With an unexpected day off on Wednesday, and the recent report of rare  gulls 
in Wicomico from Hubick, Hubbell and Lutmerding, the question of where to  go 
was a no-brainer. Long story short, my results on the Franklin's and Thayer's 
 Gulls were no and maybe. Even so, the day had some highlights. Hopefully 
others  will have better luck with the gulls.
 
First thing in the morning I was at Roaring Point on the Nanticoke, scoping  
the sand spit that held only a few dozen gulls -- one LAUGHING, the rest  
RING-BILED, HERRING and GREAT BLACK-BACKED. Mike Walsh stopped by briefly -- he  
had been checking for the Franklin's since Tuesday without success. The best  
sighting here was a high-flying flock of 6 RED-THROATED LOONS that came  down 
the river past the point, crossing from the Dorchester side into Wicomico  as 
they headed toward the mouth of the river. There was also a nice drake  
WHITE-WINGED SCOTER just off shore with a trio of SURF SCOTERS. Ducks, other  than 
Buffleheads, were very scarce.
 
From there I drove up to the Salisbury landfill for the Thayer's, my first  
visit to this particular facility. The staff are indeed very friendly toward  
birders. Trash dumping was in full swing so the scene at the top was quite  
chaotic. I did briefly spot one pale first-winter gull that showed brown  
primaries with pale chevrons, but as I got the scope on it, the bird was flushed  by 
the bulldozers and not seen again. I'd planned to spend four hours searching  
for the Thayer's, but after two I realized I was beginning to  recognize 
individual birds and had probably worked the flock as well as  possible. As a 
consolation, there were 6 LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS.
 
I decided to finish the afternoon at Nanticoke WMA on Nutters Neck Road, a  
spot I had visited only once before. I explored some of the trails and  picked 
up a few county birds here and there. Best birds  here were a yellow PALM 
WARBLER and a male HARRIER. Some notables for the  day:
 
Nanticoke Wharf Road (south side of Roaring Point):
Bufflehead ~40
Common Goldeneye - 2 hens
RED-THROATED LOON - 7 (1 seen early on Dorchester side, 6 flybys later, all  
adults)
Common Loon - 1
Brown Pelican - 3, on and around pound nets
Brown-headed Nuthatch - 1
 
Roaring Point County Park (north side of Roaring Point):
 
scaup sp. - 4
Surf Scoter - 8
White-winged Scoter - 1
Ruddy Duck - 6
Common Loon - 2
Bald Eagle - 2 adults
Brown-headed Nuthatch - 3
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 5
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 6
Hermit Thrush - 1
Fox Sparrow - 4 together, 1 singing
 
Cedar Hill Marina:
Common Goldeneye - 1 female
Common Loon - 1
Northern Harrier - 1 female, flew in off the river
Killdeer - 2
Hermit Thrush - 1
 
Salisbury Landfill:
Laughing Gull ~ 50
Ring-billed Gull ~ 80
Herring Gull ~1000
Lesser Black-backed Gull - 6 (2 adult, 1 3rd winter, 3 1st winter)
Great Black-backed Gull ~100
 
Nanticoke WMA, Nutters Neck Road, Quantico:
Bald Eagle - 1, 1st year
Northern Harrier - 1 male coursing the fields
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1
Red-tailed Hawk - 2
Eastern Bluebird - 15
Hermit Thrush - 4
Cedar Waxwing - 7
PALM WARBLER - 1, yellow
Field Sparrow - 2
Savannah Sparrow - 5
Song Sparrow - 8
White-throated Sparrow - 15
Dark-eyed Junco - 3
 
Joel Martin
Catonsville, MD
 (mailto:[log in to unmask])  

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