Greetings (been awhile)!
At 0630 I was at Mill Lane just north of Cecilton about 100 yards to the east of Route 213. I immediately had one Upland Sandpiper (a LONG over-due lifer) in the field very near the small rain-water pond on the south side of the road.
I had a nice look at it as it slowly walked away from the road and over the crest of the closest of the rolling hills in the field. Unfortunately, it did not "resurface" while I was there.
After checking out the tringa in the little pond and scanning the more distant fields, I moved to the shoulder of Route 213 and found an additional Uppie (maybe the same one) in the field closer to the barns and silos just south of Mill Lane.
Around 730 I was back on Mill Lane an immediately noticed more Uppies way in the distant (to the south closer to the distant barns and silos). While scanning them, I had a count of at least ten but there could have been more due to their distance and placement right on the crest of one of the many rolling hills in the field.
The pond on Mill Lane had tringas coming and going the whole time I was there with as many as 18 birds at one time. The whole time I was there (0630-0800) I had only two Greater Yellowlegs, the rest of the tringas were Lesser Yellowlegs (no SOSAs).
Non-shorebirds in and around the field included a "first winter" (hatch year?) Dicksissel(!) which landed on the road just feet from me then flew into the field and seemed to forage near the yellowlegs before flying off. There was also a half dozen or so Eastern Meadowlarks way out loosely associated with the Uppie flock. Ten or so Horned Larks were either flybys or seen in the fields while scanning with the scope. Lastly, of note, was a lone Red-tailed Hawk keeping watch from a dead snag on the east side of the field.
Thanks to Jim Moore for locating these birds and for the rest of y'all for posting about their presence this week!
Good Birding!
-Chris Starling (cstar)
North East, MD
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