Hi Everyone,

I spent a great day on the coast with John Hubbell and Ron Gutberlet on Sunday (8/21), joined for a few stops by Mike Burchett and Betsy Bangert. The heron flight was excellent at Bayside, netting large totals of the expected herons. Passerine flight was pretty sparse, but included small numbers of EASTERN KINGBIRDs, BALTIMORE ORIOLEs, and warblers such as AMERICAN REDSTART, YELLOW-THROATED, and NORTHERN PARULA. We had a single YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT in the campground. It was fairly slow overall, but even a slow day on Assateague during migration is one of my favorite ways to spend a morning. 

Ferry Landing had a large feeding flock of waders that we hoped would have drawn in a White Ibis, but participation was limited to more expected waders. Three lingering LEAST TERNs will certainly be among our last of 2011.

Our most productive investment of the day was slowly working the ORV (OSV) zone on Assateague. We decided to take our time and carefully count all individual birds. We carefully scrutinized each Willet to identify it to (sub)species and aged each of our 121 LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLs. These were overwhelmingly second calendar year birds born last summer (103 of 121). The WILLET breakdown was 38 Western to 14 Eastern. I was a little surprised based on previous years to have found so many lingering Easterns. John Hubbell clicked each individual Sanderling with care for an impressive count of 2625. Other birds of note were a single MARBLED GODWIT (my first on Assateague) and 12 SANDWICH TERNs (two juveniles).

We worked the Ocean City area pretty thoroughly, including Bayside Development, other bayside flats, Ocean City Inlet, Skimmer Island, and West Ocean City Pond. Light was harsh and water levels were high, so we weren't too surprised by a lack of unusual sightings here.

We decided to work our way west into the interesting stormy weather. We headed for Hurlock to test the Jim Brighton theory of storm-driven phalaropes there. We arrived as the rain began to hit hard, so our shorebird totals were comparatively low. We did have the same count of BLACK TERNs as Joe Hanfman, an impressive 11 birds. Swallow numbers were among the highest I've ever seen here, certainly in the thousands, with Tree, Bank, Barn, and Purple Martin represented in descending order of abundance. A juvenile SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER and a single RUDDY DUCK were also present.

We began to envision shorebird and tern fallout at water spots in Caroline Co., and headed directly into the storm. By the time we reached Tanyard, we were in a torrential downpour that allowed only the most limited visibility. We decided to work back to the Choptank marina and see if the weather would break. It did, and we decided to spend the last two hours of daylight relaxing and scanning the river. We were rewarded by three flyby ROYAL TERNs, a county bird that was certainly on all of our minds for this date and set of conditions. 

Full eBird reports from Bayside, Ferry Landing, ORV Zone, and Choptank below.

Some new photos:
http://www.billhubick.com/photos/updates/20110822.php

Assateague I. NS--Bayside
Aug 21, 2011 6:10 AM - 7:32 AM
Protocol: Stationary
Comments: Excellent heron flight seemed to start moments after we arrived, but we might have missed a few. Heron flight was effectively complete by 0630, so get there before dawn to count herons. Best technique is to split them up by species between multiple observers, as mixed flocks are nearly impossible count accurately by oneself.

American Black Duck--2
Double-crested Cormorant--4
Brown Pelican--20
Great Blue Heron--1
Great Egret--65
Snowy Egret--204
Little Blue Heron--107
Tricolored Heron--62. * A high count.
Cattle Egret--2. As usual, some of the last birds to leave roost and pass Bayside.
white egret sp.--20
Glossy Ibis--3
Plegadis sp.--6
Osprey--2
Sanderling--2
Least Sandpiper--1
peep sp.--7
Short-billed Dowitcher--3
Laughing Gull--15
Herring Gull (American)--20
Great Black-backed Gull--3
Common Tern--1
Forster's Tern--1
Royal Tern--5
Mourning Dove--1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird--1
hummingbird sp.--2
Belted Kingfisher--1
Downy Woodpecker--1
Eastern Kingbird--2. Two high-flying migrants.
White-eyed Vireo--1
Fish Crow--65
Purple Martin--3
Tree Swallow--2
Barn Swallow--4
Carolina Wren--2
American Robin--2
Gray Catbird--6
Northern Mockingbird--2
Brown Thrasher--4
European Starling--7
Cedar Waxwing--1
American Redstart--3
Northern Parula--1
Yellow-throated Warbler--1
warbler sp.--1
Northern Cardinal--2
Red-winged Blackbird--6
Boat-tailed Grackle--25.
Brown-headed Cowbird--2
Baltimore Oriole--5

Assateague I. NS--Ferry Landing
Aug 21, 2011 8:50 AM - 9:05 AM
Comments: With Mike Burchett and Betsy Bangert. Impressive concentration of waders caught our attention even from Bayside. Spent some time carefully working through the flock. Each species carefully counted by 1s.

