Fine Day at Jug Bay
Steve Sanford (tanager@bcpl.net)
Sun, 26 Apr 1998 22:31:25 -0400
Gail Frantz, Dot Gustafson, and I had an excellent day at Jug Bay/Merkle
WMA Sunday April 26. We had many personal firsts of the season, the best
of which was a singing, well-seen Summer Tanager along the drive around
the old Croom Airport.
Also, first Wood Thrushes, first Hooded Warblers, first Red-eyed Vireos,
first Kingbird, first Great Crested Flycatcher, first shorebirds of many
species, etc.
We had 14 warbler species:
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Myrtle Warbler
Yel-thrtd Warbler(3 highly vocal and finally visible ones in Merkle by
the boardwalk)
Pine Warbler
Prairie Warbler (only one, surprisingly)
Palm Warbler ( 1 - yellow)
Blk & Wt Warbler
Prothonotary Warb-2
Ovenbird
N Waterthrush (one singing vigorously at beginning of Jug Bay boardwalk
trail)
La Waterthrush
Com Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler (mainly JB bdwlk trail)
The shorebirds at the pond by the Merkle visitor center were numerous:
Semipalmtd Plover - 1
Killdeer
Grtr Yellowlegs
Lsr Yellowlegs
Solitary Sandpiper
Spotted Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Wht-rmp Sandpiper - 1
Com Snipe - 3
Plus about 10 Gr-wg Teal
(The White-rump, first identified by Dot, was substantially larger than
the nearby Least Sandpipers, the wingtips extended beyond the tail and
crossed over each other, the streaking in the upper breast extended all
the way down along the flanks, and there was no buffiness in the upper
breast, all of which lead us to ID it as White-rumped)
There was a late White-crowned Sparrow at the Merkle visitors center, as
often seems to be the case there.
Also, closer to home I had my first hummingbird of the season Saturday
April 25 at Woodstock, Balto Co. There were several Yel-thrted Warblers
in the area too.
Steve Sanford
Randallstown MD
tanager@bcpl.net