Hi Folks,

Despite being fatigued from yesterday's 6.5 mile death march at Hart-Miller
Island (the unmitigated highlight being a well-viewed Black Skimmer spotted
by Kevin Graff), today Elaine and I did something I've wanted to do for
years:  drop the kayak into the Patuxent River and see what we could find.
The plan was to depart home around 5 a.m. (we were close), stop at School
House Pond for the night heron, and get to Jug Bay by 6:30 to get on the
river, and be back home by 10 a.m. before the heat set in.  Well, things
didn't quite work according to Hoyle, but we still got our float in, and
found a few nice birds along the way.  We did get to School House Pond
around 6 a.m. for my second attempt at finding the BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON
juvenile, and this morning is was perched right out in the open on a log to
the left of the west boardwalk, just a couple hundred feet from where we
were parked.  From there it was off to Jug Bay, where we came to the park
entrance to find it CLOSED, open at 8 a.m.  Down to Selby's Landing--CLOSED,
open at 8 a.m.  All right, we'll do a little sightseeing, and try Magruders
Ferry Rd.  We got there just before 7 a.m.--CLOSED, without an opening time,
but being part of the National Capital Parks network, my assumption was that
it wouldn't open till 8 a.m.  COME ON FOLKS, 8 a.m.????  In the summer, a
birder has lost 2 1/2 hours of prime birding time by 8 a.m.  Well, I should
mute my complaints a little bit.  When we turned onto Magruders Ferry Rd.
from Croom Rd., a NORTHERN BOBWHITE flew across the road within a dozen feet
of the car, and then met another Bobwhite on the other side of the road,
with which it disappeared into the brush.  Now that's a pretty nice PG
bird--only my second sighting in this county.  Now it was time to resort to
the next plan.  We would visit Eagle Harbor near the southern tip of the
county, where Fred Schaffer told me to look for terns.  We drove around
town, looked at lots of pilings near water's edge--great tern habitat--but
alas only a few Laughing Gulls and plastic owls today.  From Eagle Harbor we
went up to Aquasco Farms since we were close.  This time the gate was open
(it must have been after 8 a.m.), so we drove around.  Nice habitat, but the
fields were high with corn, so nada as far as any of the field birds we were
seeking.  Now it was definitely time to get launched, and the closest place
was Magruders Landing, so we went back there, and the gate was open
(hooray!).  So much for a peaceful ambiance.  A flotilla of kayaks was being
prepared for launch as we drove in.  Nevertheless, we found a spot near the
water, got our kayak onto the sandy shore, loaded up, and got water-borne by
9 a.m., ahead of the fleet.  Phew!  Maybe we could enjoy some quiet birding
now.  Downstream we went, watching a HUMMINGBIRD buzz around the trees, and
listening to a SUMMER TANAGER sing.  In just a matter of minutes we heard
our first of nine MARSH WRENs on the PG side of the river.

As we approached the mouth of Black Swamp Creek, I heard a double-click
sound.  Name that tune in two notes--yes--it was a SEDGE WREN, which was far
from shy about sharing it's song with us, but not about to give us a
glimpse--not even a glimp.  So we had to be satisfied with listening to the
noisy little tyke.  We turned into Black Swamp Creek, thinking we could just
drift along and listen for birds, but in almost no time, here came the
flotilla.  We had at least eight kayaks bearing down on us.  Time to beat a
hasty retreat.  We turned around, and passed the group of watercraft,
bearing smiles and exchanging pleasantries, and getting back out on the big
river.  But the big river is not the place one wants to be in kayak late on
a weekend morning.  By this time every yahoo and his brother was out in his
speedboat or jet ski making noise and lots of waves.  But we persevered, and
continued downstream watching a SPOTTED SANDPIPER fly in front of us.
During this stretch is when we saw our only tern of the day, and not one I
was expecting.  It was large, very pale, with a big orange bill--a ROYAL
TERN.  We turned around at some power lines which don't appear on my ADC map
book for PG Co.  Once crossing the river, we headed back upstream on the
Calvert Co. side, just south of King's Landing park.  There were a lot more
anglers over there, the boat traffic was getting more intense, and the bird
life was almost nil.  We were fortunate to find two SPOTTED SANDPIPERs,
which we chased along the shoreline, and just two MARSH WRENs in Calvert.

It was noon by the time we disembarked, soaking wet from sweat in the near
90-degree heat.  We got the kayak mounted back on the car, and homeward we
went in heavy traffic, with the car thermometer registering 95 at one point.
But, we made it home, and despite the changes in plan, it was a really
worthwhile adventure.

I would like to know, however, if there is anyplace that one can launch a
kayak near Jug Bay, without waiting until 8 a.m. for some gate to open?  On
days like this, I like to be done with my birding by 10 a.m.

Best to all,

Stan Arnold
Glen Burnie