Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2000 06:46:12 EST Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Mark Hoffman Subject: Worcester County-3/22/2000 Comments: cc: voice@capaccess.org MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Amy and I ventured to Worcester County on Wednesday, March 22. The ostensible purpose was to break Worcester's arrival record for Yellow-throated Warbler (03/23). Rain and strong winds made birding difficult. Apparently they have also received a lot more rain down there. Blades Road/Nassawango Creek Area (Millville Rd., Old Furnace Rd., etc.) Very limited land bird activity due to rain, cold temperatures and high wind. A mere 6 Pine Warblers - possible to get 40-60 in a morning with n= ice weather in late-March. No early arrivals. Flooded fields As usual, heavy rain turns most of Worcester County into gull, shorebird = and ibis habitat (although we did not see any ibis). Checking these fields i= s great fun, particularly on a rainy day. In late-March, rarities like Ruf= f, American Golden Plover, Common Teal or White-faced Ibis might be hoped fo= r ... Field checked included: Public Landing Pond (a small pond/field complete, about 0.5 miles west of Public Landing). Herring Gull - 450, Ring-billed Gull -150, G. Black-backed Gull - 10, Laughing Gull -1 Figgs Landing (traditionally the best shorebird spot on the bayside durin= g high water events. It is located directly across from the Fox Hill Level= s on Assateague, and I believe birds flooded off the levels go over to Figg= s. The best field is at the southeastern intersection of Figgs Landing Road = and Bayside Road, south of Public Landing.) Black-bellied Plover - 80 Dunlin - 600 WESTERN SANDPIPER - 1 (w/out ATH. Although not seemingly a great rarity, checking the Yellowbook and my own Worcester data base, there appears to = be only 1-2 prior March record for the state [help me out here Bob]. My WC record is for 3/11/95, 3 on the OC/23rd St. Flats [Hoffman and Thornton] Unpub. Obs.). PURPLE SANDPIPER - 1 (this bird was feeding in the agricultural field wit= h the flock of Dunlin. At first I thought it must be a melanistic Dunlin, b= ut it showed all the characteristics of a regular purple piper. Strange indeed. I have seen Red Knots is this field as well, another species not known for its love of dirt.) Rt. 12 and Cherrix Road Fields (traditionally another good area, the bes= t spot is usually on the east side of 12, south of Cherrix. Today it was about 0.6 miles south of the intersection, on the west side of 12). Herring Gull - 600, Ring-billed Gull -1200, G. Black-backed Gull - 2, Lesser Black-backed Gull - 1 (nice adult in alternate plumage), Laughing Gull -3 Vaughn Pond (off of Taylor's Landing Road) Good mixture of puddle ducks, small numbers (15 Gadwalls, 5 blacks, 10 Mallards, 3 Blue-winged Teal, 2 shovelers, 15 Green-winged Teal [no commons]). West OC Pond Great Egret - 2, Mute Swan - 1 (imm.), Gadwall - 60, N. Shoveler - 40, Canvasback - 40, Lesser Scaup - 80, Ruddy Duck - 4 OC/Inlet The viewing conditions were terrible, but ... Harlequin Duck - 3 LITTLE GULL - 3 (ad.) Bonaparte's Gull - 80 Sam Dyke was also there and he said he thought there might be as many as = 5 littles. The first he has seen there this year. Great Little/Bony ratio= ! MD bird # 298 for Amy. Regards, Mark Hoffman Mhoff36100@aol.com ========================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ========================================================================= ===========================================================================