Date: Sun, 27 Aug 2000 23:19:54 EDT Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Marshall Iliff Subject: Buff-brstd Sand etc. Queen Anne's/Caroline County birds (Sunday) Comments: cc: voice@capaccess.org MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit MDOsprey, Jim Stasz and I combed the Upper Eastern shore counties of Queen Anne's and Caroline today, Sunday, 27 August. We spent most of our time working on migrant warblers, flycatchers, vireos etc. and lucked into a few nice things in the process. I'm sure some Ospreyers will be interested in the juvenile BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER at John Brown Rd. Turf Farm this afternoon. We began our day at Terrapin Pt. Park (take Exit 37 off Rte. 50/301, 1st left, 1st right, 1st left - about 0.25 mi on right) along the Bay shore just north of the Bay Bridge. Arriving before dawn we missed none of the activity, but that which we caught was minimal. In the course of 3.5 hours of birding highlights were: 2 Black-thrtd Green, 1 Magnolia, and 5 Yellow Warblers, 3 Ovenbirds, 2 Least Flycatchers, 2 Black-bellied Plovers, 14 Eastern Kingbirds (migration evident, these won't be around much longer). Jim and I split up briefly and he promptly found the two best birds: a Wilson's Warbler (which I missed) and a WHITE-THROATED SPARROW (which I saw). The sparrow is amazingly early for a presumed fall migrant. ** Note: Those that have not visited Terrapin Pt. Park recently may be pleased to know that an extensive network of trails has been put in. The oyster-shell trails lead south down the beach to the array of fields (with several ponds) which is visible on the north side of Rte. 50/301 just before the bridge. This has always been my favorite area to bird in the park, although the ownership and legality of birding there was somewhat in question. it appears that this is all park property and the trails now encircle these fields and provide good views of these ponds. In the course of relatively few visits I have seen Western Willet, Wilson's Phalarope, Orange-crowned Warbler, and Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrows in this small area. The potential for bigger and better rarities is high, although this year the extensive soybean plantings limit the sparrowy habitat to a few acres around each pond. We then birded Wye Island W.M.A., which I rarely visit these days. Nice as the habitat was, it was windy and if there were any interesting birds, they were laying low. Working our way across to Caroline County, we crossed at Tuckahoe SP and immediately began finding better birds. Tuckahoe SP (Queen Anne's side): 3 ORCHARD ORIOLES - it's getting very late for them... Cherry Lane: (heading north from Tuckahoe) One male Summer Tanager, and a few migrant warblers. A butterfly was the highlight: one Bronze Copper - uncommon in MD and my first in this region of the county. Clarks Lane (right turn off Cherry Lane): A traditional Golden-Plover/Buff-breasted Sandpiper field, it has recently been plowed and looks very good for either. Yesterday Jim and Matt Hafner had 139 Killdeer and 40 Horned Larks here; today, 140 Horned Larks and 0 Killdeer (maybe Jim and Matt confused the larks with Killdeer...). Marblehead Rd.: (North of Ridgely): A favorite migrant woods of ours. Today it was excellent with a small flock containing Worm-eating, Kentucky, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Black-and-white, Redstart, and Blackburnian. Day Rd.: (North of Marblehead Rd. and just east of Bridgetown): a new migrant road for me. Highlights in one flock were 2 Chestnut-sideds, a Blue-winged, and a female/imm CERULEAN WARBLER. This latter was a real coup for us hard-core county listers. It was the first either of us had seen on the Eastern Shore, and for me, the first "migrant" county for the species (i.e. county where the species does not nest - Jim is ahead of me, having seen them in Calvert). Vias with the White-throat for bird of the day. Lentz Rd.: Another long time favorite of ours, Lentz was a bit slow today. Highlights were several Worm-eaters along with more of the same migrants. The highlight was the butterflying though, with Joe-pie-weed and other Eupatoriums in bloom. At one stop along this road we counted 22 (!) species of butterflies, including a single male Fiery Skipper and a Painted Lady, the latter being my first in MD in several years. A strongly recommended area to any butterfly people, and the birds are usually good too. Trunk Line Rd.: A couple fortuitous stops found good migrant flocks, including Black-and-white, Redstart, Maggie, Chestnut-sided, and a single TENNESSEE, county bird for both me and Jim. After a few twists and turns, and in the face of a fierce advancing thunderstorm, we headed to John Brown Rd. Turf Farm (directions below). Our first scan yielded 7 Killdeer and a flyby Least Sandpiper. At our next stop Jim (who was in top form today, finding most of the good birds) pulled a juvenile BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER from the dirt clods, Maryland year bird #300 for me. Directions follow, but first: **A CAVEAT** Since 1997, Jim and I, and recently others, have found Buff-breasted Sandpipers annually at this location AND OTHERS on the Upper Eastern Shore. These birds are NOT as rare as most people think and require simply the proper search image, which as far as we can tell, basically boils down to Killdeer + large dirt fields. Buffies prefer dry, recently plowed dirt clods, but will also use short, dry grass. I confidently can say that I can set out on a day in mid-September and expect to find a Buff-breasted Sandpiper in plowed fields of Caroline, Queen Anne's, Talbot, Kent, or Dorchester counties. Surely they occur in Cecil, Wicomico, and Worcester almost as regularly. For those that would prefer to try to find their own, wandering the back roads aimlessly may be the best approach, but a couple recommended locations are Clark's Lane (mentioned above) and fields off Ell Downes Rd. (off Rte. 313 just west of Caroline County line). But, for reliability and ease of access, John Brown Rd. is the winner since the fields there are consistently prime for Buffies (rather than subject to the vagaries of annual farming practices). **** Directions to John Brown Rd. Turf Farm: From the Rte, 50/301 split go north of Rte. 301 for a little over 3 miles. Make a right on JOHN BROWN ROAD. Follow John Brown Rd. for less than a mile. You will pass through a small woodlot, then see turf on your right, then pass through another woodlot. Beyond this woods is the main area of the turf farm. One brick house stands alone on the right side of the road. Today the Buff-breasted was in the plowed dirt opposite the house (i.e. across the pavement) and it was hanging out in the near section of the dirt field (a grassy strip at the low area divides the field into two), at the far right corner. It was loosely hanging with 3-5 Killdeer. Good luck! Final tallies were: 5 county birds for me and 3 for Jim, 16 total species of warblers, 7 species of shorebirds (yuck!), 31 species of butterflies (detailed post to BUGS-L), and somewhere between 5 and 340 species of birds... Best, Marshall Iliff miliff@aol.com Annapolis, MD ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================