Hi Everyone,
I spent Sunday (9/7) looking for unusual birds between Sandy Point and northern Charles Co. with Stan Arnold, Tom Feild, and John Hubbell. Our highlights were BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL, and large tern numbers at Sandy Point SP, TRICOLORED HERON and YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER in Calvert Co.; WILLOW FLYCATCHER, LEAST FLYCATCHER, and SYCAMORE (ALBILORA) YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER in Charles Co., BLUE-WINGED WARBLER in P.G. Co., and COMMON NIGHTHAWKs in P.G. and Calvert Counties at dusk. The weather was beautiful and the bird activity was consistently interesting. Stan, John, and I coincidentally all broke 200 species in Calvert County--a prime condition for continued fierce competition. I think I'm up a couple birds on them now, but you know, no big thing...
Sandy Point SP, Anne Arundel Co.
We started the day at Sandy Point SP, where we joined Han Wierenga, Lynn Davidson, Bill Schreitz, and Scott Baron. A BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER was initially present on a rock jetty, and then flew a circuit, calling, before landing again. At 6:45 a.m. there was already a steady stream of COMMON TERNs (~40), but the stream shifted to nearly all FORSTER's within the first 15 minutes. The total number of small terns that passed was certainly in the hundreds. A subadult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL was present with the large gull flock at the south end of the beach.
Herrington Harbor, Anne Arundel Co.
After an hour or so of bay-watching, we continued south to Herrington Harbor and North Beach. Scanning from the marina at Herrington, we were treated to one of the larger concentrations of terns I've seen in Anne Arundel. One pier to the north held most of them.
Canada Goose--45
Laughing Gull--80
Ring-billed Gull--5
Herring Gull (American)--5
Great Black-backed Gull--40
Caspian Tern--3
Common Tern--11
Forster's Tern--46
Royal Tern--75; exact count
Chimney Swift--2
Eastern Bluebird--1
North Beach, Calvert Co.
Tom Feild mentioned spotting two COMMON GRAY FOXes loafing on a dock across the marsh during his last visit. To our surprise, they were laying around again today. I managed to get my first photos of the species, which is definitely one of my favorites. They're surprisingly easy to see near Fort Smallwood and Weinberg Parks.
Great Blue Heron--3
Great Egret--7
Snowy Egret--4
TRICOLORED HERON--1
Osprey--1
Killdeer--2
Greater Yellowlegs--1
Least Sandpiper--8
Forster's Tern--10
Royal Tern--2
Chesapeake Beach Marina, Calvert Co.
Spotted Sandpiper--1
Semipalmated Sandpiper--1
Least Sandpiper--1
peep sp.--1
Caspian Tern--2
Common Tern--100+
Impressive numbers of four gull species, Forster's Terns
Non-avian: An American Eel in the shallows.
Patuxent River--Smoky Road, Calvert Co.
Black Vulture--2
Turkey Vulture--6
Northern Harrier--1
BROAD-WINGED HAWK--5; soaring high; nice spot by John
Chimney Swift--12
Eastern Wood-Pewee--2
Great Crested Flycatcher--2
White-eyed Vireo--1
Red-eyed Vireo--2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher--1
Northern Parula--2
Chestnut-sided Warbler--1
Magnolia Warbler--1
Black-throated Green Warbler--1
Hooded Warbler--1 male
Summer Tanager--1 male
Scarlet Tanager--1 female
Eastern Towhee--2
Kings Landing Park, Calvert Co.
Bald Eagle--2
Laughing Gull--80
Ring-billed Gull--5
Yellow-billed Cuckoo--2
Eastern Wood-Pewee--2
YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER--1; close photos
Empidonax sp.--2
Eastern Phoebe--1
White-eyed Vireo--3
Yellow-throated Vireo--1; singing
Red-eyed Vireo--6
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher--1
Northern Parula--4
Black-and-white Warbler--3
Northern Waterthrush--1
Common Yellowthroat--2
Summer Tanager--1
Scarlet Tanager--1
Benedict--Rte. 231 bridge, Charles Co.
Mute Swan--1
AMERICAN COOT--1; under a dock with the local mallard flock
Low numbers of four gull species
Forster's Tern--8
Maxwell Hall Park, Charles Co.
Photographing calling Least and Willow Flycatchers was fun, but the real highlight at this stop was spotting a SYCAMORE (ALBILORA) YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER in a flock near the parking area. The white-lored, Sycamore-favoring subspecies is rarely detected outside of its breeding areas in the state. The close-up photos I managed to get actually show it in a loblolly pine, which is really cool. I have one other out-of-breeding-range record in Maryland, and it was from this spring at Elms Park in St. Mary's Co. (5/4/2008).
Great Egret--1
Laughing Gull--20
Rock Pigeon--24; shocking! my first sighting away from Waldorf
Eastern Wood-Pewee--1
Willow Flycatcher--1; calling
Least Flycatcher--1; calling
Eastern Phoebe--1
Red-eyed Vireo--4
Eastern Bluebird--5
Gray Catbird--1
Brown Thrasher--2
YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER (ALBILORA)--1; MIGRANT
Black-and-white Warbler--1
American Redstart--2
Common Yellowthroat--2
Summer Tanager--1
Chipping Sparrow--5
Indigo Bunting--1
Dusk at Milltown Landing, P.G. Co. with Calvert Co. across the river
Wood Duck--1
Great Blue Heron--1
Laughing Gull--3
Ring-billed Gull--2
COMMON NIGHTHAWK--1 over the trees in PG; 3 across the river in Calvert
Ruby-throated Hummingbird--1
Belted Kingfisher--1
Eastern Wood-Pewee--3
White-eyed Vireo--2
Red-eyed Vireo--2
House Wren--2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher--1
Gray Catbird--2
Brown Thrasher--1
BLUE-WINGED WARBLER--1
Yellow Warbler--1
Prairie Warbler--2
Common Yellowthroat--3
warbler sp.--2; two 'zeep' notes heard flying over after dark
Summer Tanager--1
Scarlet Tanager--1
Eastern Towhee--2
Field Sparrow--5
Song Sparrow--2
Indigo Bunting--1
Bobolink--25; also 50+ (probably 100s) on the Calvert side
Orchard Oriole--1; Stan and Tom
Baltimore Oriole--1
Non-avian: Pickerel Frog
I hope to post some photos tonight (http://www.billhubick.com/).
Good birding!
Bill
Bill Hubick
Pasadena, Maryland
http://www.billhubick.com |