Hi all,
I birded around the Eastern Shore on Saturday starting at Skimmer Island
where the highlights were two SANDWICH TERNs loafing with the many ROYALs,
COMMONs, and LEASTs, there was also a single RED KNOT. I then headed to
the inlet where the highlight was a flock of 29 WILSON'S STORM-PETRELs,
some of which actually made it into the inlet itself, a flyby BLACK SCOTER
was also seen. I tried to locate the ibis flock at Newport Bay, but was
unsuccessful, this was the third time I have tried only to find large scale
mowing going on, maybe next time! At Truitt's Landing the KING RAIL was
calling as I pulled up, there were decent numbers of FORSTER'S TERNs, but
no other unusual species mixed in, at the end of the road there were at
least three SALTMARSH SPARROWs, two of which were singing. At North
Vaughn, a/the DICKCISSEL has returned, its odd song sounded the same as it
did last year, and it was singing from a patch of corn which last year was
an overgrown sunflower patch and a preferred location for the bird. There
were 4 young HOODED MERGANSERs in the first pond from the parking area, a
real highlight for me since it was the first time I have seen evidence of
breeding in Worcester (though others have confirmed them here in the
past). I birded Deal Island finding no real surprises, though it is always
nice to see and hear multiple BLACK-NECKED STILTs, there as also a single
female NORTHERN HARRIER. Hurlock held an impressive number of swallows,
mostly TREE SWALLOWs with lesser numbers of BANK, BARN, NORTHERN
ROUGH-WINGED, and PURPLE MARTINs.
Yesterday I ran the Forest Grove BBS Route which starts outside of La
Plata, where a few highlights were two AMERICAN BLACK DUCKs flying over a
suburban neighborhood, a YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT which did a dead on
impression of the "whit" call of a Willow Flycatcher, and 3 KENTUCKY
WARBLERs. A lowlight was seeing a housing development in place of an old
field where in years past, I regularly heard Northern Bobwhite and other
scrubland birds.
Good Birding!
Mikey
Mikey Lutmerding
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeycerw/
Croom, MD
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