Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2002 10:33:19 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: John Churchill Subject: OC trip highlights Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline I got some birding on on a trip to OC from Saturday 8/24 - Tuesday 8/27. = =20 Four SANDWICH TERNS seen on the bayside of Assateague from the north end = of the island and two from Eagle's Nest Campground. I also picked up a = GULL-BILLED TERN from Eagles Nest CG that was roosting with Forsters, = Commons, Caspian and Royal Terns on a bar close to the island. The = entrance fee at Assateague State Park was waived because of ongoing beach = restoration that limits access to the beach. The pumping of sand was = attracting a few hundred gulls and a few Sanderlings and Ruddy Turnstones = but nothing unusual besides all flavors of Laughing Gulls, RB Gulls, = Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls. From the North End of Assateague = Island I got into a small group of shorebirds that included lots of = Semi-Sandpipers, a few Semi-Plovers, a few BB Plovers, one WESTERN = SANDPIPER, a Pectoral Sandpiper, a Lesser Yellowlegs and a Spotted = Sandpiper. Just as I was about to give up the search I located the little = pale-brown Piping Plover that I was searching for in the first place. A side trip one morning to Bombay Hook did NOT yield the Black-headed = Gull but did yield a consolation prize of a RED-NECKED PHALAROPE at Bear = Swamp dipping in and out of the stumps at the NE corner of the pool where = the gull was supposed to be last seen. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=20 John B. Churchill, M.S. Home (304) 292-5072 GIS Analyst Work (304) 293-4832 West Virginia University ext. 4458 Natural Resource Analysis Center Fax (304) 293-3752 P.O. Box 6108 Morgantown, WV 26506-6108 webpage: http://www.nrac.wvu.edu/users/jbc =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =========================================================================