Field Pipers at John Brown Rd
Steve Sanford (tanager@bcpl.net)
Sun, 30 Aug 1998 19:05:00 -0400
Inspired by Jim Stasz' and Marshall Iliff's postings, Gail Frantz and I
went to John Brown Rd, Queen Anne's Co, today, Aug 30, to look for
Buff-breasted Sandpipers and Am Golden Plovers.
We were extremely successful with the Golden Plovers: We saw 5, some of
them very close to the road. They appeared to be adults with most of the
black on the underside faded to white, but the remaining black mottling
went well behind the legs on the ones we saw close-up.
We also saw two sandpipers, smaller than Killdeer, in the distance.
Given the environment, one might assume they were Buff-breasted, but we
couldn't see them well enough to be sure at all. All we can say for
sure, when they flew, they were small sandpipers. At one point, one flew
relatively close, and I thought I heard a "krreeet" call like a Least.
We were at the turf farm area across from the turf farm office/home
(about a mile east of Rt 301) from about 10:30-11:30pm, and again from
about 3:00-3:30pm. Our official list there then was:
Am Golden Plover 5
Killdeer 50+
Horned Lark 30+
small sandpiper sp. 2
We also cruised miles of fields in the area. The Clarks Lane area of NE
Caroline Co was almost entirely soybeans and therefore unsuitable. We
wandered down to the extensive fields along Saulsbury Rd, but again it
was almost all soybeans. In fact we saw enough soybeans today to supply
all the world's Chinese restaurants for several centuries. (What in the
world do they actually do with all those soybeans?)
So John Brown Rd was the only productive birding spot for us today. The
American Golden Plovers alone, though, made it worth it. The classic
architecture of Centreville was also a nice non-birding treat.
--
Steve Sanford
Randallstown MD
tanager@bcpl.net