Date:         Sat, 30 Sep 2000 18:17:03 -0400
Reply-To:     Maryland Birds & Birding <MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
Sender:       Maryland Birds & Birding <MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
From:         Stan Arnold <blackrail@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject:      Eared Grebes; Snow Goose Migration; Am. Bittern
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Hi Folks,

Along with many other birders, I found myself at Assateauge this morning,
camping the night, and starting out before daylight.  Warblers were dismal
for me.  Really the only birds of interest were several woodcocks flushed
from the roadside during morning twilight, a dozen or so bobwhites, and an
AMERICAN BITTERN flying over the road into the Bayside campgrounds.  For me,
running into birders such as Jim Stasz, Marshall Illiff and Wade Stephens
was more interesting than the birds themselves.

Early afternoon at Hurlock proved to be much more interesting birdwise than
Assateague.  Snow Goose migration has begun, and besides the two summer
residents, there were an additional 21 Snows among the two-to-three hundred
Canadas.  There were two EARED GREBEs present, in the far cell, but I didn't
see either one of them until I walked completely in back of the cell (quite
a hike) and had the sun to my back.  Unlike my experience with one a week
ago, these birds both stayed on top of the water, and I had excellent looks
at them.  Four Black-bellied Plovers and a Sanderling were also of interest
there.  The tally:

Pied-billed Grebe        2
Eared Grebe                2
Great Blue Heron        1
Great Egret                    1
Snowy Egret                2
Green Heron                1
Snow Goose                23
Canada Goose            250
Am. Wigeon                2
Mallard                         5
N. Shoveler                  100
Green-winged Teal      1
Ruddy Duck                50
Black-bellied Plover    4
Greater Yellowlegs        1
Sanderling                     1
Semipal. Sandpiper      1
peep, sp.                        3
Pectoral Sandpiper       3
Laughing Gull                1000
Common? Tern            3 (juvenile terns with dark bills, slight red at
base; dark red legs, brown on primaries and tail)

Stan Arnold
Glen Burnie
blackrail@earthlink.net

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