingupriverthroughthe afterCity,VA 1 Sep
rassingBlack Ternsat C.B.B.T.(ESB). noonat CollegeCr.,James
Unidentified
jaegersincludedoneat Hat- (BW;BTa).Thenextday,whenwindshad
teras,NC i Sep (BP); one at C.B.B.T.2 abated to moderate southwesterlies and
Sep (RLAk); 3 at Holland Pt., many observersconsideredthe storm
Calvert/Anne
Arundel,MD 2 Sep(TMD); "over,"thereweremid-Atlantic
reportsof
2 at OceanCity Inlet, MD 2 Sep(MLH); 86 birdsin total:14 at CollegeCr.,James
one imm. at the Fort Hunter
Boat
City,VA (ph.TA,BW,BTa);oneat Shirley
Launch,Dauphin,PA 2 Sep,probablya Plantation,CharlesCity, VA (AB, AD,
Parasitic
(CR, RK, DaveYeany):andone ABr);8 flyingupriverat Violet,esLock,
at SandyHook, NJ 3 Sep(fideVoiceof MD (DCz,RHet al.);onein Arlington,
VA
(JohnFox); one at L. Needwood,MontNewJerseyAudubon).
Likejaegers,
Sabines
Gullsthatappear gomery,MD (HelenPatton);one fi)qng
R.at DykeMarsh,
at interiorsitesduringor aftertropical upriveronthePotomac
stormsmay be entrainedfrom offshore Fairfax,VMPrinceGeorgek,
MD (JK);one
anddisplaced
inlandor simplygrounded flyingdownriveron theYorkR., York,VA
MD (JRe,
by low pressure
duringoverlandmigra- (BW); 12at TilghmanI., Talbot,
tion.An ahernate-plumaged
ad. at Buck- LR): 2 ads.at HainsPt., D.C. (PP,MP); 2
hornRes.,Wilson,
NC 1 Sep(RD,with63
Laughing
Gulls),a juv.at theC.B.B.T.,
VA
2 Sep(ph., *ESB;Figure8), 2 juvs.near
the Philadelphia airport along the
Delaware
R.in Delaware,
PA3 Sep(AG),a
juv.at Ithaca,NY 3 Sep(GlennSeeholzer
et al.;JayMcGowan;
RyanDouglas)--relocatedshortlythereafterat Myers Pt.,
Tompkins,
NY (andfoundindependently;
MikeHarvey,
TomJohnson)--and
ajuv.at
Democrat
Pt.,LongI., NY 3 Sep(SSM,PL)
werelikelystorm-related.
Singles
in thee.
hanna R. (thus in Lancaster)seen from

ads.at ScientistsCliffs,Calvert,MD (SS);

24 ads.at C.B.B.T.
(ph.,*ESB;DCI;Figure
9); one ad. in Norfolk, VA (DCI): 9

around KiptopekeS.E, Northampton

(HTA), plus9 (includingonejuv.) overheadfromthe hawkwatch
platformthere
(RLAn,TT). The next day,one ad. was
founddeadat Alexandria,VA (*, ph.,
*David Bridge;Figure I0). Despitethe
paucityof observers,
this falloutrepresentsthelargest
recorded
forthisspecies
in
the Virginia/Maryland/D.C.
area, larger
even than documented

in Hurricane

Davidof 1979.Onecanonlyimaginehow
manymight havebeenrecordedif the
stormhadstruckon a Saturday/Sunday!
As is frequentlythe casein weaker
storms,fewerSootyTernswerereported
in states to the north: one or 2 at Cone-

johelaFlats,Lancaster,
PA2 Sep(BS,DH
et al.), 3 (2 juvs.) below the Columbia-Wrightsvillebridgein Wrightsville,
)brk,PA2 Sep(CP), onead.at andnear
The

