I decided to try my luck this morning with the shorebirds being reported at Perryman. At least a half dozen others were doing the same. The flooded field on Canning House Road is superb habitat and there was an almost constant turnover of birds there. Twice Jim Stasz and Hans Holbrook departed only to return when called back by the arrival of a new bird. Many of the birds were there for only short periods before disappearing. Others disappeared returned and disappeared again before returning for another stay. Still others just stayed and ignored the occasional passing raptor. My totals were: Black-bellied Plover 6 (came and went several times), Semipalmated Plover 57 (did not stay long), Greater Yellowlegs 2, Lesser Yellowlegs 17, Sanderling 1 (stayed only a few minutes), Least Sandpiper 15, White-rumped Sandpiper 1, Pectoral Sandpiper 2 (last to arrive), Dunlin 1, Short-billed Dowitcher 1. And then there was the female Hooded Merganser that flew over three times between the pond not in view behind the farm and somewhere to the south. I also saw a Cliff Swallow here. 

   At the nearby Perryman Park pond the shorebirds were more stable. I saw here: Killdeer 1, Spotted Sandpiper 1, Solitary Sandpiper 2, Lesser Yellowlegs 2, Semipalmated Sandpiper 4, Least Sandpiper 75, Dunlin 1. 

Bob Ringler 
Eldersburg MD