Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2003 18:55:17 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Norm Saunders Subject: Ocean City Area, Sunday 23 March MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Yardbirds today included the first CLAPPER RAILS heard this year, a group of 5 BLACK SKIMMER headed north up Sinepuxent Bay, a GREAT HORNED OWL vocalizing just at dawn plus all the usual suspects, for a total of 49 species seen from the yard. At the OC jetty we noted about half a dozen LAUGHING GULLS in full breeding plumage, at least three RED-NECKED GREBE, and a half dozen or so NORTHERN GANNET wandering just offshore. A good-sized flock of BONAPARTE'S GULLS feeding beyond the inlet buoy failed to include (at least to our eyes) any Little Gulls. A flock of about 25 FORSTER'S TERNS were fishing the inlet but none of them had yet moulted to alternate plumage. About a dozen or so PURPLE SANDPIPERS were still evident among the rocks of the jetty. We ran into Rick and Nancy Sussman celebrating their anniversary. Rick mentioned he had spotted (and photographed) a first-winter COMMON EIDER at the jetty on Saturday. Unfortunately the bird was not in evidence today. At Herring Creek Nature Park we heard our first singing PINE WARBLERS of the year. All in all, not a bad weekend! Norm ============================ Norman C. Saunders Colesville, Montgomery County, MD marshhawk@att.net ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================