Assateague
burggraf (burggraf@erols.com)
Tue, 28 Jul 1998 15:33:55 -0400
Dear all,
Monday, July 27, Dot Gustafson and I visited Ocena City, and Assateague.
Miraculously, bugs were scarce! Nothing unusual to report. At the 4th
Street Flats, there were lots of Royal Terns but none I could call a
Sandwich. Quite a few pelicans (and more pelicans still in Assateague --
it's good to see such numbers!). Skimmers, Ruddy Turnstones, Sanderlings,
Common Terns, Great and Snowy egrets all were fun to watch. West Ocean City
pond turned up a Least Tern, as well as blue, white and mottled phases of
the Little Blue Heron, with some black-crowned night herons for company. A
greater yellowlegs, and a solitary sandpiper made themselves known. A
Tricolored Heron fed in a marshy area on the South Side of the Ocean City
inlet. At Assateague, we picked up northern bobwhite, glossy ibis, field
sparrows, white-eyed vireos, least sandpipers and lesser yellowlegs, among
others. We trudged North of the State park along the beach to find piping
plovers. We found one, in a fenced nest area. The ranger explained that the
fences keep out predators (eg. foxes) which might damage the eggs. I
estimate the size of a fenced-in area at around 10' x 10'. This one brave
piper was sitting (on an egg? July 27th?) with its beak open in all the
heat. We used a scope for a closer look but the heat waves made observation
more difficult. All this prompted a question. When are these nesting
fences constructed? Do the pipers see them before they nest, and then use
them as safe areas? Do humans build the fences after nesting sites are
selected, and, if so, how does such construction happen without scaring away
the birds? Anyone out there know?
Don Burggraf
Baltimore