Marty Cribb and Patty Craig arrived at Pt. Lookout before 7 am. Jane Kostenko
and I arrived at 7:30. Dave Powell and Jim Green were also there as well as
another fellow who I've already forgotten his name (Duval?). Dave persuaded one
of the park folks to open the gates for about 15 minutes and we tromped through
the grasses and only managed to flush out one passerine, probably a Common
Yellowthroat. After making several passes around the buildings, we left and
locked up. Winger West and Dave Brenneman arrived afterward. Carol Broderick and
Mike Walsh arrived around 9ish. It started raining around 10:30 and we all threw
in the towel around 11:30 when it showed no sign of letting up. By then water
was running down into my boots and just walking the 100 feet back to the car,
the front of my pants got soaked. No self-respecting sparrow would have been
doing anything in that.
A few interesting birds while we waited were a Merlin, two Glossy Ibis, dozens
of Brown Pelicans, one Tree Swallow (which we joked was really a Violet-green
Swallow) and a flock of shorebirds that included both Yellowlegs and about 2
dozen peeps.
BTW, the water level Thursday is expected to be one to two feet higher and the
rocks on the Bay side were already almost submerged. That and the forecasted
2-4, and possibly 5, inches of rain through tomorrow afternoon, ought the
dissuade any birders from trying. It's possible that they'll close the park as
this is standard operating procedure lately.
Tyler Bell
California, Maryland
|