Hi Everyone,
Jim Green and I had a long, fun-filled day birding our way through Queen Anne's, Kent, and Cecil Counties yesterday (14 July 2010). Cecil County had not been on our agenda, but we had to take a chance (or two) on the Sandhill Crane in Elkton. We enjoyed wandering Meadow Park and meeting fellow birders, but as previously reported the morning search yielded no crane. Later, Jim Brighton let us know that the crane had returned in the afternoon. We made an ill-advised, end-of-the-day run back up to Elkton, arriving just before dark. No crane.
But while folks were enjoying the afternoon crane show in Elkton, we had some good luck of our own in Kent County. At about 7 pm, we found a juvenile YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON along the edge of one of the ponds beside the self-guided tour road at Chesapeake Farms (accessed from Rt 20 between Chestertown and Rock Hall). The pond with the heron is on the left side of the road opposite the gravel road on the right that is marked as No Trespassing (or private or no access or something like that). The bird was beneath vegetation overhanging the bank, and we spotted it before reaching the entrance to the private drive. (To clarify: the private drive is just a landmark; the bird was along the drive that is open to the public). We viewed and photographed the bird from about 7-7:30 pm. Other birds using the ponds along the drive included GREEN HERON (4), SPOTTED SANDPIPER (1), SOLITARY SANDPIPER (4), LEAST SANDPIPER (over 30), and SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER (1).
Stop one on the self-guided tour is on the opposite side of Rt 20 on Remington Drive. This is the large, shallow pond that hosts numerous waterfowl during fall/winter/spring and numerous shorebirds during spring/summer/fall. Folks probably remember the Ruff that was here last year. Hundreds of shorebirds are now present. Diversity was not high, but numerous SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS were there, and we managed to pick out 3 WESTERN SANDPIPERS.
Have fun,
Ron Gutberlet
Salisbury, MD
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