I had a pretty remarkable day at Schoolhouse Pond today, with great walks before work and at lunchtime. Like other local ponds, the rate of migration has really picked up the last few weeks. The last three days, a Snowy Egret has been foraging in the shallows at the rear of the pond. I've gotten great views of the bird from the rear observation platform each day. Snowy Egrets are extremely rare at the pond, so I'm somewhat surprised that this one has hung around for awhile. It was present in the morning today, but I didn't see it at lunchtime.
I've had a nice assortment of shorebirds in recent days as well. Not big numbers, but there has been a good variety on the mudflats at the rear of the pond. At lunchtime I had a Pectoral Sandpiper near the rear observation platform. These birds also don't turn up at the pond too often. Also present were two Greater Yellowlegs and one Least Sandpiper. Other shorebirds seen in recent days include Lesser Yellowlegs, Solitary Sandpiper, Killdeer, several Spotted Sandpipers, and a few snipe (although most of the larger flock from winter has moved on).
Finally, in the 13+ years I've been trying to watch all the flyover gulls passing over the pond on their way to the landfill in the morning, I've never had a morning like today, at least as far as sheer numbers go. The gulls tend to pass overhead in large numbers on many mornings at the same time that I walk, but today had really impressive numbers. Nothing too unusual, but really big numbers. Herring Gulls flew over continuously during my 45 minute walk, sometimes solitary birds, but often in groups of 10 or 20. Most of the Herring Gulls were 1st or 2nd cycle birds. The Laughing Gulls passed through in even greater numbers, usually in flocks of 30 or 40, but with several noisy groups of 100+ birds passing overhead. Ring-billed Gulls were surprisingly scarce. Total numbers included 1,474 Laughing Gulls, 324 Herring Gulls, 8 Ring-billed Gulls, and 7 Great Black-backed Gulls. Unfortunately, I saw no Bonaparte's Gulls today, but I had 6 on Monday. Just for perspective, I think that I had 350 or so flyover gulls yesterday. Today's numbers were the biggest I can recall during a morning walk, and the light and visibility was great, which helped with identification. It also didn't hurt that most of the gulls passed low and almost directly over the pond. Good birding.
Fred Shaffer
<GlaucousGull...>
Crofton, Anne Arundel
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