Sorry for the late post, I spent Sunday evening and Monday birding on the Eastern Shore.  First, I birded the OC Inlet where the summering scoter flock had 6 Surf Scoters, 3 White-winged Scoters, and 2 Black Scoters.  Then I met up with Bill Hubick, Dan Small, and Jim Stasz at Skimmer Island on Sunday evening (which Bill posted about) and then started Monday on Assateague.
 
I birded Bayside at dawn just to add some data into eBird (great suggestion by Jim and Bill).  The most interesting birds to me were 2 adult Eastern Willets flying south down the middle of the bay and a Yellow Warbler that gave several flight notes as it dropped out of the sky into the bushes at the point.  I would consider both of these species probable southbound migrants.  
 
A 20 minute seawatch from the South Beach Access produced 15 Wilson's Storm-Petrels, a flyby Red Knot, and a Sandwich Tern.  
 
On South Point I found and photographed an adult Solitary Sandpiper.  Not sure what is more likely: the bird has been here all month or is a new arrival.  
 
A check of the Inlet again produced the same scoter flock, but I could only find 1 White-winged.  Two Wilson's Storm-Petrels were hanging around the tip of the south jetty.  A nice gull flock was roosting on Assateague that contained 27 Lesser Black-backed Gulls.  The state's highest counts of Lesser Black-backed Gulls come from June and it would be great to have a coordinated effort to determine how many Lesser Black-backed Gulls are in Worcester (almost all on Assateague!) during that time.  

From 10-Noon I sat at looking at Skimmer Island with Mark Hoffman.  Mark Schilling also joined us for a time.  Some highlights:
Great Cormorant - 1 subadult photographed sitting on the southern tip of the island, one of few summer records for Maryland
Red Knot - 13 more than we had the previous evening
White-rumped Sandpiper - 14 we counted 15 the previous evening, I suspect that they were all there
Sandwich Tern - 2 1st summer birds
Caspian Tern - 2 adults photographed sitting on the island, not seen the previous evening, odd time of year for them in Worcester presumed early fall arrivals

On the way home, I stopped on Anderson Corner Rd in far eastern Queen Anne's County where Chris Bennett had reported a pair of Hooded Warblers on the Delaware listserv.  The road runs right along the state line through an excellent patch of woods that is contiguous with the section of forest on Bear Pond Rd to the south.  Hooded Warblers have been reported on Bear Pond Rd several times over the last few years, but to my knowledge breeding has not been confirmed, which would be a first for the county.  

On Anderson Corner Rd, I was able to hear a male Hooded Warbler in Maryland, and see a female in Delaware.  Jim Brighton and Jared Satchell went to the area last night and were able to find them as well.  So perhaps if you're in the area we can confirm breeding for Hooded Warblers in Queen Anne's County!

In this immediate area, there was also Kentucky Warbler, Worm-eating Warbler, and Yellow-throated Vireo, all good birds for QA County.  

Good birding,

Matt Hafner
Forest Hill, MD
 



 

 


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