Hi All,

Nancy and I made a 1.5 hour evening run down to Eastern Neck Narrows at low tide last evening (22 August). The new boardwalk (built for folks to view swans in the winter) at the north end of the NWR provides a very good view of the Kent Island side of the Narrows. There was a surprisingly large flock of 11 Black Terns working the shallow water and algal blooms. We also counted 65 Caspian Terns on the flats and a comparable number of Forster's Terns. There were three Black-crowned Night Herons on the north shore of the Narrows, an uncommon bird hereabouts as well as the regular Green and Great Blue herons. 

As I scanned the edge of the marsh and flats on the north side of the Narrows I picked up a large gray rail feeding along the waterline. I expected the bird to be a King Rail but it was very gray about the lower neck, nape and upper breast, had a very pale belly, and no strong contrasting markings on the mantle or flanks - lacking dark streaks on the back, and any obvious pale barring on the rear flank. We decided the bird was a Clapper Rail.

Shorebirds on the flats included 8 Killdeer, a Ruddy Turnstone, a Pectoral Sandpiper, 4 unidentified peep, a juvenile Short-billed Dowitcher, and two Lesser Yellowlegs. Other terns included a single adult Royal Tern, and three Common Terns, the latter feeding in the Chester River off Bogle's Wharf.

Good Birding,
 
Walter Ellison

23460 Clarissa Road
Chestertown, MD 21620
phone: 410-778-9568
e-mail: 

"A person who is looking for something doesn't travel very fast" - E. B. White (in "Stuart Little")