Rocks

between

Columbia

and

Washington
BorofromLancaster,
PA2-3
Sep(CR),andoneRoyal,onBoatLaunch

and cert. Great Lakes around that time

(e.g.,onein Lorain,OH 2 Sep[JP])probablyhadnorelationto thestorm.(Higherthan-usual

numbers
ofjuv.jaegers
andjuv.
SabinesGullswerereportedthroughout
the GreatLakesin SepandOct,probably
indicative
of a productive
nestingseason
in the Arctic.) Largeconcentrations
of
Laughing
Gulls,common
in stronger
hurricanes,were not observedinland outside
of North Carolina, but some numbers

weremovedinto the w. Chesapeake

Bay
tributaries,
theDelaware
R.,Delaware
Bay,
andtheSusquehanna
R.basin.
Although
numbers
of mostternspecies
wereby no meansunprecedentedly
high
in Ernesto,
thediversity
of ternsoverallin
thisstormwasashighasin anytropical
stormon recordin theEast:13 species
of
tern were recorded,aswell as BlackSkim-

mer.SootyTern, paradigmof hurricane Figure4. These

Wilson's
Storm-Petrels
atJordan
Lake,
North
Carolina
were
among
11found
there
24 (here
4)Sepbirds,cut a swathfrom North Carolinato

Connecticut--atypicalspreadfor this

tember
2006
after
Tropical
Stoun
Emesto
passed
totheeast1September
Very
fewWilson's
have
been
satisfactorily
documented
ininterior
North
America.
PhotoIraphs
byBilIMa]oros.

VOLUME

61

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NUMBER

13

iTROPICAL
STORM
ERNESTO

thenextday(AB).Awayfromtheimmediate coast, 3 were at Holland Pt.,

Calvert/Anne
Arundel,MD 2 Sep(TMD),
2 at Patuxent Oxbow k., Anne Arundel,

MD 2 Sep(JaySheppard,
MarciaStutzman), 8 at BuckhornRes., Wilson,NC 1

Sep(RD), and 10 restingon a pierat L.

Waccamaw,
Columbus,
NC 1 Sep(CHe)-thelatteroneof thehigherinlandcounts
for this species in North America.
Umdentified dark-backed terns, either

Bridledor Sooty,included5 at FallsL.,

NC l Sep (WCo, JP), 2 at RiverPark
North,Greenville,NC 1 Sep(JoshSouthern), 3 at Holland Pt., Calvert/Anne
ArunFigure
5.Leaoh's
Storm-Petrels
were
noted
intwolocations
ininterior
North
Carolina
andphotographed
extensively
atthe
Chesapeake
Bay
Bridge-Tunnel,
Virginia
2September
2006
(here),
theday
after
Ernesto
passed
through
thearea.
During
themuch
stronger
Hurricane
Isabel
ofSeptember
2003,
theLeaoh's
observed
inChesapeake
Bay
appeared
tobeexhausted
andworn,
but
all71observed
after
Ernesto
intheBay
seemed
energetic
andinrelatively
fresh
plumage.
Photographs
byEdward
S.Brinkley.

del,MD 2 Sep(TMD), oneat SpruceRun

Res.,Hunterdon,
NJ 2 Sep(MikeHyotis),
and 2 at Hamlin

Beach S.P., near

Rochester,
NY 6 Sep(KG, RSp).Manyof
thesewerethoughtto be SootyTerns.
in Dauphin,PA3 Sep(RK, AM, ]He, Pe- Eesto reportswerecoastal.On 1 Sep.
The timing, track, and strengthof
ter Robinson,Joan Renninger)--all singleswereat Ft. MaconOF) and Hat- Ernesto must have been favorable for enhardly
along the Susquehanna
R. (thus some teras,NC (BP);3 wereseenfi,4ngover trainingBrownNoddy,a species
Rd.,Nothampton,
VA (ESB),with knownn. of North Carolina.On 2 Sep,
duplicationpossible).
Elsewhere
in the Seaside
Northeast, 2 were seen at along the singles
at nearbyTownsend
(JR),C.B.B.T. Virginiasawfourreportsof thespecies:
2
DelawareR., Delaware,PA 2 SepOHo); (Tom Saunders), and Cape Charles werecriticallyidentified
at Sunset
Beach,
an ad. was at JacobRiis Park, Queens, (ESB);and7 werenotedat CapeMa NJ Northampton
(*HTA); at least2 wereat
New YorkCity 2 Sep(IsaacGrant);one (RC, Alan Brad);Karl Lukens).Much C.B.B.T. (?ESB); one was at Town Pt.,
juv. was at DemocratPt., Long I., NY 3 largercounts
weremade2 Sep.including: Suffolk (?CLW); and one was studied
Sep (SSM,PL); and ll flew pastCape 83 (all subads.or moltingads.) at the fromCollegeCr.,JamesCity,VA (?BTa,
May,NJ 2 Sep(3 juvs.;MO'B,CJ RC et C.B.B.T.(ph., ?ESB;Figure12); one at BW). Additionall);5 unidentifiednodal.). Farthest n. of Ernesto'sbirds was a nearbyE.S.V.N.W.R.
(DCI); 7 at College diesat the C.B.B.T.2 Sep(?ESB)includto besmall,slenderof
juv.SootyTernoffShippan
Pt.,Stamford. Cr.,JamesCity, VA (TA, BW,BTa);12 at ed 2 thatappeared
CT 2 Sep(PD).
CapeMay,NJ (MO'B,CJV,RC et al.);and wingandbill, andshowing"neat,white
BridledTern, unlike Sooty,tendsto one at coastalL. Takanassee,Monmouth, pollswith clearlydemarcated
rear borstaymostlyin coastalareasratherthan NJ(FL,ph.AT,SBet al.;Figure11).One ders"--thuspotentiallyBlackNoddies,a
dispersinginland, and indeed most wasseenat Shinnecock
Inlet,SuJfolk,
NY species
unreportedn. of North Carolina

