Yesterday, we did our annual trek to see shorebirds and limulus.  North of the entrance of Bombay Hook NWR on Route 9 we came across a mud flat at low tide that was full of Great and Snowy Egrets.  We stopped and as we were scooping the area about 150 Glossy Ibis (Kevin, where are you when I need you?) flew in.  On the far edge were shore birds but to far to identify other than Black-bellied Plovers and two immature Bald Eagles.  We also saw Avocets and Black-necked Stilts.  Another birder stopped and said that that she came from  a different view and the peeps were mostly Least Sandpipers--not a bad way to begin.  

Each of us listed our "bird" of the trip which were:
--Ruth:  Avocet, Black-necked Stilt, and Oystercatcher
--Ben:  Blue Grosbeak at Bombay Hook
--Myself:  Red Knots.  We picked up about 30 along Port Mahon Road near the piers.  We found, which I felt was a fair number, at the Mispillion Lighthouse area.  However, in talking with one of the observers at the old restaurant, she told me that the numbers were not as great as last year.  The building is now owned by the State and is to be turned into an interpretive center for the Red Knot.  Slaughter Beach was at low tide with a large number of equally dispersed shorebirds along its length but not in concentrated groups as we have seen in the past.  

Ben Poscover
Towson  MD