I was out several times today from 10-4:30 looking around Jug Bay (Patuxent River in PG/AA Counties).  I was hoping for a Sooty or or Black Tern but had no luck; I settled for a couple unexpected passerines at my house and a pair of Royal Terns (FOY here) was the best find.

The storm was not too bad; we had about 2.5 to 3 inches of rain that was steady but there were a few times when it let up for a few minutes.  It never really rained hard.  The wind was pretty steady at about 10-15 mph and we had gusts over 30 (guess) but I don't think it exceeded 40 mph.

A few notes:  Bobolinks - A large flock in the Wild Rice! It could have been 100's; they were very vocal even over the wind and rain, but hidden in the wild rice and a count was not possible.  I saw many flying about but none were perched - I think all were feeding.  Ditto on the huge numbers of RW Blackbirds here, although some were perched  most were feeding on the rice.

I saw a large white tern with two Royals.  It was very pale and had a tail that was not heavily forked.  Its bill was thinner and darker than the Royals.  It seemed to be larger than what I would expect for a Forster's and I saw no eye spot.  Regretfully, I could not identify it except that was not a Royal (which were larger).  Tough viewing conditions!

At my yard I had a nice view of a Least Flycatcher hiding in a shrub, sallying out to catch insects in the rain.  I got within about 12 feet of it and had great looks at it.  It was a FOY for me here, I don't see many around Jug Bay.  I also had a great view of an adult female Baltimore Oriole in a tree in our yard.  Even dripping wet they are magnificent birds to see.

The numbers below are based on the most seen at one time, since many were probably recycling.

Double-crested Cormorant 9
Great Blue Heron 3
Great Egret 3
Black Vulture 1
Turkey Vulture 2
Canada Goose 23
Wood Duck 3
American Black Duck 2
Mallard 2
Blue-winged Teal 3
Osprey 1
Bald Eagle 2
Northern Harrier 1
Cooper's Hawk 2
Ring-billed Gull 23
Royal Tern 2
Forster's Tern 17
Rock Pigeon 15 (uncommon here)
Mourning Dove 12
Chimney Swift 3
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 4
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee 1
Least Flycatcher 1
Empid sp. 1
Eastern Phoebe 3
White-eyed Vireo 2
Red-eyed Vireo 2
Blue Jay 2
American Crow 3
Fish Crow 1
Tree Swallow 1
Bank Swallow 1
Barn Swallow 8
Carolina Chickadee 2
Tufted Titmouse 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Carolina Wren 2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
Eastern Bluebird 8
American Robin 1
Gray Catbird 2
Northern Mockingbird 2
Brown Thrasher 1
European Starling 50+
Magnolia Warbler 2
Black-and-white Warbler 1
Northern Waterthrush 1
Common Yellowthroat 1
Scarlet Tanager 1
Eastern Towhee 1
Chipping Sparrow  
Song Sparrow 1
Northern Cardinal 3
Blue Grosbeak 3
Bobolink 50+ 
Red-winged Blackbird 1,000+
Common Grackle ~300
Brown-headed Cowbird ~75
Baltimore Oriole 1
House Finch 2
American Goldfinch 2
House Sparrow 1

Maybe tomorrow morning will bring more excitement!

Jeff Shenot
Croom, MD