-,q /
,,, /

Figure
6. This
Band-rumped
Storm-Petrel,
potentially
Pennsylvania's
second,
was
Icated
atthePenn
Warner
Tract,
Bucks
County
2(here)
and3September
2006.Photograph
from
videotape
byOevJch
Farbotnik.

Figure
7. Field
sketch
ofBulwer's
Petrel
atChesapeake
Bay
Bridge-Tunnel,
2September
2006.
Records
ofthisspecies
offtheAtlantic
coast
have
increased
rapidly
2004through
2006(eight
records,
asyetunpublished,
offthemid-Atlantic
states
andNorth
Carolina),
almost
alltheresult

ofdeep-water
marine
mammal
andseabird
surveys
conducted
byscientists.
There
areotherwise
only
20reports
ofthespecies
inthewestern
North
Atlantic.
Sketch
byEciward
S.Brinkley.

NORTH

AMERICAN

B RDS

TROPICAL
STORM
ERIVESTO
I

1954); at Block I., RI (3 birds) and Stone

Harbor, NJ (both Hurricane Donna,

1960);andat CapeMay Point,NJ (Hurricane David, 1979).

Ihe intensityof a tropicalstormmight

bejustasaccurately
gauged
fromrecords
of various "white terns" as from those of

the tropicalpelagicspecies.
Evidenceof
Ernestog relative weakness, few white
terns were found inland, and concentra-

tions on the coastwere mostlyunremarkable.At productive

BuckhornRes.,
Wilson,NC I Sep (RD), there were 8
Figure
8. This
juvenile
Sabines
Gull
atChesapeake
Bay
Least,38 Common,16 Forsterg,65 RoyBridge-Tunnel,
Virginia
2September
:}006
wasoneofat
al, and 17 SandwichTerns,plus 2 Black
least
sixdiscovered
after
thepassage
ofErnesto.
Skimmers,the only skimmersreported
Photograph
byEdward
S.Brinkley.
inland, though a few moved into the
and not confirmed in the East n. of FloriJamesR.in Virginia2 Sep(BW,BTa,TA).
da.Thesebirdsweredistantenoughthat Virginiaalsohaddisplaced
LeastTerns,2
certain identification was not tendered.
at Dyke Marsh,Fairfax1 SepOK) and
Ihe absence of noddies in North Carolione at ShirleyPlantation,CharlesCity 2
na and anywheren. of Virginiaseems Sep(AB,AD, ABr). Interiorareasof the
anomalous,
but thebulk of Onychoprionmid-Atlantic had eight reports of
ternswere recordedin the Chesapeake Forster's
Tern1-3 Sep,notably2 at Swift
Bay region--about75% of the Bridled CreekRes.,Chesterfield,
VA (PB); 20 at
Terns and 60% of the SoDties. It stands to
ShirleyPlantation2 Sep(AB,AD, ABr);
reason that the less-common Brown
20 at HainsPt.,D.C. 2 Sep(PP,MP); and
Noddywould be detectedin areasof a few on the PotomacR. at Great Falls,
greatest
concentration
of theotherpelag- Montgomery,MD (RW). Away from
ic terns, as was the case in Hurricane BuckhornRes.,Wilson,NC, RoyalTerns
David of 1979. Storms of moderate to low
werewidelybut unevenlydisplacedinstrength,suchasBerthaof 1996,appear land in most states: North Carolina one
to allow ternsdriveninto the Bayto re- at FallsL. 1 Sep(WCo,JP);Virginiahad
orientback to searatherquickly(e.g., one 1 Sepat Dyke Marsh,FairfaxOK),
fewerarerecorded
at CapeMay,NJ,than one at PossumPt., PrinceWilliam, VA 2
in strongerstorms)and appearto drive SepOK), and2 at theBenjaminHarrison
fewerfartherinland.BrownNoddyhas Bridgenear Hopewell,VA 2 Sep (AD);
been recorded onshore n. of Florida after
Marylandhadoneat Violettes
Lock2 Sep

