Hi Folks,

I did my weekly survey at Sandy Point State Park (AA Co.) this morning
and was surprised to find a second-cycle LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL on
the north beach (reserved pavillion area) with about 20 Ring-bills.
The bird was a little larger than the Ring-bills, had an all-dark bill
and dark mantle with coloration between an imm Herring Gull and an
adult Lesser Black-back.  Also had a single CASPIAN TERN working the
shoreline and my first FORSTER'S TERN for this location this summer.
The gull flock here is increasing in size as the season progresses,
and today I had 12 Laughers (season high), 184 Ring-bills (season
high) and 135 Great Black-backs (with more coming in as I was leaving,
which I did not count).  Typical for this place, Herring Gulls were
scarce, with only three tallied.

WEEK IN REVIEW

CATTLE EGRETs have been all over northern Anne Arundel Co. this past
week, and I've had the following sightings:  Tue, 7/6 two at Swan
Creek; Fri, 7/9 three flew over our house and five seen at Swan Creek;
Sat. 7/10, 15 in with the cows, Cecil Ave.; Sun., 7/11, seven flew
over Dorsey Rd. and the BWI Trail which I was hiking and six flew over
our house; Mon., 7/12, ten flew over the building complex at Swan
Creek.

Kayaking the Patuxent with Kevin Graff

When I was stationed at Fort Drum NY many years ago, I stepped outside
one winter morning and the temperature was 42 degrees below zero.  I
donned my winter clothing and went out cross-country skiing for an
hour; only my toes got cold.  Well, Tuesday, 6 July was the hottest
day I have yet experienced in the state of Maryland.  The official
termperature at BWI, near where I live, was 105 degrees F.  So what
did I do?  Asked Kevin if he wanted to go kayaking along the Patuxent
to see if we could find any of those terrific birds in the area
(Arctic Tern, White Ibis).  As we drove south towards Jug Bay that
afternoon the temperature on the car thermometer registered 104 on
many occasions.  When we got to the parking area at Patuxent Wetlands
Park by Rte 4 the temp had dropped to a frosty 100.  We launched, and
what I was hoping would happen did indeed happen:  the temperature
dropped a good ten degrees on the water, and the breeze was quite
pleasant and in our faces, making the trip with the tide downriver
quite pleasant.  What I said to Kevin is what I say to everyone I go
kayaking with in the afternoon: "you know, we could be stuck in rush
hour traffic right now, or we could be here on the river."  Even in
this extreme weather, the trip was pleasant, and we owned the river,
not seeing another human until two hours later when we arrived at
Selby's Landing.  Sadly, we did not find our rarities, but we did find
three FORSTER'S TERNs, one of them a dark juvenile being attended to
by one of the adults.  During the trip back upstream, once again aided
by the tide which had changed direction, we encountered three LEAST
BITTERNs--one briefly jumping up out of the vegetation on the Anne
Arundel side, one calling on the PG side, and one very obligingly
flying across the river in front of us from the AA side to the PG
side.  The Least Bitterns, by the way, seem to like the area between
the Jug Bay Sanctuary Railroad Trail and Mount Calvert.  This is where
we saw them all during this trip, and it's also the only place I found
them during my floats last summer.  Also of note were dozens of BANK
SWALLOWs, seen all along the river south of Mount Calvert.  The
temperature at the little park when we disembarked four hours and 10.5
miles after launch had dropped to 85 degrees, but 45 minutes later
near my home it was still reading 94 degrees at 9:30 p.m.  A real
scorcher!

Other birds seen during the past week:

Tue, 7/6, PEREGRINE FALCON over the north cell at Swan Creek (AA Co.)

Wed., 7/7, LESSER SCAUP at Sandy Point SP, strange plumage with brown
head and breast like that of a female, but bright white belly
feathers.  Also a single CASPIAN TERN there and a singing N. PARULA
near the park entrance.

Sat., 7/10, after seeing the Avocets, Dowitchers and Moorhen in PG
Co., I visited the Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary in AA Co. and listened
to two LEAST BITTERNs calling incessantly, one on each side of the
boardwalk that goes out to the blind off the Railroad Trail.  Sands
Road Park offered a single E. MEADOWLARK during my very short visit.

Sun., 7/11, a singing OVENBIRD inside the airport fence during my
nine-mile hike around the BWI Trail was unusual and getting late to
hear.  I only tallied four GRASSHOPPER SPARROWs during this trip (I
usually get 7 or 8), probably because I got to the Andover Overlook
later in the morning than usual.

Mon., 7/12, an immature BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON at Swan Creek in a
non-public area, and 19 LITTLE BLUE HERONs at the wetland.  Also
there, two SONG SPARROWs, which are in our yard every day, but haven't
had one at Swan Creek in over TWO MONTHS!  And this is such a great
sparrow area, but not this summer!  The best bird at Swan Creek this
day was the one I didn't see.  A string of tracks stretching over 1/4
mile in the soft rain-soaked mud obviously were made by WILD TURKEYs.
The staff members at Swan Creek have seen these birds, and Dan Haas
heard one during one of our evening rail searches, but I have yet to
see or hear one there.  Just tracks.

Enough.  Enjoy the summer; it sure beats 72 inches of snow.

Stan Arnold
Ferndale (AA Co.)
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