I stopped by Swan Creek yesterday at lunch hoping that a godwit or phalarope might take refuge there from the storms. No such luck.
I was surprised that the dominant peep in the impoundments though was White-rumped Sandpiper. There were at least 10. The majority of the other peeps were hanging out on the dikes and occasionally flying around.
The other highlight was at least 7 Black Terns feeding with the swallows in the south cell. I note that this is my high count at one time because more kept appearing, seemingly out of nowhere. When I first arrived there were 2 flying around the north cell and one sitting in the north cell. Then there were 4 in the south cell and 1 in the north cell, then 7 in the south cell. I presume the same birds were involved, but I can't be certain.
Full list copied below.
Good birding,
Matt Hafner
Forest Hill, MD
Swan Creek Wetland--Cox Creek DMCF, Anne Arundel, US-MD
Sep 8, 2011 12:00 PM - 12:50 PM
Protocol: Stationary
Comments: Lunchtime birding, scoping the impoundments from the flagpoles
28 species (+1 other taxa)
American Black Duck x Mallard (hybrid) 2
Mallard 70
Green-winged Teal 1
Double-crested Cormorant 5
Great Blue Heron 1
Osprey 5
Bald Eagle 1
Semipalmated Plover 6
Spotted Sandpiper 2
Semipalmated Sandpiper 50
Least Sandpiper 12
White-rumped Sandpiper 10 ***HIGH COUNT*** Almost all the peeps feeding in the impoundments were WRSA. The Semis were mostly up on the dikes. All White-rumps appeared to be adults with long wings crossing beyond tail, plain gray chests, streaking down flanks, several seen in flight where white banded rump was easily visible.
Laughing Gull 4
Ring-billed Gull 1
Caspian Tern 48
Black Tern 7 ***HIGH COUNT*** Minimum count of birds inview at one time. Feeding with the swallows, most seemed to have been juveniles with a little brown on the back.
Rock Pigeon 5
Mourning Dove 2
Chimney Swift 60
Purple Martin 1
Tree Swallow 25
Bank Swallow 40
Barn Swallow 100
Cliff Swallow 1
Northern Mockingbird 2
European Starling 30
Northern Cardinal 2
House Finch 1
American Goldfinch 4
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2 (http://ebird.org)
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