Figure
10. This
adult
Sooty
Tern
wasfound
dead
at
Alexandria,
Virginia
3September
:}006
after
thepassage
of
Ernesto,
bythenatropical
depression.
Itwastheonly
individual
ofitsspecies
found
dead
after
thestorm's
passage,
though
about
125other
individuals
were
reported
between
North
Carolina
andConnecticut.
Stronger
storms
tend
to
produce
more
records
ofmoribund
anddead
Sooty
lems
andother
pelagic
birds.
Photograph
byDavid
Bridge.

DelawareR.,Delaware
2 SepOHo)andat
GreenPond,Northampton
3 Sep(DW).
Caspian Terns were widely reported,
mostlyin the CoastalPlain. The only
Gull-billedTernswere2 in s. Northampton, VA 31 Aug, perhapsnot relatedto
Ernesto(ESB), and singles near the
Philadelphia
airport,alongthe Delaware
R., Delaware,PA OHo) and at Forsyth
N.W.R.,Atlantic,NJ 3 Sep(fideVoiceof
NewJerseyAudubon),whichalmostcertainlywerestorm-driven.
A juv. Roseate
Ternat CapeMay (RC, MO'B,CJV)and
12 Roseares
at SandyHook, NJ, both 2
Sep(fideVoiceof NewJerseyAudubon),
werethe onlyonesreported.
Ternnumberswereclearlyelevatedon
14 hurricanes since 1926 (50 birds in to(DCz); the District of Columbia had one the Chesapeake
Bay,and severallocatal),but onlyfourtimesn. of Virginia:at at HainsPt. 2 Sep(RH, LisaShannon); tionssawlargestormroostsand [locks
MarthagVineyard,MA (HurricaneCam/, and Pennsylvania
had singlesalongthe totaling1000+ CommonTerns,e.g., at
CapeCharles1 Sep(JRet al., ESB)and
CapeMay 2 Sep(RC, MO'B,CJVet al.).
(For comparative
context,CapeCharles
also had 288 Royal, 21 Caspian,380
Forsterg, 11 Least, and 28 Black Skim-

mers; Cape May had 150 Royal, 300

Forster's,10 Least,and 40 skimmers.) A
few Common

Ierns

were

also noted

away from the coast,whererarer,e.g.,

one at L. Anna, Louisa 1 Sep (John
Bazuin)and 2 at HainsPt., D.C. 2 Sep
(PR MP). Ihe largeCapeCharlesroost
containedup to 2 ad. ArcticTerns1 Sep
(ESB,JR et al.), a speciesalsoseenat
Cape May, NY 2 Sep (juv.; RC, MO'B,
CJVet al.) andalongthe DelawareR. in
Pennsylvania
bothin Delaware(7 birds;
JHo)andin Bucks(one;DF), both2 Sep.
Figure
9. These
adult
Sooty
Terns
were
among
14adults
atChesapeake
Bay
Bridge-Tunnel,
Virginia
1September
1006.
JuvenileSooty
Terns
were
much
scarcer
inErnesto
than
inother
tropical
systems
thathave
taken
similar
tracks
atthis
timeofyear;
only
eight
(6%)were
specifically
reported
Photographs
byEdwardS.
Brinkley.

VOLUME

61

(2007)

NUMBER

Sandwich Tern numbers were moderate,

and all were found on the coast: 130

15

ITROPICAL
STORM
E1VESTO

(TA, BW, BTa), 24 at Holland Pt.,

Calvert/AnneArundel, MD (TMD), 12 at

TilghmanI., Talbot,MD (JanReese,Les

Roslund) and the same number at Eastern Neck N.W.R., Kent,MD (Walter Elli-

son,NancyMartin),97 at C.B.B.T.(ESB;
RLAk), and 25 at Irish Grove, Somerset,

MD (Paul Bystrak,Sue Ricciardi,Dotty

Mumford). Like most other terns, Black

Ternsdeparted
themid-Atlantic
arearapidly,withonlytworeportsof thespecies
3 Sepand one4 Sep.Pennsylvania
and
New Jerseyhad dozensof reportsof
BlackTern,mostof thecountsslightlyto
wellabovenormal,with highercountsof
26 at Penn Warner Tract and 22 at Bris-

