Thanks to a sister-in-laws planning more than a month ago, we were scheduled
to camp at Assateague this weekend. Friday Lynn and I trekked the 2 miles
out to the spot but did not find the Curlew Sandpiper. No other birders were
out there Friday so I was not sure if it had moved on.
I went out again Saturday at noon and I fortunately ran into Marty and Pat
who had been watching the it for a while. Before I could get it in the scope
it flew away. (!) Marty and Pat gave advice on how to find it again.
Determined not be beat by the Siberian I sorted through hundreds of other
birds looking up to the 7.5 mile point for the next 2 hours. Working my way
back to the original 8.0 mile spot I found it bathing before energetically
fedding at where it had been last seen. My theory is that it flew off to
take a nap 2 hr nap somewhere in the grasses during a very high tide to
return to its favorite feeding space as the tide was going out at 3PM.
I was able to ID a total of 20 plovers and sandpipers Friday evening and on
Saturday.
Curlew sandpiper,
Ruddy turnstone,
Black-bellied plover,
Least sandpiper,
Semi-palmated sandpiper,
Semi-palmated plover,
Piping Plover
Probable Wilson’s Plover (have others seen them there?)
Killdeer
Willet,
American oystercatcher,
Godwit (Marbled on Friday night),
Sanderlings (flock of 125+ napping),
Pectoral sandpiper
Dunlin
Greater Yellowlegs
Stilt sandpipers (4)
White-rumped sandpiper
Solitary sandpiper
Short-billed dowitcher
Other interesting birds of note for myself.
Horned Lark (imm)
Little Blue Heron
Tri-Colored Heron (6)
Glossy Ibis (25+)
E. Meadowlark
Black terns
Chuck-will's-widow
Thanks again Marty and Pat for helping me find it. Without your advice and
skill I may have left too early!
>From: Marty Cribb <>
>Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding <>
>To:
>Subject: [MDOSPREY] Curlew Sandpiper yes
>Date: Sat, 21 Aug 2004 21:17:40 -0400
>
>Pat and I just returned from a long day at Assateague Island, Maryland. We
>went specifically for the curlew sandpiper and we were not disappointed.
>We
>didn't arrive until 11:15 am about an hour before high tide. Following
>Stan
>Arnold's directions we preceded north and at about the 9.0 km marker we met
>up with Dave and Maureen Harvey who were heading south to their vehicle.
>Dave provided us with detailed instructions as they had observed the curlew
>sandpiper for some time. Pat and I then turned to the NW at 8.5 km maker
>to
>the bay side and observed the curlew sandpiper for approximately 25
>minutes.
>The bird was located on a small spit of land just past a small tidal pond.
>As we were watched the curlew sandpiper, Rob Anderson arrived and the
>curlew
>sandpiper and several other shore birds flew off before Rob got the chance
>to see them. We all three continued to observe shore birds that came back
>to the immediate area but the curlew sandpiper was not to return while we
>were there. As we were leaving Rob continued his search on the other side
>of the sand spit where we had observed the curlew sandpiper disappearing
>into the marsh grass. We hope Rob was able to locate the curlew sandpiper
>as this was his second trek out to try to observe it. We had a fantastic
>day observing 49 different species of birds, 12 of them were shore birds
>and
>Pat was fortunate to add 7 new species to her life list. The following
>list
>is some of the highlights of our day:
>curlew sandpiper, ruddy turnstone, black-bellied plover, least sandpiper,
>semi-palmated sandpiper, semi-palmated plover, black tern, least tern,
>willets, American oystercatcher, marbled godwit, sanderlings, pectoral
>sandpiper and Dunlin. Pat took some digital photos of the curlew sandpiper
>which she will make available to the MD/DC records committee if needed.
>Marty also got a new bird which is new to all of us also, he located a
>Great
>Black-backed Trashbag.....can you believe it, I am sure we have all
>misidentified trashbags for birds....hehe!!!!
>
>Good birding to all,
>Pat Rose and Marty Cribb
>Callaway, St Mary's, Maryland
>
>
>
>---
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