Keith Costley, Gail Frantz and I had great looks at the Sabine's Gull at Conowingo Dam today. We were there from about noon to 3 PM. We didn't see the gull until about 2 PM. Then it flew in front of the big island, back and forth from the dam to south of the island, for a half-hour or more. It often passed very close to the fisherman's park about halfway to the dam. It is a very handsome, boldly-marked bird that usually has one foot hanging down in flight. It was a great life-bird for all three of us.  There were very few gulls overall. 

We may have been missing the Sabine's for a while since we spent a lot of time very close to the dam with distractions away from the water. We had good looks at several Cape May Warblers in very subdued fall plumage, possibly as many as 4 birds, in the trees by the water. Despite occasional light rain and heavy clouds, we saw 15 to 20 Broadwings heading south and a few Sharpies. There were, of course , lots of Bald Eagles on the rocks, towers, and trees. 15 would be a conservative estimate, with most being immature. 

On the way up we stopped for an hour or more on beautiful Hartley Mill Road, which runs along Long Green Creek between Harford and Glen Arm Roads in Baltimore County. At first the birds were extremely slow but we did end up with 6 warbler species there: Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, B-t Blue, B&W, Redstart, and Yellowthroat.

Steve Sanford
Randallstown MD
scartan ^at^ verizon ^dot^ net