I arrived at the North Beach marsh (Calvert County) around 7:45 this  
morning, intending to stay only a short time but spending about  three hours. For 
the first 90 minutes or so there were several large peep  flocks in near 
constant motion, totaling 250-300 birds. The great majority  were Semipalmated 
Sandpipers. Shorebird numbers decreased quickly as  the morning wore on, 
while the number of egrets grew. On one of the first  scans I found a juvenile 
WILLET of the western form, working the north edge of  the marsh before 
flying over to the far western edge, where it preened and slept  for about an 
hour. Elaine Hendricks arrived in time to see the bird,  but it disappeared 
along with most of the peeps just before Leslie Starr and Joe  Turner and 
others arrived, and was not seen again. Other highlights were the  continuing 
YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT HERONS meandering around the tidal gut, 5  TRICOLORED 
HERONS, and the immature LITTLE BLUE HERON which gave us more  trouble than it 
should have in trying to identify. The non-avian highlight was a  beautiful 
RIVER OTTER that appeared on the far shoreline for a few  moments.
 
After leaving North Beach I tried for the Tricolored Herons at Jackson  
Landing (PG County) but did not see them.
 
Location:     North Beach
Observation date:   8/1/10
Notes:     Weather mostly sunny, 70-80  degrees F. 
Number of species:     28

Mallard   40
Great Blue Heron     2
Snowy Egret   37
Little Blue Heron     1
Tricolored  Heron     5
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron      2
Osprey     2
Semipalmated Plover      3
Killdeer     15
Spotted Sandpiper      3
Solitary Sandpiper     2
Willet (Western)   1
Semipalmated Sandpiper     200
Western  Sandpiper     1
Least Sandpiper      50
Pectoral Sandpiper     2
Laughing Gull   1
Least Tern     21
Forster's Tern   6
Chimney Swift     2
Belted Kingfisher   1
Barn Swallow     2
Gray Catbird   1
European Starling     4
Song Sparrow   1
Northern Cardinal     1
Common Grackle   2
House Sparrow     3
 
Joel Martin
Catonsville, MD