Hi Everyone,

Many thanks to Kevin Graff for organizing yesterday's (12 Aug 2011) visit to Poplar Island.  Twenty-five of us enjoyed some nice birds, including a HUDSONIAN GODWIT spotted by Jeff Culler (see notes below as part of the full eBird list).  Close views of Virginia Rails were also very popular.

If anyone on the trip would like me to share the eBird list, please send me your email address or eBird username.  If you haven't started using eBird yet, this might be a good time to start--here is a ready-made list to get your account started!  If you're not sure whether eBird is for you, or if you need any help getting started, please feel free to send me an email--I'd be glad to help.

Have fun,

Ron Gutberlet
Salisbury, MD


Poplar Island, Talbot, US-MD
Aug 12, 2011 9:30 AM - 12:45 PM
Protocol: Traveling
5.0 mile(s)
Comments:     Many thanks to Kevin Graff for organizing the trip.  Observers included Stan Arnold, Saundra Byrd, Ed Carlson, Alex Coffey, Jeff Culler, Diane Ford, Kevin Graff, Joe Hanfman, Charles Hopkins, Joel Martin, David Palmer, Bob Ringler, Jim Stasz, Leslie Starr, Joe Turner, Eileen Wise, Ron Gutberlet.  Shorebird numbers greatly reduced from a couple weeks ago.  We looked carefully for the scoters that had been summering here, but did not find them.  Jeff Culler spotted the well concealed Hudsonian Godwit.  The cooperative Virginia Rails were also a hit--life birds for at least a couple participants.  Additional species observed that I did not see myself: one each of RUDU, RUTU, RTHU, NOMO.
38 species (+1 other taxa)

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  47
American Black Duck (Anas rubripes)  14
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  165     expected number here
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca)  1

Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus)  1500     rough and conservative estimate; expected number here

Least Bittern (Ixobrychus exilis)  1     saw it for a few seconds as it flew low over the marsh and then dropped in

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)  13
Great Egret (Ardea alba)  6
Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)  30
Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis)  10

white egret sp. (Egretta/Bubulcus sp.)  8     these were very young birds; this is a useful option throughout the state and should appear on checklists by default at the appropriate times of year

Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)  3     1 adult, 2 imm
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)  32     expected number here
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)  3

Virginia Rail (Rallus limicola)  5     great close views, providing good photos for some; very vocal in response to tape; chicks seen by some (how many?)

Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola)  3
Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus)  11
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)  4
Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus)  33     reasonable number here
American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana)  48     reasonable number here
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius)  14
Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)  5

Hudsonian Godwit (Limosa haemastica)  1     bird of the trip spotted by Jeff Culler!  a large shorebird with a very long, two-toned, slightly upturned bill; spread its wings once, showing the white stripe on upperwing; gray upperparts; posterior underparts whitish; white supraloral; MAGO easily ruled out by overall color and the wing stripe; the most similar species is Black-tailed Godwit, but I never saw the wing linings on our bird (not sure if anyone else did); distant photos by Joe Turner (www.flickr.com/photos/41142725@N07) and Ron Gutberlet

Sanderling (Calidris alba)  4

Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)  43     dramatic decrease from a few weeks ago; favorable weather for migration presumably stimulated an exodus

Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri)  1
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)  29
Stilt Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus)  3
Laughing Gull (Leucophaeus atricilla)  35
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  13
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)  220
Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus)  560     expected number here
Least Tern (Sternula antillarum)  8
Common Tern (Sterna hirundo)  10
Bank Swallow (Riparia riparia)  2
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)  13

Seaside Sparrow (Ammodramus maritimus)  1     continuing bird; large sparrow with a large bill, small white area on chin/throat contrasting with brown breast and belly, only a hint of yellow evident in the lores, overall impression is of a large, unstreaked, uniformly brown sparrow

Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)  420
Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater)  100

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2 (http://ebird.org)
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