Gene Scarpulla and I spent a long weekend birding in Ocean City and
nearby parts of Worcester County.  Gene already reported the Razorbill
that we saw on Sunday 2/26.  Below is our complete list and I have to
admit that we did not spend as much time outdoors as we would have liked
because the bitter cold and wind were too much for me.  I'm not as tough
as I used to be.

Notable by their absence everywhere were Bonaparte's Gulls.  

Also notable was a magical spectacle that we witnessed on Monday evening
2/27 at about 7:45 p.m.  We drove to the Inlet, hoping to eat dinner at
Harrison's, but they were closed.  But, there was an amazing sight at
the Inlet.  Hundreds of Ring-billed Gulls were in the air above the
water and resting on the water itself.  The lights from land reflected
off of each gull so that it looked like it was glowing from within.  The
glowing gulls were a strong contrast to the darkness of the water and
the sky above the water.  The water in the Inlet was barely moving -
dead calm and almost slack tide.   There was a very slow movement of the
tide coming in but there were no white caps - unusually calm, especially
after the fierce winds we had had.  There was a systematic movement of
the gulls - they would slowly ride the tide into the Inlet, like a
conveyer belt, and then when they got to the inland end, they would
slowly rise from the water and fly up the Inlet and either land on the
water at the rip line and ride the current back in, or some few would
fly into the pitch black sky of the open sea.  Also, a few gulls were
constantly coming in from the sea, beyond where the lights from land
reached.  It was a surreal spectacle - the glowing gulls, the black
water and black sky, and above all the utter quiet - no surf sound.
Gene and I have never before heard this spectacle mentioned on Osprey
and we wonder if anyone else has seen it or tried to photograph it???

(Restaurant note:  We could not find any place open in Old Town for
dinner on Monday.  We ended up at Reflections, the restaurant in the
Holiday Inn at 64th Street. Excellent classic cuisine but very pricey.
We also highly recommend Olive Tree on Philadelphia Ave at 126th, behind
the Holiday Inn Express.  Excellent traditional Italian food, reasonable
prices, friendly staff, open only Thurs through Sunday in the
off-season.   We were there on Sunday.)

Back to the birds.

Saturday 2/25, Ocean City beach at 33rd St.
- Northern Gannet - 50+ observed in just a few minutes time
- Black Scoter - several flights of 2 to 12 birds
Also, Common Loon, Red-throated Loon, Ring-Billed Gull, Herring Gull

Saturday 2/25, Ocean City Inlet,  4th Street Flats, Convention Center,
Old Bridge Rd
- Common Loon
- Red-throated Loon
- Brant 
- Mallard
American Black Duck
- Common Merganser 
- Red-breasted Merganser 
- Bufflehead 
- Surf Scoter (four separate flocks with 12 to 100 birds each, plus many
more fly by)
- Black Scoter (6 mixed in with Surfs)
- White-winged Scoter (3 mixed in with Surfs at the end of the south
jetty)
- Common Eider (one adult male, one female mixed in with Surfs at the
end of the north jetty)
- Long-tailed Duck  (24 or more, with Surf Scoters)
- Ring-billed Gull
- Herring Gull
- Great Black-backed Gull
- Purple Sandpiper 
- Ruddy Turnstone 
- Rock Dove
- American Pipit (1 flyover at Old Bridge Rd)
- Carolina Wren
- Savannah Sparrow
- House Finch
- Also, at the inlet South jetty, three Harbor Seals, including one
tangled in netting, which Gwen Brewer and George Jett reported to the
Coast Guard and Marine Mammal Stranding Network.  Gwen said the
Stranding folks will keep an eye on the seal and attempt to free it if
they can.

Sunday, 2/26, Ocean City Beach at 33rd
- Razorbill as noted above
- other birds same as Saturday

Also on Sunday, we visited Indian River Inlet, Silver Lake, and Gordon's
Pond in Delaware.  Nothing unexpected but the number of Surf Scoters at
the Inlet was remarkable and they were in close, giving very good looks
despite exceptionally rough seas.  Also there were Sanderlings and
Purple Sandpipers on the rocks of the south jetty.  At last two Great
Cormorants in the area.

Monday, 2/27, E A Vaughn Central Tract plus roads en route from Ocean
City
- Wild Turkey (two flocks of about 20 birds each, along Rt 113 north of
Rt 12)
- Tundra Swan
- Canada Goose
- Snow Goose (flyovers)
- American Black Duck
- Mallard
- Northern Shoveler
- Green-winged Teal
- Gadwall
- Hooded Merganser
- Turkey Vulture
- Northern Harrier
- Golden Eagle
- Bald Eagle
- Greater Yellowlegs
- Herring Gull
- Ring-billed Gull
- Mourning Dove
- Downy Woodpecker
- Red-bellied Woodpecker
- Northern Flicker
- Carolina Wren
- Belted Kingfisher
- Eastern Phoebe (1, in hedgerow bordering the water)
- Carolina Chickadee
- White-breasted Nuthatch
- Cedar Waxwing
- American Robin
- Yellow-rumped Warbler
- Northern Cardinal
- Dark-eyed Junco
- Song Sparrow
- Swamp Sparrow
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Common Grackle (purple race)

Also on Monday, 2/27, at the Ocean City beach at 33rd, the same birds as
previously, plus dolphins (species unknown) just out beyond the surf
line.  We saw the dolphins again the morning of Tuesday 2/28, just
before we left for home, plus also there was a Horned Grebe as well as
the same birds as the other mornings.

Marcia

Marcia Watson
Cecil County, MD