Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2001 13:53:38 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Stan Arnold Subject: Ruffs?, Uppies, Dickcissel (longish) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi Folks, Excited by Fred Fallon's discovery of FOUR Ruffs at John Brown sod farm (Queen Anne's Co.) yesterday, I headed out there early this morning (Mon., 8/13) to try out my luck. I arrived in the dark at 5:45 a.m., so waited till light by studying up on ruffs and other shorebirds in three different books. As the light increased, I set up the scope and began scanning. Lots of Killdeer, quite a few pectorals, and some least. I noticed that there was some standing water at the left (west) edge of the field as I looked north (actually northeast), and some birds were congregated there. As I walked along the road towards that area with my scope, two pretty good sized shorebirds took off together towards the northeast. I focused on one, which gave the appearance of a white U on the rump. It was not a definitive look. The lighting was still poor, my experience with this species is limited, and there were only two of these birds instead of the four reported (in a group) yesterday. I spent nearly two hours scoping the sod farm on the north side of the road. The shorebird tally was: KILLDEER--scores LESSER YELLOWLEGS--2 SOLITARY SANDPIPER--1 UPLAND SANDPIPER--4 LEAST SANDPIPER--8 PECTORAL SANDPIPER--23 Also of interest: GREAT EGRET--1 GREEN HERON--1 HORNED LARK--5 There were lots of Laughing Gulls, a few Ring-billed, numerous Barn Swallows, a few Bank Swallows, and singing Blue Grosbeaks. For those new to shorebirding, or those unfamiliar with the John Brown Rd. sod farm (actually Central Sod Farm), I can offer these tips. The sod farm is reached by travelling about a mile east on John Brown Rd. from US 301 (just a few miles north of the 50/301 split). Most of the action is on the north (actually northeast) side of the road, which is the left side as you approach from US 301. As you survey the turf farm, you notice that the left side is largely cultivated soil, and the right side is all grass. The best place to position yourself is near the dirt path that separates the two areas. This morning there was a large green hose real sitting in the middle of this path. In the grassy area to the right (as you face northeast) is where Jim Wilson saw the ruffs last evening, not too far from the road. Further back from the road, perhaps 75 yards, is a depression, where the grass has grown taller. Along the far side of the depression, beyond the tall grass, is where I found the four Upland Sandpipers this morning. They didn't appear until about 7:20 a.m., and were initially hiding themselves well behind the tall grass, but in time they moved further back, into the shorter grass, where they were more easily viewed. The uppies were visible until I left at 7:45, and were also easily viewed between 10:30 and 11 a.m. when I returned. This is when I met Jim Wilson, who is member of the Centerville Middle School bird team, and who saw the ruffs last evening after returning from the conference. On the left side of the central path, the cultivated side, there is a narrow grass swath that goes from the path ahead, arcing to the left, eventually ending in the grass along John Brown Rd. to the left. This is where I found a bulk of the Pectoral and Least Sandpipers, both in front of the grassy swath, and just behind it, where they were often difficult to see. If you can't see the diagnostic breast pattern of the pectorals, they are the darkest of the shorebirds that were present today, and using the numerous killdeers for comparison, the pectorals, though slightly smaller, appear plumper. When you are looking for a ruff, with plumage that can vary tremendously, a hunkered down pectoral with no nearby birds to compare size, can look awfully attractive. Close to where the grassy swath meets John Brown Road on the left (west) is the wet area that was enjoyed by the yellowlegs, the solitary, and the two herons. The Solitary Sandpiper had a medium dark back, and clean white underside with a clear delineation between the two. I noticed with this bird, as I have with many others, that the breast streaking is separated by a lighter color down the middle, giving it a vest-like appearance such as that seen in Olive-sided Flycatcher. RIDGELY WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT, Caroline Co. From the turf farm, I went to Ridgely to see if there was anything worth viewing. Construction continues. I spoke to a foreman there, and this is what I learned. The two cells of the plant are lined with a black impermiable material that holds the water. What happened years ago is that leaks appeared in the material, allowing sewerage to seep into the undersoil, and in time, the decomposition of this sewerage created gas which caused the lining to bubble up, forming the huge black islands that many of us remember from years past. Of course, it was these islands that formed the wonderful shorebird habitat, because there was plenty of water, both deep and shallow, and "land" on which the birds could rest and gather. They have now fixed the right hand cell (as you approach from the entrance), and it is a big gravel-lined pool, with a few artificial floats in it, and....not a single bird around. The left cell is currently being worked on, and is largely drained, with a fair amount of mud at the far end. I counted seven LEAST SANDPIPERs and a single SPOTTED SANDPIPER as I scoped the impoundment. I'm not sure if this is going to be a very good shorebird spot in the future. It will look more like Hurlock, which, in my experience, isn't that great for shorebirds. According to the foreman, the manager of the plant is very receptive to birders, and even talked about putting in an observation platform. By the way, the construction may continue till December. It will be interesting to see what the finished product will attract. CAROLINE COUNTY From Ridgely, I headed east to Kibler Rd., in Caroline Co., where the Ruff and avocet were seen last month. It looks like the water had dried up, and then re-pooled following this weekend's rain. The only birds noted were Laughing Gulls, Rock Doves, and a few Killdeer. Deciding to take the scenic way back to Queen Anne's Co., I turned around and went north on Kibler Rd., crossing Hwy 314 (two miles east of Greensboro), and continued another mile and a half before turning left on Plummer Lane. Only 0.1 mile from the intersection I was stopped in my tracks by a very emphatic CHEE CHEE CHUR. I knew just what it was, and I backed up to get a look. There is a "hedgerow" of short pines along the south side of Plummer Lane, and atop one of the pines was the singing DICKCISSEL. I backed up all the way to the intersection so I could check the mileage to the bird, and in so doing may have heard another one singing, or possibly just the same bird throwing its voice a bit. The tree in which the dickcissel was singing was not quite across from the near edge of a lawn on the opposite side of the road. I then returned to the John Brown Rd. site, where I met and birded with Jim Wilson (who really impressed me with his birding skills; I'm so proud of him and his CMS teammates!), but saw no new birds to add to the mornings take. CHEAP GAS By the way, for those who travel I-97 between Baltimore and Annapolis, if you get off the interstate between exits 10 and 12 (Benfield Rd. and New Cut/Rt 3), and drive Veteran's Highway, which parallels the interstate, several stations have gas for 129.9, which is the cheapest I've found on the western shore. A new Wawa just opened up along here, with the attractive price, compelling competitors to follow suit. The good price has been available for about a week, but I'm sure will return to the prevailing market price after a while. In Caroline Co., the Exxon station at the corner of Rtes 313 and 314 (eastern Greensboro) has gas for 132.9. Those returning from the conference are already aware of the (still) good Salisbury and Cambridge prices, though they are rising to meet the stagnant western prices. Stan Arnold Glen Burnie blackrail@earthlink.net ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================