Date: 10/8/12 5:27 pm
From: Matt Hafner <hafner.matt...>
Subject: [MDBirding] Fwd: Worcester highlights



Oops, sent too early!
>
> I birded Assateague and Ocean City today hoping to take advantage of the recently passed cold front.
>
> I birded Bayside Point and Bayside campground with Scott Housten and Jared and Victoria Fisher. Mark Rodriguez was also around and he may have seen some different birds.
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> Overall, the morning flight wasn't what I hoped for, but there were decent numbers of Myrtles and Red-breasted Nuthatches moving. Nuthatches were all over the island along with Golden-crowned Kinglets and Brown Creepers.
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> Returning to our cars at Bayside Point, Scott and I found a Bay-breasted Warbler in the cedars and while we were looking at that, a Sandhill Crane flew over heading south! I had already put my scope away and we didn't see it until it had already passed us, but I was able to get one digibin photo. I think it's identifiable :)
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> Scott and I walked up Shell Rd to the beach and had a single Piping Plover and a subadult Lesser Black-backed Gull.
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> I then made my way to Ocean City stopping at the Bayside Development Pond. The wigeon flock stands at 24 birds, but no Eurasian yet.
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> In Ocean City, I missed the parking spots for Sunset Park and parked in the lot for the Oceanic Motel. After birding the park, which had several sparrows, a Western Palm, House Wren, and a Creeper, I walked back to my car and flushed a Clay-colored Sparrow from a cedar. The sparrow flew to the lot across the street and I walked over there and found a Winter Wren and some Golden-crowned Kinglets. Given the birds in the area I decided to do a loop around the motel. I found a yard with a Phoebe, a Yellowthroat, many kinglets, 2 Parulas, a late Yellow Warbler, and a Least Flycatcher (that confused me for some time). The Clay-colored Sparrow also came into this yard several times. The Fishers joined me to try and get photos of the flycatcher and Victoria got several nice ones.

On my way home, I stopped at 94th St woods and found it full of sparrows, mostly White-throats, but also Songs, Swamps, a Field, a White-crowned, and an Indigo Bunting.

Great day out!

Matt Hafner
Forest Hill, MD

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