Tyler,

Thanks for posting! Just for the record, John Hubbell should get credit for spotting them. He picked out the first one by spotting just its tucked head poking out over a rock on the north jetty. I'll take credit for invoking voodoo magic and making predictions when the Herrington Harbor flock was down from eleven to seven yesterday. Jim Green spotted the group on the south jetty. There were at least seven Purple Sandpipers at Chesapeake Beach marina and with patience they were often visible from directly behind the Rod n' Reel.

Our day was focused on a large gull-watching loop from Sandy Point to Jug Bay. The gull count at Sandy Point has continued to drop from the impressive numbers a couple weeks ago (and still good one week ago). Herrington Harbor had the best numbers and diversity, with about 450 Herring Gulls and good counts of Bay ducks. Depot Pond in Upper Marlboro had over 1,500 Ring-billed Gulls, and in the afternoon the gull count at Mount Calvert was over 2,000, overwhelmingly Ring-billed. There was one Bonaparte's Gull at Sandy Point and two at Herrington Harbor. 

Good birding!

Bill

Bill Hubick
Pasadena, Maryland

http://www.billhubick.com


--- On Sat, 1/15/11, James Tyler Bell <> wrote:

> From: James Tyler Bell <>

> Bill Hubick texted to say that he and
> his birding cohorts had found 6 Purple 
> Sandpipers on the jetties at Chesapeake Beach.