Hi Everyone,

Yesterday (19 July 2009) Bill Hubick and I put in a full day (6:00 am to 8:30 pm) birding Assateague, Castaways, and Skimmer Island: back and forth, up and down the coast, changing locations when conditions were unfavorable or when boredom edged out patience and enthusiasm.  Fortunately, with "MD's Next Ten Species" fresh in our minds, enthusiasm was high, and several exciting moments can generate a full day of patience.  Bill was also on a mission, since an ill-timed pizza run earlier this year caused him to miss a Roseate Tern at the OC Inlet--perhaps you remember that story.  Anyway, as you'll see below, Bill ought to be able to fully enjoy pizza again...

Mike Burchett joined us for most of the day, Betsy Bangert for part of the day, and we also birded briefly with Kevin Graff, Nico Sarbanes, Leslie Starr, and Joe Turner, who were out for a full day of their own.

We checked the bay side of Assateague a little after 6 am.  We did not detect any passerine movement during brief visits to Bayside and Ferry Landing, but we did have a WHIMBREL fly over at Ferry Landing.

Next we headed to the ORV (= OSV) Zone of Assateague for our first sea watch of the day.  In addition to some of the nice expected ORV species (see Bill's full eBird list below), we were glad to see 3 BLACK TERNS (my 305th MD species in 2009!).  But the big excitement--and ultimate frustration--came when I called out a distant gannet.  Brief excitement about a July gannet gave way to Bill's call that we needed to rule out Brown Booby.  True!  Bill's notes below nicely describe the sighting and our conclusion that we could not confidently identify the bird to species.  We'll never know for sure, but our distant scope views of the bird flying away--showing the brown back and tail with no sign of white uppertail coverts (distance?  lighting?  true absence?)--will keep me wondering for a while.  One of many reasons for another visit to Assateague!

Bill's eBird report (Assateague ORV Zone, 7:05-10:45 am):

SULID SP.     1     ** The one that got away. Possible Brown Booby at most expected place and month for Maryland's first state record. Ron called out a very distant gannet and we quickly agreed we had to rule out Brown Booby. It approached, plunge-dove directly downward from about 15-feet, roosted on the water for about 30 seconds, then flew to the south. We agreed that it had a brown head and neck, and light underparts. I felt the delineation of dark and light at the base of neck was pronounced. As it flew away from us at one point, we agreed that the back was clearly brown from head to tail (no white uppertail coverts visible). If this were a reliable view, it should have confirmed Brown Booby, but at such distance, it cannot be considered reliable. The bird disappeared to the south and never returned during our long vigil. 
Brown Pelican     13
Osprey     4
Piping Plover     1     Flyover, calling. Bill only.
American Oystercatcher     5
Willet     21
Willet (Eastern)     1     Only obvious Eastern on the beach today, though note many were not seen closely enough to scrutinize
Willet (Western)     9     Western seems to be the more common Willet on the beach in late July. I'll loosen this filter.
Sanderling     68
Laughing Gull     33     No juveniles
Ring-billed Gull     4     Two juveniles closely studied, one photographed in nice light
Herring Gull (American)     44
Lesser Black-backed Gull     5     Three adult, two third-cycle, one first-cycle
Great Black-backed Gull     39
gull sp.     10
Least Tern     32     At least 10 juveniles flying around near closed area south of bull pen
BLACK TERN     3     Studied extensively via scope, at one point all of them feeding together directly in front of us
Common Tern     35
Forster's Tern     5
Royal Tern     3
Black Skimmer     2     Two adults
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)     1     At 2nd dune crossing
White-eyed Vireo     2     At 2nd dune crossing
Horned Lark     1     At 2nd dune crossing; Bill only
Gray Catbird     2
Northern Mockingbird     1
Common Yellowthroat     9
Eastern Towhee     6
Field Sparrow     3     Nice looks at a juvenile at 2nd dune crossing
Song Sparrow     4
Northern Cardinal     1
Red-winged Blackbird     2
Boat-tailed Grackle     9
American Goldfinch     2

Next we moved on to Castaways, which is proving to be a popular camping destination.  With the big crowd dispersed along the beach and out among the closer flats, most birds were distant.  Nonetheless, scoping was productive.  While I counted gulls and herons, Bill worked on the terns--the nice concentration yielded 3 SANDWICH TERNS (#306!) and a GULL-BILLED TERN.  Thanks, Bill!

Mike Burchett and Betsy Bangert joined us at Skimmer Island where we did not find anything unexpected.

A brief stop at the West OC Pond yielded several GLOSSY IBIS and 4 LESSER YELLOWLEGS.

We returned to Assateague, where parking was at a premium.  We did another sea watch from the beach near the ranger station without finding anything unusual.  Back to Castaways where all the flats had been submerged by the rising tide.  Back to Skimmer where we birded briefly with Keven, Nico, Leslie, and Joe; they spotted the continuing RED-BREASTED MERGANSER.

Back to Assateague where Mike, Bill, and I started a sea watch near the Life of the Dunes trail.  We had assumed that the ORV Zone would be at capacity and unavailable to us, but Bill wasn't ready to give up yet.  We looked to our right and saw a vehicle driving onto the ORV--no line!  So at 6:25 pm we were back on the sand driving south.  We stopped at a decent tern flock where we soon spotted a GREATER SHEARWATER on the water relatively close to shore.  It settled on the water several times between short flights and Bill got some nice photos.

I was still enjoying scope views of the shearwater when Mike called out the words that Bill was waiting to hear:  ROSEATE TERN!!!  A beautiful adult bird with a nice long tail.  Great spot Mike!  Bill got some good shots for his 350th species photgraphed in MD.  As far as I know, only Mark Hoffman, George Jett, and Jim Stasz have reached that milestone.  Congrats, Bill!

As the tern flock dispersed--we last saw the Roseate Tern flying north--we finished our ORV time just south of the Bull Pen.  South of this, the beach remains closed for the Piping Plovers but will probably reopen soon.  We continued to scan the water and also enjoyed scoping south into the closed area to watch Piping Plovers, American Oystercatchers, and Least Terns.  We watched one Least Tern feed a small fish to a chick.

When leaving the ORV Zone we stopped to listen to COMMON NIGHTHAWKS and enjoy the booming display flight.  Kevin, Nico, Leslie, and Joe were here too.  At one point we saw 3 nighthawks simultaneously right near the Life of the Dunes trail.  A great conclusion to a great day.

Assateague has been exciting this summer--Stan Arnold's posts come to mind especially--and I hope to be out there many more times as this great birding year continues.

Have fun,

Ron Gutberlet
Salisbury, MD