tol, bothin Bucks,PA 2 Sep(DF); 33 at

Palmyra
Cove,NJ2 Sep(fideAH);and79 at Spruce
RunRes.,Hunterdon,
NJ2-3
Figure
11.This
adult
Bridled
Tern
atLake
Takanassee,
New
Jersey
was
one
of136reported
outofrange
asaresult
ofErnesto,Sep(Mike Hyotis).At CapeHenlopen,
DE,70 on3 Sep(ES)wasa highnumber
spanning
from
thearea
oflandfall
insouthern
North
Carolina
toLong
Island,
New
York.
Remarkably,
this
bird,
and
another
in
Hatteras,
North
Carolina
1Sepetmber,
were
theonly
clean
adult
Bridled
Terns
documented
anywhere
asaresult
ofErnesto;
all
others
appeared
tobemolting
orsubadult
birds,
andnojuveniles
were
reported.
Photograph
byAlex
Tongas.

were seen flying southwardat Cape

Charles1 Sep,butonly25 at C.B.B.T.
the
next day (ESB),while4 at CollegeCr.,
James
City,VA 2 Sepfurnished
just the
4th localrecordof thespecies
(BW,TA,
BTa).Singlesnearthe Philadelphia
airportalongtheDelaware
R.,Delaware,
PA
2 SepOHo) andat CapeMay,NJ the
sameday (RC, MO'B, CJVet al.) were
the northernmost.

Etestoclearlyhit BlackTernsat the

peakof theirmigration.
In Florida,6800
were found concentrated at Santa Rosa 1

31 Aug (BD,LD). At least400 in a storm

roost on the groundsof the Wright
BrothersMemorial, Kill Devil Hills, Dae,

NC 1 Sep(}L)andhundreds
atFt. Macon

for recent seasons;on the other side of

Delaware
Bay,CapeMayseawatchers
had
tallied20 BlackTerns2 Sepand 4 the
(NB,JF) werecertainlyindicativeof dis- previous
day(RC,MO'B,CJVet al.).
placement;
inlandin thatstate,40 were
at FallsL. (WCo,JP et al.), 50+ at Golds- Shorebirds
boro (ED), and 101 at Buckhorn Res.. A! leas!29 speciesof shorebird
were
ashavingbeenaffected
by the
Wilson(RD), all i Sep.In Virginia,at mentioned
least712 weretallied,the highestsuch storm;mostof theseare treatedin the recount since about 1967, and Black Tern spectiveregionalreports.Asidefrom
andRedPhalaropes,
mostof
was in fact the mostwidespread
tern Red-necked
species
reported:
323werereported
from theseappearto haveinvolveddowned
disfour Virginialocationsl Sep,including migrantsrather than long-distance
123+at CollegeCr.,Jamcs
City,VA (BW, placements--one
exceptionbeing an
BTa),170+at CapeCharles(ESB,JR et American Oystercatcher along the
al.), and 25 at L. Anna, Louisa0B). On 2 DelawareR. in Philadelphia,
PA 3 Sep
Sep,383werereported
from20 locations OHo,vt. DF; Figure13). Anotheroysteracross
e. Virginia,Maryland,andtheDis- catcherat CollegeCr.,JamesCity, VA 2
trict of Columbia (m.ob.), with notable Sep(TA, BV,BTa)furnished
just a 5th
counts175at CollegeCr.,James
City,VA local record. Three Willets at Buckhorn
Res.,Wilson,NC 1 Sep(RD) weremost
likel) inorrata,
eitherdisplaced
fromthe

Figure
13. This
American
Oystercatcher,
Pennsylvania's
fourth,
was
located
atalong
theDelaware
River
inPhiladelFigure
12.Allofthe83orsoBridled
Terns
identified
atChesapeake
Bay
Bridge-Tunnel,
Virginia
2September
2006
(here)
ap- phia
3September
2006;
itwasbest
seen
from
Ferry
Road
in
peared
tobesubadults
orpotentially
molting
adults
which
have
rather"messy"-Iooking
head
patterns
andmottled
brownish Camden,
New
Jersey.
Photograph
from
videotape
byDevich
Farbotnik.
backs
incontrast
tothenatty
black/white
appearance
ofadult
Sooty
Terns.
Photographs
byEdwardS.
Brinkley.

