Date: Sat, 5 Aug 2000 17:35:15 -0700 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Greg Miller Subject: BLACK TERNS in St Marys Co (8/5) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Howdy All! Highlight: BLACK TERN (2 birds) on trip out to Smith Island today, August 5, 2000. J.B. Churchill and I started out near Benedict in Charles County this morning. Fall must be right around the corner. I found a first year female Magnolia Warbler. We also had a Prairie Warbler, a Scarlet Tanager, and several Orchard Orioles, as well as Red-eyed and White-eyed Vireos, Yellow-breasted Chat, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and Sharp-shinned Hawk. Blue Grosbeaks and Indigo Buntings were everywhere. We then hasted down to Pt Lookout and met Marty Cribb and took the cruise out to Smith Island. This was my first Smith Island trip in August. Of note on the trip out were two large groups of sterna terns (mostly Common, but a few Forster's). The first flock of 50-60 birds about 2 miles off Pt Lookout contained two BLACK TERNs, almost completely molted into basic plumage. Another flock of 100+ sterna sp was too distant to ID. New birds for my own Smith Island list included the following: Sanderling - 6 Semipalmated Sandpiper - 2 Least Sandpiper - 1 Semipalmated Plover - 12 Eastern Kingbird - 1 Solitary Sandpiper - 1 Caspian Tern - 2 Clapper Rail - 1 Brown-headed Cowbird - 6 Rock Dove - 5 N Rough-winged Swallow - 1 Cattle Egret - 1 Forster's Tern - 2 Some of the other regulars on Smith Island: Snowy Egret - 10 Great Egret - 32 Little Blue Heron - 58 Tricolored Heron - 29 Great Blue Heron - 11 Cattle Egret - 1 Yellow-crowned Night-heron - 10 (8 ad; 2 im) Black-crowned Night-heron - 2 Brown Pelican - 7 Also seen in Somerset waters were 1 WILSON'S STORM-PETREL and 1 dowitcher sp. Long Neck Rd just north of Pt Lookout was good as always with typical field birds, but lacked shorebirds. But, with a field of cattle was the largest group of CATTLE EGRETS I have witnessed at one time in Maryland...44 birds! To top off this day, I was greeted by a PEREGRINE FALCON when I pulled into my driveway. When I pulled up to the house, J.B. spotted a BARRED OWL which melted into the wooded ravine. Unfortunately, I missed this bird...one that even MY NEIGHBORS have seen IN MY YARD...aargh. Anyways, a nice day out. Now...I wonder what I missed at Hart-Miller Island. Too bad I can't be two places at once! -Greg Miller Hollywood, MD __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Kick off your party with Yahoo! Invites. http://invites.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 ========================================================================== ==========================================================================