Following the tips from Jan Reese and others, I spent an hour in the
mid-day heat yesterday at Higgins Millpond where it is crossed by Linkwood
Road, and the birding was quite rewarding.  Traffic on Linkwood Road at that
time of day was very light, and the bridge over the Millpond is quite wide.
The drought has left this portion of the Millpond in the conditions of a
grand mud flat which provides a splendid feeding region for the migrants
coming through.  Such a low water level at this location is apparently a
very unusual occurrence.
 
    The birds were scattered over a mudflat region north of the bridge and
on the west side of the pond.  From a single scope position there were
around 600 birds available for clear and excellent viewing.  I found the
following species, though others could have been present.   Numbers shown of
20 or more of a species are just very rough estimates, as I spent my time
looking for the unusual ones, not counting the more common ones.  The view
was much like that of a good site on a good day at Chincoteague or Bombay
Hook, but without the distance or the bugs.   To get there, follow Rte 50 to
Linkwood (east of Cambridge) and then turn south on Linkwood Road, which
runs parallel to the railroad.  The Higgins Millpond crossing is about one
mile from the Rte 50 intersection.
 
Greater Yellowlegs    50+
Lesser  Yellowlegs        50+
Least Sandpiper        200+
Semi-palmated Sandpiper    30+
Pectoral Sandpiper    50+
Solitary Sandpiper    2
White-rumped Sandpiper    2
Stilt Sandpiper    3
Short-billed Dowitcher    3
Semipalmated Plover    20+
Killdeer        30+
Great Blue Heron        1
    
 
Les Roslund
Talbot County
Easton MD 21601
 

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