Anna Urciolo and I had an enjoyable day birding on the Eastern shore
Saturday.
We started in Caroline county at Tuckahoe State Park, and virtually the
first bird of our first stop was a juvenile COMMON GALLINULE in the
marshy area in the back of Tuckahoe Lake. This is the first eBird record
for the species at that location. The bird also delighted us by swimming
from the Caroline to the Queen Anne's side of the lake while we were
watching it, providing multiple county ticks from one observation.
Our next stop was Adkins Arboretum and migration activity was noticeable
right around the parking lot. The rest of the Arboretum was not quite so
busy though, but we were pleased to net seven species of warblers
including a first year TENNESSEE WARBLER, and a YELLOW-THROATED VIREO. A
stop at Tanyard Marsh produced plenty of mud flats but few shorebirds,
the only ones noted being a small flock of Least Sandpipers.
We then proceeded to our first visit ever to Taylor's Island in
Dorchester county. We arrived in the early afternoon not knowing that
Messrs. Armistead, Brighton, and Small had birded the area intensively
for seven hours prior to our arrival. We were well pleased with what we
found�several spots seemed loaded with warblers and nuthatches. While
the 13 species of warblers we found in two hours fell short of the 18 of
the morning shift, we did add two additional warbler species: one
BLUE-WINGED WARBLER and two TENNESSEE WARBLERS, making 20 species of
warbler combined for the two groups for the day.
We ended the day on the Bay in Wicomico Co., and had a BLUE-HEADED VIREO
and EASTERN SCREECH-OWL at Roaring Pt., together with 145+ ROYAL TERNS
at Cedar Hill Marina.
Good Birding!
Jim Moore
Rockville, MD
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