Hi Everyone,

As posted by Mark Hoffman, many of us are quite certain that we added a sighting of the BROWN BOOBY off of Assateague Island. Several of us were sea-watching by around 6:30 a.m., and soon our numbers were up to fourteen. Having so many eyes was excellent, with multiple occasions where even distant birds were called out by three people at once. It's great to see the coast getting good coverage this summer!

The apparent BROWN BOOBY never approached closely, but was studied for several minutes. The strongest characters noted were distinctive structure, details of flight style, and several low-angle (~45 degree) plunge dives. Although lighting was poor, observed plumage details were also consistent with Brown Booby. As described by others, the bird was immediately recognized as a sulid, but considered generally smaller and incorrectly proportioned for a gannet. Its flight was consistent, with rapid wingbeats and rapid progress despite southeast winds. The bird clearly had all brown upperparts with no noted white patches and no white uppertail coverts. Its head and neck were also clearly brown. The demarcation of the brown across the breast was distinct, with lighter belly occasionally visible. The color of the belly was very difficult to judge under the conditions, except that it was definitely lighter than the rest of the bird. Impressions seemed to range
 from off-white (10-20% gray) to just a lighter brown. I was most struck by the low-angle plunge-dives, which might be more than just strongly suggestive of booby ID. 

A subadult NORTHERN GANNET provided excellent contrast less than an hour later. At once, most of the group announced with surprise how much this bird differed from our first sulid. It flapped more slowly on longer, narrower wings, often interspersing short glides. It was a rattier bird and in wing molt, which was noted even in fairly distant photos. We remembered to watch this bird as it disappeared to the south to see from how far we could note its white uppertail coverts. We were pleased to see that they were visible even at a great distance. 

Here is the full list with notes:

Assateague I. NS--ORV Zone

Notes: Memorable seawatch with some of Maryland's finest. Evidence is very strong that we further documented Maryland's first Brown Booby. Observers: Stan Arnold, Betsy Bangert, Mike Burchett, Chris Dominick, Dan Haas, Mark Hoffman, John Hubbell, Bill Hubick, Nico Sarbanes, Jeff Shenot and friend Clint, Dan Small, Jim Stasz, Mike Walsh. Stasz set us up with style with a fancy tent to keep the sun out of our eyes. Wind-surfers active.

Wilson's Storm-Petrel--6; this number might be a bit low if I missed some people calling these out
Northern Gannet--1; subadult studied and photographed well; provided valuable contrast to probable Brown Booby seen at 0715-0730
PROBABLE BROWN BOOBY--1; *** Strongest support comes from structure, flight style, and several low-angle (45 degree) plunge dives. Had the opportunity to contrast details with a subadult Northern Gannet an hour later and differences were pronounced; poor photos, but including one shot of a low-angle dive
Brown Pelican--11
Double-crested Cormorant--3
Night-heron sp.--1; * Oddity. Jeff Shenot spotted an immature night-heron almost directly overhead and heading east over the ocean at about noon. We couldn't lock it down to species.
Osprey--2
Semipalmated Plover--1; southbound, backlit; Bill only, I think
Killdeer--1
Willet (Western)--7; now the more expected Willet (sub)species here
Whimbrel (American)--73; exact count of southbound birds between 0635 and 1430. All birds were specifically checked for European Whimbrel.
Sanderling--48
Short-billed Dowitcher--9; southbound flybys
Laughing Gull--26; * Including first juvenile of the year (Stasz had his first yesterday)
Ring-billed Gull--1 adult
Herring Gull (American)--18
Great Black-backed Gull--6
Least Tern--6
Black Tern--3
Common Tern--57; this number is probably on the low side, but these birds were cycling back and forth more than most species
Forster's Tern--10
Sterna sp.--30-50; est. of distant Sterna terns in harsh light that were left unidentified
Royal Tern--8
Sandwich Tern--1; good spot by Stasz
Black Skimmer--6; three sightings of two birds, all southbound
Barn Swallow--6
Common Yellowthroat--1
Eastern Towhee--1
Boat-tailed Grackle--8

Many of us left around 12:30 p.m., with Mark Hoffman keeping vigil on the ORV (=OSV) zone. Nico Sarbanes and I met up with Dan Small, Jim Brighton, and Colleen Meny at Skimmer Island. Our intended brief stop ended up lasting well over 2 hours due to the high concentrations of shorebirds. Highlights were roosting Black Terns, Whimbrel, and Sandwich Terns. Nico, Dan, and I also had a PROBABLE molting HUDSONIAN GODWIT, but alas, it got away from us before we committed to the ID. Painful!

Ocean City--Skimmer Island

Brown Pelican--18
Double-crested Cormorant--28
Great Egret--3
Snowy Egret--1
Little Blue Heron--1
American Oystercatcher--8
Willet (Eastern)--1; one spotted and carefully scrutinized; really jumped out among the majority of Westerns
Willet (Western)--18; now the more expected (sub)species here
Whimbrel--3; first time I've seen Whimbrels roosting at Skimmer Island that I can remember
Ruddy Turnstone--2
Red Knot--2--Two molting from alternate to basic plumage
Sanderling--435; an impressive concentration! Counted by twos, then fives.
Least Sandpiper--8
Short-billed Dowitcher--229; including plenty of clear hendersoni, of course, but not carefully scrutinized
Laughing Gull--60
Ring-billed Gull--1 adult
Herring Gull--100
Lesser Black-backed Gull--1 adult
Great Black-backed Gull--10
Least Tern--5
Black Tern--2 adults just starting to molt out of alternate plumage roosting on a flat
Common Tern--45; only birds roosting in the open were counted
Forster's Tern--5
Royal Tern--15; * noted first juvenile of the year
Sandwich Tern--3; roosting on the flats
Rock Pigeon--10
Fish Crow--1
Barn Swallow--2
European Starling--20
Red-winged Blackbird--2
Boat-tailed Grackle--4

Good birding!

Bill

Bill Hubick
Pasadena, Maryland

http://www.billhubick.com