Date: Wed, 23 May 2001 19:18:27 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Robert Ringler Subject: Pacific Loon 5/23 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable After teasing us for an hour and a half the Pacific Loon at Ocean = City Inlet finally put in an appearance about 11:15 this morning. It = was near the base of the south jetty across from red channel marker 10 = when Andrew Gilbert spotted it first. It stayed in that general = vicinity for the hour that we watched it. It spent more time under = water than above but a few times stopped to preen allowing longer looks. = The tide was high when we arrived but started dropping about an hour = later. This may have had something to do with the appearance of the = loon. It may have been working the West Ocean City area or the bays at = highest tide. There was not much activity at the inlet. Purple Sandpipers and = Ruddy Turnstones on the rocks. Never more than 10 Common Terns flying = about, occasionally joined by 2 or 3 Least Terns and a Royal Tern. = About 8 Double-crested Cormorants, a Red-throated Loon, and a Surf = Scoter were also there; all of these probably immatures. A Whimbrel was = on the beach at Assateague. On the flats were small numbers of Dunlin and Sanderlings, an = immature Brown Pelican, and 7 Brant with the nesting skimmers, terns, = and gulls. From Eagle's Nest Campground we saw a Piping Plover, = hundreds of Dunlin and peeps at some distance, 3 Knots, 4 Whimbrels, and = some Black-bellied and Semi Plovers. We stopped at the Crouse Mill Road pond in Queen Anne's County on = the way home. There was one of each yellowlegs, about a half dozen each = of Dunlin and Semi Plover, and lots of peeps which were mostly = unidentifiable in the heat shimmer. Best checked in the morning when = the sun is low or on a cloudy day. Bob Ringler Eldersburg, Md ringler@qis.net ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================