American Black Duck--1
Great Egret--54
Snowy Egret--53
Little Blue Heron--15
Tricolored Heron--21
Glossy Ibis--5. One had a small wound on its head, with some bare skin showing that caught one's attention.
Turkey Vulture--1
Osprey--1
Greater Yellowlegs--5
Lesser Yellowlegs--7
Semipalmated Sandpiper--1
Least Sandpiper--3
Short-billed Dowitcher--19
Laughing Gull--342
Ring-billed Gull--3
Herring Gull (American)--5
LEAST TERN--3. Definitely on their way out for the year.
Caspian Tern--1
Forster's Tern--2
Mourning Dove--1
Tree Swallow--2
Barn Swallow--6
Boat-tailed Grackle--16. Many in heavy molt today.

Assateague I. NS--OSV Zone
Aug 21, 2011 9:25 AM - 12:05 PM
Comments:. Sunny and hot, about 90F. Slowly cruised the length of the ORV (OSV) zone to the VA state line. Non-avian: Small numbers of Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins easily seen close to shore. A fisherman and his daughter caught a skate. On the way in, Ron noted that the gas light had been on for an unspecified amount of time and the adventure meter was cranked up by near certainty that he'd run out of gas somewhere on Assateague. Amazingly, despite some very non-fuel-efficient conditions, he made it!

Double-crested Cormorant--4
Brown Pelican--73
Great Egret--1. Flying over the dunes.
Turkey Vulture--2
Black-bellied Plover--13
Semipalmated Plover--3
American Oystercatcher--19
Willet--2. Two birds not seen well enough to ID to (sub)species
Willet (Eastern)--14
Willet (Western)--38
Whimbrel (American)--5. Flyby flock of four, one single.
Marbled Godwit--1. * Rare but regular. Huge shorebird with extremely long, bi-colored, upturned bill. Cinnamon color and size/shape ruled out Bar-tailed. Photographs as it took flight and headed back past us to the north. New Assateague bird for me (wjh).
Ruddy Turnstone--63
Sanderling--2625. * A high count. Carefully counted by 1s by John Hubbell. Tops our personal high counts, but not the state high eBird count of 3800 by Jim Stasz (8/17/2002).
Least Sandpiper--2
Laughing Gull--26
Ring-billed Gull--37
Herring Gull (American)--213
Lesser Black-backed Gull--121. ** Increasing. Another high count that demonstrated the continued increase in summering LBBG numbers on Assateague. Carefully aged each individual on the beach. They were overwhelmingly second-cycle birds (2CY), with these numbering 103 of 121 individuals tallied. Only 6 were third-cycle birds, and 12 were adults.
Great Black-backed Gull--144
Caspian Tern--2
Common Tern--35
Forster's Tern--2
Sandwich Tern--12
Barn Swallow--11
Northern Mockingbird--1
American Goldfinch--1

Choptank (Caroline Co.), Caroline, US-MD
Aug 21, 2011 6:30 PM - 8:20 PM
Comments: As the torrential downpour slowed and then stopped, an extended afternoon river watch was nearly certain to be productive. We were rewarded by our county Royal Terns. The overnight pelagic, set to depart Lewes at 10:00 p.m., was canceled due to rough seas.* GREEN TREEFROGs heard: My first record for Caroline Co. Though seemingly not too unexpected, Harris (1975) did not note any records (though he did shade in the full Eastern Shore coastal plain on his range map).

Wood Duck--2
Green Heron--1
Osprey--1
Bald Eagle--2
Northern Harrier--1. * Seems expected, but new earliest fall arrival date and first August record for the county in eBird. Hunting actively in the distance for much of our visit
Cooper's Hawk--1
Semipalmated Sandpiper--17. Flock flew south past the marina
Laughing Gull--127. Clicked as they flew past the marina
Ring-billed Gull--4
Caspian Tern--1
ROYAL TERN--3. * Scarce in the county, though regular in small numbers at this time of year. New Caroline Co. late date in eBird. Three birds, two adults and a juvenile, seen flying south down the river. Large tern with limited dark under primaries, restricted to just the trailing edge. White forehead before dark cap; orange bills.
Mourning Dove--2
Chimney Swift--1
Eastern Kingbird--3
Blue Jay--1
American Crow--1
Purple Martin--2
Bank Swallow--2
Barn Swallow--19
Carolina Chickadee--1
Carolina Wren--1
American Robin--1
European Starling--180
Cedar Waxwing--3
Song Sparrow--1
Bobolink--5. Flyovers, calling. 
Red-winged Blackbird--750
Common Grackle--30
Brown-headed Cowbird--260
House Finch--2
House Sparrow--4

Good birding!

Bill


Bill Hubick
Pasadena, Maryland

http://www.billhubick.com

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