Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2001 14:47:57 EDT Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Paul O'Brien Subject: Turnstone at Triadelphia and Pacific Golden Plover in NJ MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Yesterday afternoon I found the Ruddy Turnstone on the sandspit in Triadelphia Reservoir. Thanks to Stan Arnold for Montgomery County Species #287. When I got there I saw only a handful of Killdeers and 4 Caspian Terns. Only when the imm. Bald Eagle got things up in the air did I see the Turnstone which had been on the far side of the spit hidden by vegetation. So if you go looking for it, be persistent. Subsequently I drove to Salem County, NJ and found the Pacific Golden Plover on the Johnson Turf Farm in the company of 3 American Golden Plovers, a Buff-breasted and 2 Baird's Sandpipers and a bunch of Killdeer. Later 8 more American Goldens and 1 Black-bellied Plover joined the crowd. To see these birds take US 40 from the Delaware Memorial bridge approximately 15 miles through Woodstown to the traffic circle at Rt 77. Go south on Rt77 about 6 miles and turn left on Olivet Rd. The turf farm is on both sides of the road just 0.2 miles ahead. The Plover was on the north side in the short turf late yesterday afternoon (where it was first found on Tuesday), but had been seen on the south side yesterday morning. If you go looking for it be advised that the differences between Pacific and American Golden Plovers are subtle, even when they are side-by-side. Look for a paler bird that sometimes (but not always, as I noticed yesterday) appears smaller. It is warmer brown with less black on the back and has a noticeable pale gray panel of wing coverts that distinguishes it from the Americans even at a distance. The primaries barely extend beyond the tail tip, giving the bird a stub-tailed look compared with the Americans, which have a significant primary extension. This feature is quite noticeable both in side view and when the birds are standing facing away from you. I was never close enough to count the number of primaries extending beyond the tertials (3 in Pacific vs 4 in American). I was unimpressed with differences in the bills, although the Pacific may have a bit thicker base of the bill. The longer legs of the Pacific were likewise not evident to me as the birds foraged in the grass. These birds will probably be around over the weekend. Richard Crossley found them on Tuesday, but had seen none there five days earlier, so they may have arrived with the weather change last weekend. Apply the ten-day rule and go for it. To be safe, go to Birdingonthe.net, click on Regional/Specialty, then click on New Jersey. This bird is a big enough deal that daily updates are likely. Paul O'Brien Rockville, Mont. Co., MD pobrien776@aol.com ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================