Hi all --

Took a couple of hours this morning to see what might be passing Sandy Point
State Park, Anne Arundel Co., with Earl offshore. Clouds and a stiff NE wind
when we arrived at about 9:45. 100s of gulls on the beach, mostly Greater
Blackbacks and Laughing, with a smattering of Ringers and Herring. Despite a
lot of searching, no interesting gulls appeared although there was a lot of
coming and going. Quite a few large terns on the deck and offshore.

We left about noon, no seabirds of interest--the best bird was an UPLAND
SANDPIPER flying and calling directly over us, heading across the Bay
towards Queen Anne Co.

Birds of interest:

Great BB Gull - ~500
Laughing Gull - 150
Ringbilled Gull - 100
Herring Gull - 20
Caspian Tern - 20+
Royal Tern - 10+
Forster's Tern - 12
UPLAND SANDPIPER - 1
Least Sandpiper - 2
peep sp. (distant fly-bys) - 30
Sanderling - 3
Black-bellied Plover - 1
Bobolink - 2

Also two determined Monarchs which were making fair headway flying north (?)
in the strong quartering wind. These are NOT fragile butterflies!

Gail Mackiernan and Barry Cooper
Colesville, MD