Howdy All! Embarrassingly poor results on an August Big Day attempt... Friday, August 20, 1999. Weather: 70s, cool, overcast, light rain in a.m. 90, hot, humid, sunny in afternoon. Observers: George Jett, Greg Miller. Hours: 0330 - 2030 (17 hours). Mileage: 408 miles. Total species: 115...<big ouch> Route: George's back yard in Charles County, Lilypons, Oland Rd, Hughes Hollow, Riley's Lock, Violet's Lock, Little Bennett St Pk, Blackhills Regional Pk, Kent Narrows, Horsehead, Ridgely sewage ponds, Tanyard, Hurlock, Skimmer Island, W Ocean City Pond, Deal Island. Misses were legion, and most were just too embarrassing to enumerate here (like House Finch). This day was ill-fated from the beginning with a lack of planning, no scouting, and visiting areas that neither of us had birded in several years. Both of us were hampered by lack of sleep during the week and I was still sick with a cold. We decided to cut out western Maryland, birding only the Piedmont and providing us with a lighter schedule than the demanding 700+ mile, 24-hr July route. We knew we'd end up with less birds, but neither of us expected to have such a poor showing as this day was. Our biggest error was birding areas where we had no scouting and little or no experience at this time of year. Our time would have been better spent starting out in areas we already knew well. Additionally, I think we could have easily beat this number without leaving the Eastern shore--we probably could have done better in *only* Worcester County... Oh, well. We left lots of room for improvement. Species list: Brown Pelican Skimmer Island Double-crested Cormorant Skimmer Island; Kent Narrows; Deal Island Great Blue Heron Deal Island; Hughes Hollow Great Egret Deal Island; Hughes Hollow Snowy Egret Deal Island; Kent Narrows; W Ocean City pond Little Blue Heron W Ocean City pond Tricolored Heron W Ocean City pond; Deal Island Cattle Egret Hooper's Green Heron Hughes Hollow; W Ocean City pond; Deal Island Black-crowned Night-Heron Deal Island; Skimmer Island Glossy Ibis W Ocean City pond Black Vulture Tanyard Turkey Vulture Snow Goose Hurlock Canada Goose Mute Swan Kent Narrows Tundra Swan Hurlock Wood Duck Mallard Blue-winged Teal W Ocean City pond Green-winged Teal Ridgely Ruddy Duck Hurlock Osprey Bald Eagle Tanyard Northern Harrier Deal Island Red-tailed Hawk Peregrine Falcon Deal Island Clapper Rail Deal Island Virginia Rail Deal Island Common Moorhen Tanyard Black-bellied Plover Skimmer Island Semipalmated Plover Ridgely Piping Plover Skimmer Island(1) Killdeer American Oystercatcher Skimmer Island Greater Yellowlegs Deal Island Lesser Yellowlegs Ridgely Solitary Sandpiper Ridgely Spotted Sandpiper Ridgely Ruddy Turnstone Skimmer Island Red Knot Skimmer Island(2) Sanderling Ridgely(1); Skimmer Island Semipalmated Sandpiper Ridgely Least Sandpiper Ridgely; Deal Island Pectoral Sandpiper Ridgely Stilt Sandpiper Ridgely; Skimmer Island Short-billed Dowitcher Ridgely; Deal Island Laughing Gull Ring-billed Gull Herring Gull Great Black-backed Gull Royal Tern Skimmer Island Common Tern Skimmer Island Forster's Tern Ridgely; Skimmer Island Least Tern Hurlock Black Skimmer Skimmer Island Rock Dove Mourning Dove Eastern Screech-Owl George's back yard Barred Owl George's back yard Chimney Swift Belted Kingfisher Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker Hughes Hollow; Horsehead Norther Flicker Montgomery Co (George only) Eastern Wood-Pewee Hughes Hollow Acadian Flycatcher Hughes Hollow Eastern Phoebe Hughes Hollow Eastern Kingbird Hughes Hollow White-eyed Vireo Little Bennett Red-eyed Vireo Little Bennett Blue Jay American Crow Fish Crow Horsehead Horned Lark Frederick Co Purple Martin Tree Swallow Hughes Hollow N. Rough-winged Swallow Hughes Hollow Bank Swallow Hurlock Barn Swallow Carolina Chickadee Tufted Titmouse White-breasted Nuthatch Hughes Hollow Carolina Wren Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Little Bennett Eastern Bluebird Blackhills American Robin Gray Catbird Northern Mockingbird European Starling Cedar Waxwing Riley's Lock Blue-winged Warbler Little Bennett Northern Parula Little Bennett Chestnut-sided Warbler Little Bennett; Hughes Hollow Prairie Warbler Little Bennett Black-and-white Warbler Little Bennett Prothonotary Warbler Hughes Hollow Common Yellowthroat Hughes Hollow Scarlet Tanager Little Bennett (George only) Eastern Towhee Chipping Sparrow Field Sparrow Ridgely Seaside Sparrow Deal Island Song Sparrow Northern Cardinal Indigo Bunting Hughes Hollow Bobolink Ridgely Red-winged Blackbird 1st one at Tanyard at 3:30pm!!! Eastern Meadowlark Caroline Co Common Grackle Boat-tailed Grackle Hooper's Brown-headed Cowbird American Goldfinch House Sparrow -Greg Miller Hollywood, MD __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com