Hi Folks,

I took my nephew Max back to Assateague yesterday for his final flirt with 
the waves before he leaves Maryland on Sat.  Kevin Graph also joined us for 
the early morning outing, which did not produce the terns of my previous 
visit, but shorebirds are definitely on the increase, and we tallied 14 
species, even though we missed turnstone and Red Knot.  The highlights for 
the outing were nine WILSON'S STORM-PETRELs and 18 WHIMBRELs from the 
ORV/OSV zone and two MARBLED GODWITs at Castaways.

The OSV zone is still closed near the 23.4 km crossover, meaning there is 
still no access to Fox Hill Level, which should have good numbers of 
shorebirds by now.  We were able to scope a few terns and shorebirds flying 
out of this location.  Based on my discussion with the ranger last week, 
access to the remainder of the zone should occur any day now, once the 
Piping Plover fledglings are self sustaining.

Some of the highlights from our various stops include:

    Assateague Nat. Seashore, Bayside Dr.:

Chuck-will's-widow--1 called at 5:42 a.m.

    ORV/OSV zone, 6:00 - 8:25 a.m.

Wilson's Storm-Petrel--9
Am. Oystercatcher--6
Greater Yellowlegs--1 seen flying up out of Fox Hill Level
Willet--28
Whimbrel--18, all flyovers/flybys
Sanderling--18, some still in nice breeding plumage
Dowitcher--3
Black Skimmer--2 flying by
Yellow-billed Cuckoo--kind of a neat bird to be viewed from the beach

    Castaways Campground, 9:05 - 10:20:

Cattle Egret--3 flyovers
Black-bellied Plover--8
Semi Plover--3
Piping Plover--11
Killdeer--2
Am. Oystercatcher--12
Lesser Yellowlegs--1
Willet--11
Spotted Sandpiper--1
Marbled Godwit--2
Least Sandpiper--1
SB Dowitcher--11

    Skimmer Island, 10:30 - 10:50 a.m.

Red-breasted Merganser--1 hen/imm continues
Tricolored Heron--1
Black-bellied Plover--6
Killdeer--1
Am. Oystercatcher--8
Willet--22
SB Dowitcher--10

The four most common terns (Least, Common, Forster's, Royal) were seen at 
all three main venues, but we saw no Sandwich or other terns.  Winds were 
quite unfavorable for seabirds, being out of the south/southwest.

We finished the day with a nice lunch at the Catch 54 Restaurant in Fenwick 
Island, DE, where we met Lou DeMuoy looking for the spoonbill.  Kevin 
thought he might have seen the head of the bird sticking up from the marsh 
grass momentarily, but none of the others of us were looking in the right 
place at the right time.  The young lady who seated us said she DID see the 
bird behing the restaurant the day prior, which would have been 7/14.

Stan Arnold
Ferndale (AA Co.)