16

NORTH AMERICAN

BIRDS

TROPICAL
STORM
EtIVESTOJ

lumbia into e. Canada had

SepOHo);19 in Bucks,
PA2 Sep(DF); 8
Power& Light Martins
beenunderwayfor several at Pennsylvania
days.At CapeMay, where Creek plant, Northampton,PA 2 Sep
the only all-day seawatch (RW); and 8 at Prime Hook N.W.R., Susoccurred, shorebird num- sex, DE 2 Sep (ES). A flock of 20
bers of smallersandpipers phalaropesat Eastern Neck N.W.R.,
were clearlyelevated,e.g., Kent,MD (WGE, NLM) was almostcer800 Sanderlings,
200 Least tainly comprised(at least mostly) of
Additionally,
all on 2 Sep,
Sandpipers,
50 Semipalmat- Red-neckeds.
of4 atHollandPt.,
ed Sandpipers, plus 5 Marylandhadreports
White-rumped,oneBaird's, AnneArundel (TMD); 3 on the Potomac
6 Stilt, and 3 PectoralSand- R. at Violetres
Lock,Montgomery
(DCz);
pipers 2 Sep (MO'B, CJV, and one at Trout Run W.T.P, Garrett
RC et al.).
(JBC,MH, JLSet al.); and Virginiahad
Red-necked Phalarope onein Clarke(ph.JL,BJL),2 at Huntley
Figure
14.Three
Red-necked
Phalaropes
atChesapeake
Bay
Bridge-Tunnel,migrationbeginsasearlyas Meadows,Fairfax (JK), one alongArmid-Jun in the Northeast lingtonRd., Northampton
(KarenBeatVirginia
2September
2006
(here)
were
among
atleast
569reported
along
but peaks in the mid-At- ty), and 3 at C.B.B.T(ph. ESB;Figure
Ernesto's
track.
Photo9raphs
byEdword
S.Brinley
R.
lantic much later, in Sep, 14). One was on the Susquehanna
werelo- near the MarysvilleBoatLaunch,PA 3
coastor groundedwhilemigrating.Sin- andmanycountsof thisspecies
gleAmerican
Avocets
whererarewereat callynoteworthy:262 at CapeMay 2 Sep Sep (RK, Andrew Markel, JHe, Peter
JoanRenninger),
andabout8
FallsL., NC 2 Sep(fideGT) andC.B.B.T., (MO'B, RC, CJV et al.); 20 at Fort Robinson,
VA the sameday (ph. ESB).Especially Hunter Boat Launch, Harrisburg, were recordedon the New Jerseycoast
worthyof mentionis the flock of 30 Dauphin,PA 3 Sep(DH; 3 there2 Sep betweenSand),Hook and L. Takanassee
HudsontanGodwitsseenfrom Lancaster, [CR, RK, DaveYeany]);13 at Forsyth 2-3 Sep(m.ob.).RedPhalarope,
always
of the twopelagicPhalaropus
PA betweenColumbiaand Washington N.W.R.,Atlantic,NJ 2 Sep(fideVoiceof the scarcer
Boroin the morningof 2 Sep(CP); a New JerseyAudubon); 16 at Shirley in the context of hurricanes,numbered
flock this size had not been seen in PennPlantation,CharlesCity, VA (AB, AD, 10 at alongthe DelawareR., Delaware,
sylvaniain decades.
Largegroupswere ABr,5 There3-4 Sep);122 at Buckhorn PA2 SepOHo),3 alongthesameriverin
alsonoted during and after the storm Res.,Wilson,NC 1 Sep (RD); 8 at the Bucks,PA 2 Sep (DF), 3 at Buckhorn
NC W.T.Pl Sep(ED); 49 at Res.,Wilson,NC 1 Sep(RD), andoneat
fromNewJerseyto Virginia,but a good Goldsboro,
VA 1 Sep(ESB).
flightextending
fromtheDistrictof Co- alongthe DelawareR., Delaware,PA 2 CapeCharles,

i3irders'

Exchange

IXprogramAmcrcanBrdmg
' Americas

bpetersenaba.org - 4945 N. 30th Street, Suite 200, Colorado Springs, CO 80919 ~ www,americanbirding.orglbex
VOLUME

61

(2007)

NUMBER

17