Yesterday it was apparent the fall shorebird migration is underway in PG County now.   Before I went to work I saw two peeps (unidentified sandpipers) on a mudflat in the early am, and when I got home in the eve, I saw a Semi-palmated Plover flying down the Patuxent River at Jug Bay.  Practically an invasion for this area!   I went out (in the eve) to look for the White Ibis that D Bystrak reported from the day before.  Even if the bird was present, it would be unlikely to find it here, given the extensive nooks and crannies available for hiding among the dense but patchy emergent marsh vegetation (wild rice, cattails, spadderdock, pickerel weed, arrow arum, arrowhead etc.).

No luck with the WHIB, as expected, but the SEPL was a very nice consolation prize!  It was the first one I've seen here at Jug Bay.  I had just returned from a long weekend at NJ, and saw many shorebirds there at Forsythe NWR (aka Brigantine; I saw ~ 8-9K shorebirds there plus some really cool other birds), so I was not appreciably excited at first when I saw the SEPL flying past, until it dawned on me I was at Jug Bay - and this was a very exceptional find for here.

The vegetaion here had explosive growth in the last week and the "jungle" effect is in full force.  If a bird is not in plain view it can be very tricky to spot it in the peak of this growing season.

I also noticed something peculiar.  The hummingbirds at our house are nectaring on the sunflowers in our garden, as are some skippers and other butterflies.  Last evening there were three hummers there continuously, with one male agressively defending the sunflower patch from intruding newcomers (which came by fairly often).  I have never noticed this before; it seems like sunflowers are not great for a nectar source, but maybe we have enough critical mass with sunflowers this year to attract the nectar consumers to them.  We have never had this many sunflowers before, and there are 3 varieties (I don't know what they are).  Still, there are plenty of other flowering plants present now, so its not as though that's all they have to feed on, plus the behavior at the feeders we have up is the same as always.  Any one else ever see hummers using sunflowers like this?

Cheers-
Jeff Shenot
Croom MD