After striking out on the stint in Ocean City yesterday morning, 
I decided to check out some other birding spots in the county.   

West Ocean City Pond was much drier than the last time I was there, 
three weeks ago, but hosted some of the usual suspects (Great Egrets, 
several Little Blue Herons, 2 Cattle Egrets, both yellowlegs, peeps).  
I also watched a Solitary Sandpiper and a STILT SANDPIPER engaged
in an aggressive stand-off for a few minutes - it was nice to see the two 
species so close together for the sake of comparison.

At Ocean City airport, I saw 2 more Cattle Egrets and heard Killdeer.

At Scott's Landing, a juvenile STILT SANDPIPER ran down the road in 
front of my car.

Truitt's Landing was completely dry, with no birds (except for a pair of 
human lovebirds in a car - I turned around and beat a hasty retreat).

At Taylor's Landing, I saw a ROYAL TERN (in nonbreeding plumage) 
and several Forster's Terns and Laughing Gulls. 

Nearby, at E.A. Vaughn WMA, I discovered that herons and egrets had 
pretty much taken over the larger pond.  A quick count yielded Great 
Egrets (110+), Snowy Egrets (40+), Glossy Ibis (12+), Tricolored Herons 
(5 or 6), and Great Blue Herons (2).  The smaller pond held only 1 Solitary 
Sandpiper and a Little Blue Heron, which took off when it saw me.  As an 
added bonus:  I found 3 BROWN-HEADED NUTHATCHES in the pines 
between the ponds and heard and saw a NORTHERN BOBWHITE.

On the way home I stopped briefly at Tanyard Marsh in Caroline County 
(now that I know where it is) but saw nothing out of the ordinary - Barn 
Swallows, Turkey Vultures, Ospreys, and blackbirds.

Elaine Hendricks
Greenbelt, MD  (PG County)



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