The amount of dispersing herons and egrets this week, including today,
has been amazing.
This morning, in Upper Marlboro, I found a group of 6 white waders
flying south. The group was composed of 4 Great Egrets, 1 Little Blue
Heron, and 1 SNOWY EGRET. Snowy is a tough bird in PG and everywhere
west of there. This set the tone for the rest of the day. Shortly after,
I visited the Recycle Pond on Brown Station Road and found two more
Little Blue Herons, with another Great Egret.
From there, I decided to chase Jim Green's WHITE IBIS in Washington
County. I picked up my brother Mike and we were successful in finding
the ibis soon after we arrived. It was joined by a Great Egret. After
that, we checked a few spots in the Hagerstown area for shorebirds but
only found Solitarys, Spotteds, and Killdeer.
Heading back east, we stopped at Hughes Hollow to check out the recent
reports of waders. We found four LITTLE BLUE HERONS along with two Great
Egrets, three Great Blues, and four Green Herons.
We then moved on to Riley's Lock to check for the Mute Swan that Jim
Moore relocated today. While searching for it far upriver, I saw a group
of white egrets/herons sitting on a branch near the shore of Virginia. I
decided I had to walk up river to check on them - anything white is
interesting on the piedmont. After walking about another mile in the
ridiculous heat, I got my scope on the group of waders and immediately
spotted a juvenile WHITE IBIS feeding along the shoreline that was
exposed by the receding water. Presumably, this is the same ibis that
Dave Czaplak found earlier this week. Accompanying the ibis were 7
LITTLE BLUE HERONS and two Great Egrets. There was also one unidentified
small white wader that separated from the group as they took off flying
(maybe Dave's Snowy from this week?). Unfortunately, I had to stay on
the main group and couldn't relocate the stray later. This is a
ridiculous number of Little Blues for Montgomery, perhaps the most ever.
Bob, can you tell me if it is?
On the walk back to the car, we found a juvenile Black-crowned
Night-Heron standing next to the canal.
Total on the day: 14 Little Blue Herons, 1 Snowy Egret, and two White
Ibises between Prince George's, Montgomery, and Washington Counties. And
these weren't the only waders people had today.
Snowy Egret: http://www.flickr.com/photos/35144142@N04/4825764532/
White Ibis with Little Blues:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35144142@N04/4825150119/
Robert Ostrowski
Crofton |