Bill Hubick and I ended a very enjoyable day of birding in Kent and Cecil Counties by walking the loop at Stemmers Run (west of Cecilton) starting around 5:30pm.  After less than 10 minutes, we saw our first Short-eared Owl.  Around 6pm, we saw 2 Short-eared Owls flying high over the trees at the back of the loop.  Around this time we also heard 2 American Woodcocks along with 2 Great-horned Owls.  Earlier in the afternoon at Stemmers Run, we found a Black-capped Chickadee (it called and sang) and counted 23 White-crowned Sparrows at the entrance.

We started the day in Kent County, at the area of Millington across from the Massey Airport on Rt 330.  There we located a Black-capped Chickadee originally found by Dan Small a few weeks ago.  While crossing the Sassafras River from Kent to Cecil County, we unexpectedly saw over 1000 gulls on the piers and marina structures.  The gulls were approximately 70% Herring and 30% Great Black-backed, with much smaller numbers of Ring-billed and Lesser Black-backed in both counties (see eBird later for exact numbers). 

John Hubbell
Washington DC

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