Hi Folks!
 
I did a quick drive down the ORV Zone on Assateague on Sunday morning.  About a mile north of the Virginia Line there was a big flock:
 
Caspian 13
Royal 620
Sandwich 44
Common 17
Forster's 13
 
Herring 118
Great Black-backed 32
Laughing 4
Ring-billed 8
 
While in the middle of counting all the birds got up and I looked for the cause....the only thing that could have spooked them was an adult ROSEATE TERN that flew in out of the Sun [my first thought from silhouette was that it was an adult Long-tailed Jarger].  The tail streamers were impressive!
 
At Fox Hill Level there was one American Golden-Plover with the usual Black-bellies.  Along the beach I counted 13 Lesser Black-backed Gulls [mostly 2nd summer plumage] a Whimbrel, a Piping Plover, an immature Great Cormorant, 1000+ Sanderling, and a smattering of Willets,  Turnstones, Oystercatchers, and Brown Pelicans.
 
From Assateague I went to Hooper's by OC and ran into the Big Day Team who had already found 3 Marbled Godwits feeding on Skimmer Island.
 
On the drive west, a stop at the turf farm on the west side of MD 331 about 2 miles south of Hurlock had a couple dozen Killdeer, 3 Least Sandpipers and one American Golden-Plover.
 
At  the turf farm on the east side of MD 331 about 3 miles north of Hurlock ther were another dozen or so Killdeer and one Buff-breasted Sandpiper.
 
Good Birding!
 
Jim
 
Jim Stasz
North Beach MD

 
 
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