Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 04:06:40 -0700 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Greg Miller Subject: Black Rail - no (7/15) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Howdy All! Went for Black Rail again this weekend (Sat. night - 7/15)--would be a life bird for my uncle Jim from Ohio and his son, Kent, also a birder, had seen it 20 yrs ago. J.B. Churchill was along and I was looking forward to building up my July month list with Black Rail. I have looked for Black Rail in several states in every month of the year (except Nov & Feb). I have only been successful, though, in April through June, with easiest hits during May. We all met at the Shell station in Vienna at 7pm. Just south of town, we found a Blue Grosbeak perched up and singing nicely for all to see. Then off to the right, a sharp, 2-note call sounded very much like Henslow's Sparrow. We stopped and waited and soon found a Grasshopper Sparrow in the bushes close to the road. I've never heard them do anything close to Henslow's in a call...but this one was... Below Henry's Crossroads at the first red metal gate (on the right) is an open area with dead snags. Found Yellow-breasted Chat, Brown-headed Nuthatch, and Red-headed Woodpecker along with other more common birds. We broke out into the swamp and came to the first sharp turn to the left. An open water area is off to the right. We found 3 adult Black-necked Stilts and 3 juveniles--still with awkward and gangly looking with downy feathers. Water was a little high for other shorebirds and my target Stilt Sandpipers went unfound. On down to the first mustard-colored house on the left we began passing suitable Black Rail habitat with a little daylight to spare. We pulled off the road on the dirt pullout at the little boat ramp on the right, about 1/2 mile south of the aforementioned house. Bugs were pretty bad at this time of evening. We swatted our way down to a large, short-grass area on the left side of the road and started watching sparrows. It was thick with Seaside Sparrows absolutely everywhere you put your binoculars. Finally, we found our first of several Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrows. Everyone eventually got good views. Very satisfying. The sun was setting as we pulled away and meandered south to the town of Elliott Island. Nada at the boat ramp. Driving back through town, we stopped in the road to hear several Chuck-wills Widows. We pulled off and got out to listen. They were close. Suddenly one flew right overhead. Then a second one...not to be outdone, a loud hiss announced the arrival of a Barn Owl. Ahh. Miller Luck. Life is good. We drove back north to the area between the two abandoned, mustard-colored houses. Since thunderstorms were not far off, we decided to make an early attempt at Black Rail. I was armed with 10-minute sequence of Kick-a-doo calls, but lacked the famous Hal Wieranga growling calls. Still, I was optimistic. We stopped at several places, listened, and played the tape. Almost nothing. Almost? Well...on three separate occasions at three different locations we had Barn Owl buzz the tape box!!! Uh-oh. I haven't witnessed this before. This can't be good for Black Rails. Anybody done any studies on Barn Owl predation of Black Rails? Sadly, the night was void of Black Rail calls, growls, grunts...nuthin. Rats...have to wait for the next trip to the swamp. :-) The moon was near full and Barn Owls were calling all through the swamp. I missed them 3 wks ago. A single Least Bittern was giving a mechanical, too-too-too call in the distance. Marsh Wrens would occasionally break the silence. And several spots along the road were rife with Green Tree Frogs...deafening. Early Sunday morning (7/16), we hit Skimmer Island early. One Least Sandpiper. No Sandwich Tern. Tons of pelicans and other usuals. By my calculations, we hit it close to low tide. We headed down to Eagles Nest Campground, got permission to bird, and made straight for the dock. I was immediately disappointed not to see ANY sandbars visible. Yikes! Had the rain affected the water level here this much? I scanned the far shore and found distant shorebirds--dowitchers, Black-bellied Plovers, a Ruddy Turnstone, and half a dozen Piping Plovers. It was a disappointing life view of the plovers for Jim. We made a quick pitstop along Red House Rd where it crosses Nassawango Creek and ticked Prothonotary Warbler for J.B. We continued birding west into Somerset County, to Deal Island. I was hoping for some shorebirds, but again, was dismayed at the high water levels. We found more Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrows along both Green Dumpster Rd and Riley Roberts Rd. Tricolored Herons were there in good numbers, too, and we were treated to a Virginia Rail fluttering across Green Dumpster Rd at close range. We ended the day around 2pm with an unofficial total of 111 sp for the Lower Eastern Shore. The drive back home in the rain was long, boring, and uneventful. And, of course, my 25th trip across the bridge at Solomons in southern Calvert county produce ZERO Rock Doves again...aargh...the saga continues... -Greg Miller Hollywood, MD __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get Yahoo! Mail =96 Free email you can access from anywhere! http://mail.yahoo.com/ ========================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ========================================================================= ===========================================================================