Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2000 16:26:23 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Stan Arnold Subject: Sandwich Tern, Piping Plover, Sharp-tailed Sparrow etc. (longish) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi Folks, Following Marshall's recent post on some tough-to-get MD birds, I decided to spend this (Sunday) morning trying to pad my Maryland life list, before the heat became too intense. I wanted to join Leslie on Friday, since her targets and mine were about the same, but I still had to go to work that day. Anyway, I had just added three state birds to my list with yesterday's pelagic out of Lewes (Manx Shearwater, Pom. Jaeger and Parasitic Jaeger), and set out this morning with targets of skimmer, Sandwich Tern, Piping Plover, and White-faced Ibis. Having an intense dislike for almost anything urban, I cringed at the thought of getting anywhere near Ocean City on a summer weekend morning. So my plan of attack was to leave my motel in Lewes at 4 a.m., and be at the US 50 bridge out of Ocean City before sunrise. The plan worked! I drove down Rt 1 the entire length of Ocean City, through ALL 50 STOPLIGHTS (and only hit ONE red!!!), briefly did a short tour of the inlet, where one now has to pay to park (except for the first 30 minutes), and then had my scope set up in the middle of the US 50 bridge before the sun rose. The following were seen: Tricolored Heron--2 Black-bellied Plover--2 Am. Oystercatcher--25 (est.) Ruddy Turnstone--2 Red Knot--3 Royal Tern--200 (est.) SANDWICH TERN--2 (both seen with a dozen or so Royals, on the left near lobe of the island, as viewed from the bridge; the yellow tip to the bill was not visible at that range, but the dark bill and crested black cap [with "bald" spot on top] were diagnostic) MYSTERY TERN--3 small terns with dark bills and white foreheads. They looked like least terns with dark bills. I could not see leg color. They looked like the picture of the 1st summer Roseate Tern or first summer Common Tern in the NGS 3rd edition, but I got the impression that they were smaller than the nearby Forster's Terns. Could these have been Black Terns still in winter plumage? Perhaps just wishful thinking. BLACK SKIMMER--56 counted Next stop was Eagle's Nest Campground, where I checked in at about 6 a.m. It was a good time to be there, as human activity was low. I pulled up to the dock, set up the scope and began scanning. I scanned the entire length of Assateague Island that was visible. Nada, except for a BROWN-HEADED NUTHATCH that flew in behind me, serenading me with its little squeaks. I scanned again. Paydirt. When the scope was pointed almost straight out from the dock, I came across the pale plover with the partial ring around its neck. The PIPING PLOVER was on a muddy part of the beach, next to a Willet. I was now three for three on the target list. Next stop, Vaughan WMA near Girdletree. Just before turning off the paved road into the refuge, I saw two dark Ibis in the garden of the house on the corner. Both were Glossies. I entered the refuge, parked, and walked back to the ponds. I was immediately greeted by a familiar chatter: Gull-billed Tern. I checked out the few ibis: all glossies. Birds seen (all except for one ibis at the far [eastern] pond): Tricolored Heron--2 Black-crowned Night Heron--1 Glossy Ibis--4 Greater Yellowlegs--1 Semipalmated Sandpiper--5 GULL-BILLED TERN--4 Wondering if the White-faced Ibis would be with other ibi elsewhere, I decided to take a trip down Truitt's Landing Road, just in case. Once on the dirt portion of the road, I passed three BLUE GROSBEAKS, and heard the familiar "picky-tucky-tuck" of a SUMMER TANAGER, which I later saw. I drove to the end, turned around, then parked along the road in the middle of the marsh. There may have been 100 ibis hiding in the marsh grass, but one would never know. I only saw 8 or 10 as they jumped up singly or in pairs, and did short flights from one hidden location to another. Sigh. They were all glossies, but for someone with lots of time, it seems like a good place to be looking for the White-face, where it was found last year. I heard some seaside sparrows singing. For grins, I decided to scope them. Though listening to a Seaside singing, that is not the bird that my scope first found. This bird had a nice orange facial pattern. Yeah! The consolation prize--a SALT-MARSH SHARP-TAILED SPARROW, another state bird for me. Fabulous views, too. I had two separate looks of one or possibly two different Sharp-tailed sparrows. So I ended up with four state birds for the day, making seven for the weekend. No lifers, but it sure is nice having a state list to work on. Haven't hit 300 yet, but getting close! Stan Arnold Glen Burnie blkrail@gateway.net ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================