Hi Folks,

Yesterday I did a hike up North Assateague, followed by a visit to Skimmer 
Island.  There were no bird species that I hadn't already seen many times 
before this year, but the number of Marbled Godwits at Skimmer has doubled 
from the previous high count.

Most of North Assateague is now open; only a 1.5-kilometer wide swath from 
about 8.0 to 9.5 is still closed as the last of the fledgling Piping Plovers 
breaks loose from its parents.  I hiked as far north as the 5.0 km marker, 
feeding the mosquitoes while checking out several of the bayside areas, and 
then hiked back south along the beach in the heat and humidity, totalling a 
little over 10 km (maybe 6.5 miles).   I had three Whimbrels at the 5.0 km 
lagoon, which is unusual, since most whimbrels keep to the southern half of 
the OSV zone more than 15 km away.  I also found four Piping Plovers, 
certainly migrants from the north, among the hundreds of Semi Plovers.  By 
the way, the north end of the island (at the Ocean City Inlet) is 0 km, and 
the entry road to the state park is at about 10.0 km.  Continuing south down 
the island, the entry to the OSV zone is at about 19.5 km, and the Virginia 
state line is something like 39.5 km.  The good OSV shorebird spot known as 
Fox Hill Level is at 25.3 km.

Back home in Ferndale (AA Co) we usually get a swarm of Laughing Gulls 
swirling over our house one time per year, and it appears that the birds are 
responding to some concentration of flying insects aloft.  Well, last 
evening was the evening that the gulls came, and we had several dozen 
laughers with maybe a half dozen ring-bills putting on a good show right 
over the yard.  Kevin Graff had spotted our first Laughing Gull of the 
season following the Poplar Island trip on 11 Aug, and we have now seen them 
almost daily since then which is unusual for our yard despite our coastal 
plain location.

Stan Arnold
Ferndale (AA Co)