Date: Sun, 26 May 2002 15:51:08 EDT Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Marshall Iliff Subject: Re: Kent Bird Club trip to Poplar Island MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Walter et al., The Poplar-Bodkin area of the Bay has been an area of great interest to me for the past 5+ years. In Jul 1997 I first visited Poplar (pre-dredge spoil operation) and Bodkin with Jim Stasz. Poplar at that point had a small gull colony on the barges (no within the impoundment) and that year we documented the first Great Black-backed nest for Talbot County and the first nesting Herring Gulls since 1955, when they nested at Sharp's Island (when it was still above the surface) with some terns. Who knows how long gulls had been nesting on those Poplar barges (Dave Brinker may know). There were no terns there then. I visited Poplar in 1999 for the first time since the impoundments were built. In that year there were few terns and they may not have nested, though Least Terns were suspicious and probably nested. In the following years Least and Common Terns built up good colonies it seems, but since the Corps has been involved I have been unable to visit and take good notes so have only noticed the huge numbers of terns in the area as I have boated by. Clearly a very large Common Tern colony there, but I wonder if the burgeoning gull #s will cause a decline on that colony too. The cormorants are recent arrivals on Bodkin. When we visited there in 1997 there were none and the heronry was quite strong, which included more individuals of the species you mentioned as well as 4-5 pairs of Little Blues. There was also a very strong Common Tern colony there, 250+ pairs. On that trip in July 1997 we documented the first Queen Anne's county breeding for Great Black-backed Gull among a gull colony that seemed to be just beginning there <10 pairs of Herrings. In the years since the gulls have obviously waxed and the terns waned. I visited in both July 2000 and July 2001, and noticed stark changes, most notably very few terns pairs in 2000, and none (though I was there briefly and late in the season) in 2001. Gulls were much more common and the cormorant colony reached higher numbers in each year. The heronry obviously had declined somewhat and I can't recall seeing Little Blue last year or the year before (Jim Stasz has the notes from 2000 though). A driveby gull colony of interest is the one on the southwest pillar of the south span of the Bay Bridge. When westbound on the Bay Bridge get in the far left lane and get someone in the back seat to look down to the island that supports the pillar. Around 1997 Great Black-backeds started nesting there, shortly after the first Anne Arundel County nest was recorded nearby. The colony numbers some 30-40 birds based on what I see from driving by above. Last year and possibly the year prior (2001) I noticed a Herring Gull pair among the Black-backs. I assume they nesting or tried to, but never boated out there to check. I may do that this year sometime, but in light of the atlas this is a colony that will need to be checked. Bay islands are fascinating, as Harry Armistead has known for years. Someone should consider atlasing Smith Island too. One could take the Pt. Lookout-Smith Island ferry across one day, stay 2-3 days on the island with a canoe, and check a number of colonies and interesting areas. Best, Marshall Iliff miliff@aol.com > Hi All, > > Back in late March I found out that Vern Stock would be leading a boat > trip for the Kent County Bird Club to Poplar Island from Kent > Island Narrows. I decided to go along because I was curious about > documenting some of the nesting birds on these Bay islands. > > Two boatloads of birders from Kent and Queen Anne's counties left the > dock at about 9:30 AM this mornig (24 May). On the way down we looked > at Hog and Parson's islands, and stopped briefly at Bodkin Island in > Queen Anne's County and then headed down to Jefferson, Coaches and > Poplar islands in Talbot County. While on Poplar Island we had a > guided tour of the dredge and fill operation to restore the island as > a natural area. We spent the tour on a van with our Army Corps of > Engineers guide so we couldn't scope the shorebirds at leisure thus my > counts are very rough and the species list probably lacks a few > species that were present. > > On the way back we took a more leisurely look at Bodkin Island. > > Our annotated species list follows: > > *Brown Pelican* 96 all on or nearby to Bodkin I., at least 9 adults > were mixed with many second-year and sub-adult pelicans. > *Double-crested Cormorant* on nests on Poplar, Jefferson and Bodkin > islands. > *Great Blue Heron* > *Great Egret* 2-3 pairs appeared to be on nests in the small heronry > on Bodkin I. > *Snowy Egret* 8-10 pairs on nests on Bodkin I. > *Cattle Egret* Seen on Poplar I. and at least one pair on a nest at > Bodkin I. > *Canada Goose* broods on Poplar I. > *Mute Swan* brood at Kent I. Narrows, broods and nests w/eggs on > Poplar I., pair at Bodkin I., many others appeared to be "childless". > *Am. Black Duck* at least two broods on Poplar I. > *Mallard* several broods on Poplar I. > *Bufflehead* One second-year male at Hog I. > *Osprey* Many nests on Poplar I. and elsewhere. > *Bald Eagle* An adult on Coaches I. > *Black-bellied Plover* common on Poplar I. >50 > *Semipalmated Plover* frequent on Poplar I. >10 > *Killdeer* one on Poplar I. > *Am. Oystercatcher* one on Poplar I. > *Willet* one on Hog I., also on Poplar and Jefferson Is. > *Spotted Sandpiper* at least four on Poplar I. > *Whimbrel* two on Poplar I. > *Ruddy Turnstone* frequent on Poplar I. >10 > *Sanderling* <10 on Poplar I. > *Semipalmated Sandpiper* abundant on Poplar I. 100s > *Least Sandpiper* Some seen, hard to work the peeps from the van > *Dunlin* abundant on Poplar I. 100s > *Ring-billed Gull* no adults > *Herring Gull* adults were seen on nests on Poplar I. and Bodkin I. > *Great Black-backed Gull* adults on nests on both Poplar and Bodkin > Is. > *Common Tern* Observed in Queen Anne's waters, adults on nests on > Poplar I. > *Least Tern* a few seen in Queen Anne's County, adults on nests at > Poplar I. > *Eastern Kingbird* Kent Narrows > *Purple Martin* Kent Narrows > *Bank Swallow* Kent Narrows and Poplar I. > *Barn Swallow* common around Poplar I. > *Fish Crow* common on Poplar I. > *Carolina Wren* Jefferson I. (heard) > *European Starling* Jefferson I. (sigh) > *Song Sparrow* Kent Narrows > *Red-winged Blackbird* common on Poplar I. > *Common Grackle* common on Poplar I. > > Good Birding and Atlasing, > > Walter Ellison > MD/DC Atlas Coordinator - MOS > 23460 Clarissa Rd > Chestertown, MD 21620-3645 > 410-778-9568 > > "A person who is looking for something doesn't travel very fast." - > ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================