Hey All,

Jim Stasz and I headed over to the Inlet after lunch this afternoon.  Zach Baer, Jim Wilson, and a friend (sorry I didn't catch her name) showed up shortly after with reports of Razorbills from the Delaware shoreline.  Sure enough, within a few bites of my meatball sub, Jim spotted a RAZORBILL among the loons at the end of the Inlet.  This bird was then joined by a second RAZORBILL!  Both RED-THROATED AND COMMON LOONS were represented with fairly equal numbers, about 20-30 of each.  There was a small flock of BONAPARTE'S GULLS at the end of the inlet consisting of about 20 birds, maybe more.  

PURPLE SANDPIPERS were found in large numbers, 150 birds or so.  Jim noted that they were completely absent from the inlet area yesterday.  Other shorebirds around were RUDDY TURNSTONES mixed in with the purple sandpipers and about 10 AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHERS.  They provided some great flight shots.

Highlight of the day for me was the flock of birds on the South side of the South jetty.  We could see some of the birds from the Inlet parking lot but to fully grasp how many birds were actually there, I kayaked over to Assateague and walked out the jetty.  Jim estimated a flock of 800 SCOTERS yesterday but I would almost double this figure.  Approximately 1200 BLACK SCOTERS, 300 SURF SCOTERS, and a handful of WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS.  I didn't notice the white-wingeds until i blew up my photos on the computer at home.  There were 2 KING EIDERS (1 young male, and a female) and 9-10 COMMON EIDERS (1 young male, 7-8 females, and 1 ADULT MALE!).  The adult male was somewhat close (within 50 yards) and allowed for some pretty nice shots.  The HARLEQUIN DUCK (female) that was found on the CBC was still there.  It swam in close while I was walking off the jetty, providing some neat shots.  There was a young GREAT CORMORANT on the South jetty and an adult behind the inlet sitting on a piling.  RED-BREASTED MERGS and some BUFFLEHEAD were also present.  Probably forgetting something but those are the highlights.

Mike Burchett
Churchville, MD


P.S.  Brown-headed Nuthatches are awesome!