Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 00:32:05 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Ray & Renee Kiddy Subject: Belated W. MD Isabel Report (Long) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi MD, I apologize for the late report. J.B. Churchill, Cameron Cox and I met at 6:30 a.m. at Rocky Gap State Park in Allegany Co. on Friday, September 19, to check for Isabel birds. Since Isabel had been projected to pass almost directly over Allegany Co., Rocky Gap seemed to have great potential. The storm passed rapidly through the area in the early morning (1:00-2:00 a.m.) and seems to have moved a bit further west than expected. We were quite fortunate (at least from a non-birding perspective) in that the maximum gust (as reported at Frostburg State) was around 35 mph and rainfall totaled 3.6 inches. Damage was minimal. Conditions at 6:30 were quite mild with light winds and light rain. As it became light enough to start scanning the beach, it was obvious that at least a few birds were present. Cameron immediately spotted an American Golden-Plover, a good bird for AL Co. But the only other birds present were a Pectoral and a few Killdeer. J.B. and Cameron decided to check some other parts of the lake while I stayed put. I shortly spotted 2 white and one darker tern and a few shorebirds flying just over the water. I phoned J.B. and they quickly returned. Additional terns joined the group until there were 8 Forster's along with the 1 Black Tern. Several of the shorebirds had settled on the beach and we set to ID'ing them. Another bird appeared just offshore and the cry went up simultaneously - phalarope!! We tentatively ID'd it as a Red-necked (after all, it was the obvious choice). Our elation was diminished slightly upon the realization that we would have to document the sighting (sorry Phil). I started digiscoping pix while J.B. and Cameron began recording details. They lamented that they hadn't gotten better looks at about 8 other shorebirds they had seen earlier wheeling over the water that they suspected were also phalaropes! We were distracted though as other birds continued to drop in - a Greater Yellowlegs noisily joined the group and then a Sanderling announced it's arrival. Two of the peeps were ID'd as Westerns. A Northern Pintail flew past and 2 Green-winged Teal lounged on the shore. After a while activity slowed and we decided we should check North Branch since it is generally a better shorebird spot and we were afraid we were missing something. We arrived at North Branch around 9:30-10:00. There were a number of shorebirds present with the best being a Stilt Sandpiper and 2 White-rumped Sandpipers. We moved further along the tarps and spotted a tern as it lifted off - another Forsters - and then two more still sitting on the tarps. Then we spotted a gull. And it was a Laughing Gull! I know what you're thinking. Big Deal. But Laughing Gull just doesn't show up in Allegany Co. There are a few previous reports but at least one of those (mine in 1991) failed to eliminate Franklin's Gull which may be more likely. Knowing it would help our case, we scrambled up onto the C&O Canal to gain some elevation and try to get some pictures. We were then able to see more terns resting on the tarps. And these were Commons (6) and 1 Black Tern. As we were leaving an Osprey flew over. We then decided to check the Terminus knowing that anything we found there would almost certainly have to be in flight and probably heading back downriver. The Terminus is best when the river is low enough for small islands to appear in the middle and that certainly wasn't going to be the case today. We were right in our pessimism as we found nothing except some impressive flooding about 1/2 mile downstream. We headed for Garrett County to check Piney Dam and Little Meadows. Both were disappointing as we found an American Wigeon and 7 Cormorants at Piney and a lone Spotted Sandpiper at Little Meadows. At this point, we separated with Cameron planning to check Deep Creek Lake and Broadford Reservoir. I went back to Rocky Gap to see if anything was still around. I found only the yellowlegs and a couple peeps and they flew off shortly after I arrived. J.B. checked independently a little later and found a Black Tern. I returned to North Branch and again found that most of the birds had left. The Laughing Gull was still there, however, and a bit closer so I took some additional pictures. J.B. arrived for a second look but we both decided we had reached the point of rapidly diminishing returns and separated again. I headed back to the Terminus planning to walk downriver to take some pictures of the flooding. I got lazy and decided not to take the scope with me for the 1/2 mile walk. As I got near the area where the river was at its widest, I noticed a Hooded Merganser and then a second one among the debris along the shore where the water was relatively calm. Much debris had accumulated along an impoundment and I could see gulls. It looked like there were 5. As best I could tell, 4 looked like Ring-billed but one looked like a Laughing Gull. So I headed back to the Jeep for the scope kicking myself for not having taken it with me in the first place. When I finally got back to the gulls, they flew (naturally) but headed upstream and landed much closer to shore. There were still 5 (same birds?) but it was now obvious that only 1 was a Ring-billed and the other 4 were Laughing Gulls. They cooperated by staying put while I got some digiscoped shots. On Saturday I looked at the pictures I had taken and decided to check them against Sibley and several other field guides. As I looked at the pictures of the phalarope, I came to a startling conclusion. It looked like a Red Phalarope. The bill especially seemed an almost perfect fit for Red. I called J.B. and told him what I thought. I e-mailed the pictures to him early this week and he agreed that it was a Red Phalarope. He forwarded the pictures to get some additional opinions. The only feedback we've gotten yet is from Marshall Iliff who agrees that it was a Red Phalarope. I've posted one of the better shots as well as some of the terns and the Laughing Gulls at: http://www.hereintown.net/~rrkiddy/Kiddy.htm Once there, click "Digiscoping". Isabel clearly had impact on Allegany County birding and, while we didn't come up with any mega-rarities, it made for a pretty interesting day. Happy trails .... Ray Kiddy Cumberland, Allegany Co., MD rrkiddy@hereintown.net ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================