Hi Everyone,

My wife Becky and I took some friends on an enjoyable day trip to Smith Island out of Solomons yesterday (8/6). The weather held nicely throughout the day, and our group thoroughly enjoyed the boat cruise, seafood lunch and Smith Island Cake in Ewell, and stroll around the island. As always, it was nice to see Marty Cribb, who does a great job as mate. A big group of us visited this same weekend last year and seemed to be a little too late to enjoy WILSON'S STORM-PETRELs on the Bay. I expected that to be the case yesterday as well, but was excited to spot four birds - the first in Somerset Co. on the way out, and then three in Dorchester on the way back in. I took GPS locations for each bird, which is really easy with my new phone. The best bird of the day was a SANDWICH TERN roosting with the Royals on a sandbar while we were leaving Smith Island. Other birds of interest were AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHER (7), BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER (1), SEMIPALMATED PLOVER (5),
 TRICOLORED HERON (1), YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON (4), GLOSSY IBIS (1), CLAPPER RAIL (2), and SEASIDE SPARROW (2).

Although conventional wisdom is that the Wilson's Storm-Petrels are departing the Bay now, our coverage is so incomplete that additional visits could really help paint a better picture of this species distribution in the Bay (and Maryland). It would be nice to have more coverage to see how late the stragglers linger and what else is out there during some of the less popular windows for visiting. (Negative data is also important data!)  Was this year especially good for Wilson's on the Bay or was that totally normal? I'm sure there's some data out there to consider, but we need more! - another exciting opportunity to refine our understanding of a species in the state. For me, those were my first Wilson's Storm-Petrels and Sandwich Tern away from Worcester Co. in Maryland. 

Details on Smith Island Cruises:
http://www.smithislandcruises.com/solomons-island-cruises

Good birding!

Bill
 

Bill Hubick
Pasadena, Maryland

http://www.billhubick.com

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