We repeated the survey that we took on August 8, which was to count 
all birds on the beach from the VA line to the exit point of the OSV 
Zone - a total of about 12.5 miles.  We drove it the same time of day 
(about 6 PM to 8 PM) and at about the same speed.  The weather was 
dramatically different, with strong onshore winds, low overcast, and 
temperatures in the low 70s.  The following is a list of species and 
numbers seen.

Double-crested Cormorant - 1
Brown Pelican - 12
Black-bellied Plover - 164
Am Oystercatcher - 4
Willet - 85
Ruddy Turnstone - 91
Sanderling - 4,179

Laughing Gull - 10
Ring-billed Gull - 104
Herring Gull - 89
Lesser Black-backed Gull - 1
Great Black-backed Gull - 115

Royal Tern - 174
Sandwich Tern - 3
Common Tern - 5
Forster's Tern - 3

Barn Swallow - 3

There were very few differences in counts, except that royal terns, 
ring-billed gulls and black-bellied plovers were more numerous, while 
we missed 3 species of shorebirds seen 10 days earlier.

Paul Bystrak


3709 Devonshire Drive
Salisbury, MD 21804
410-572-9950
443-783-1268 (cell)