After being away from active local birding for nearly a month, it felt
very good to get back out and start re-calibrating my ears and eyes amongst
the fascinating migrants of the fall.
    On Labor Day some morning viewing around home and also at Black Walnut
Point turned up 47 species for my Talbot County lists.  Highlights were
Black-throated Green Warbler, American Redstart and Black & White Warblers,
and a Red-breasted Nuthatch (at Black Walnut Point).
    Today (9/6) a mid-day visit to Central Sod Farm on John Brown Road was
quite productive.  After missing all of Danny Poet's previously described
Buff-bellied Sandpipers, I finally found one today.  Other Highlights:
    A wonderful flock of swallows - over 300 of them working a sod field
beside the road - most were Barn Swallows, but also lots of Bank Swallows
and Tree Swallows, and at least eight Cliff Swallows (probably many more but
these were sitting in a row on a power line inviting an exact count).
    Horned Lark - 5
    Killdeer - 20+
    Western Sandpiper - 1
    Pectoral Sandpiper - 5
    Semi-palmated Plover - 1
    Least Sandpiper - 8+
 
    But the top sighting of all was provided by a flock of thirteen American
Golden Plovers (12 in full breeding plumage).  These birds slipped in while
I was watching the swallows, and stayed around for about 10 minutes - then
took to the air, made a pass over the Central Farms office buildings and
then headed off towards the northwest - possibly just to some other part of
the sod farm grounds..
 
    An afternoon trip to the Ridgely Sewage ponds yielded nothing of special
interest except a lone immature Pied-billed Grebe.
 
Les Roslund

Talbot County
Easton MD 21601