Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 23:07:45 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: "George M. Jett" Subject: Re: Belated W. MD Isabel Report (Long) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Ray For what is worth, I think the phalarope is a Red Phalarope as well. Maybe I will be a digiscope camera for Gwen's new Swarovski I bought her for her Birthday. It very sharp. I could have gotten nice shots of the Least Flycatcher a couple weeks ago. I still prefer the EOS 3 and the 100-400 w/ the 1.4. George ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ray & Renee Kiddy" To: Sent: Friday, September 26, 2003 12:32 AM Subject: [MDOSPREY] Belated W. MD Isabel Report (Long) > 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 > ======================================================================= > ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================