Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2000 20:56:01 EST Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Marshall Iliff Subject: Ocean City CBC scouting MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi all, I will be leading a pair of Victor Emanuel Nature tours (VENT) trip to Belize starting Thurday 21 Dec and running through 3 Jan. As a result, I will miss my five favorite Xmas Counts (Ocean City, Chincoteague, Crisfield, Cape Charles, VA, and of course, Annapolis). I had hoped that my living in Ocean City would allow me to discover a number of hot stakeouts for the OC CBC, but unfortunately, have been unable to produce anything really stellar. Nonetheless, below are a few decent birds I have seen in the area recently which Ocean City counters should be on the lookout for: At the Inlet: 1 Red Knot was present through at least Friday, 8 Dec. I expect this bird to winter here. Harlequin Ducks peaked at 5, all of which may still be present. Still no eiders. At the Wal-Mart fields: Sparrow number sare much reduced for last year (but may build by count time). Several White-crowned Sparrows are present and an Orange-crowned Warbler was present along the gut dividing the first field field (where the CCSPs spent most of their time last year). I saw it w/ George Armistead 7 Dec as it foraged about 2/3 of the way along the brushy hedgerow bordering the gut. A Lincoln's Sparrow *may* have vocalized from the Phrag area where the gut meets the road, but was heard by George A. only, also 7 Dec. Skimmer Island: One adult Lesser Black-backed Gull, in heavy wing molt, has been present on and off on Skimmer Island and feeding in the Bay around the island. One evening I saw what was likely the same bird roosting with a large gull flock on the beach just north of the Fishing Pier (or directly opposite Division St. if you want to drive there instead of walking from the inlet). I believe this flock gathers an hour before dusk and stringly recommend that someone check it on count day as it is the largest flock on the beach south of 28th St. (I rollerbladed from there to the inlet one evening). At West OC Pond: Not much of note, but 1710 Canvasbacks today. No Redhead today in a cursory look, but many ducks were tucked out of view in the willows. One male Redhead was there last week. Also present were N. Pintail, GW Teal, BC Night-Heron (17+), Greater Scaup (1 fem), Lesser Scaup, Am. Wigeon (just 2), shoveler, etc.. I have seen no summer herons in the Ocean City area since late November. At Ocean Pines Pond: Still relatively few ducks, but 1-3 Double-crested and 2-3 Great Cormorants present on most visits. Since the Greats are present most but not all of the time, I'd be interested to know if anyone sees them roost there at night or if they always leave the pond to roost. Always has struck me as a strange location for the species. At Eagle's Nest Campground: No sightings of the Marbled Godwit since Sunday, 3 Dec. From 1-3 Willets have been present however on most visits, though I did not see any today. The highlight today around 4:00 was a single Semipalmated Plover, a bird not seen on most recent counts but which we had 2 of last year, also at Eagle's Nest. Assateague Boat Ramp: No recent sightings of the Lark Sparrow, but something for Norm and Fran to watch for. South Point: The Genesar Mansion grounds *always* has at least one Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. The immature Great Cromorant found by John B. Churchill in mid-November has continued most days at the Ocean City Golf Course on the right about 2 mi after the split with Rte. 611. In the Chincoteague CBC circle George Armistead and I found FOUR Yellow-breasted Chats on 8 Dec, and a detailed map of each location has been passed on to Michael O'Brien who will be expected to produce at least one! That's all I have to offer. No Snowy Owls had shown up by Monday, 18 December, so that pretty much guarantees that one will be present and much-enjoyed by all between 21 Dec-3 Jan...probably sitting on my roof! Good CBC-ing to all, Marshall Iliff miliff@aol.com Ocean City, MD ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================