Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2001 20:51:52 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Stan Arnold Subject: More Laughing Gulls in Howard Co.; Bank Swallow (8/22) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi Folks, Spurred on by Bonnie Ott's reports of LAUGHING GULL down the street from her house, this afternoon I headed out to Alpha Ridge Park off of Rte 99, just west of Mariottsville Rd. to look for this sometimes tough bird for this county. The park abuts a large landfill. Upon scanning the low sky with my binoculars, I could see some gulls flying at a fairly great distance, but scanning with the scope gave me satisfactory looks at the laughers. I counted as many as twelve at one time, but there were probably dozens, or even hundreds present. There were no other gull species seen as I scanned from 4 to 4:30 p.m. Other birds seen during the scan were TURKEY and BLACK VULTURES, RED-TAILED HAWK, AM. KESTREL, and both crow species were heard. I checked the sod farms at Rte 32 & Rte 99, Hardy Rd., Daisy Rd., and Jennings Chapel Rd. The farm at Rte 32 had numerous swallows on the wires, but their backs were to me, and I had to wait till they flew to pick out a BANK SWALLOW and two Tree Swallows from the dozens of Barn Swallows. There were no shorebirds here. The other three sod farms had lots and lots and lots of Killdeer, with a single HORNED LARK at Daisy Rd. Yesterday (8/21) while circling Triadelphia Reservoir, I found six CASPIAN TERNs and a single FORSTER'S TERN, viewed at a large distance from Pigtail. I followed the path to get as close as I could, and then a boater scattered the small flock, giving me my best look. The only notable shorebirds, other than Killdeer, found in the county this week have been at the Fulton pond, with LEAST, PECTORAL, and several SOLITARY SANDPIPERs seen there. A SPOTTED SANDPIPER was seen at Pigtail, but Big Branch and the U Md Farm were shorebirdless. DC CORMORANTs are getting more common now, with five noted from Brighton Dam yesterday, and another seen at Lake Kittamaqundi today. GREAT EGRETs seem to be thinning out, as only one was observed at Centennial Park this afternoon. Kurt Schwarz noted that Cliff Swallows have vanished from Brighton Dam, and I had the same observation. Not much singing going on. Even the Indigo Buntings are quiet around here. Had a few E. WOOD PEWEEs and ACADIAN FLYCATCHERs vocalizing along the Middle Patuxent at Edenbrook this morning, along with a WOOD THRUSH giving its alarm call, but not singing. Got to see an OVENBIRD at Pigtail yesterday, as it silently flew across my path, making me think thrush until I got a good look at it. Bring on the fall warblers! 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 ======================================================================= =========================================================================