I enjoyed a windy but pleasantly mild weekend on Assateague. On both days,
Mark Hoffman and Scott Housten were down there, and on Sunday, Bill Hubick,
Betsy Bangert, and Mike Burchett joined the fun.
It was very windy on Saturday with speeds sustained at 15-20mph and even
higher gusts. The winds were coming out of the south and west, which isn't
exactly ideal for southbound migration, but it was our first day without
rain in a few days, and the birds seemed to take advantage. The most
conspicuous of the bunch were Cape May Warblers which flew by Bayside in a
nearly constant stream for over an hour, all heading south against the wind.
They flew by in mostly in twos and threes, but some groups were as numerous
as 15-20. At the end of the morning, my count was 152.
Notables from that morning:
Red-headed Woodpecker - 1
Northern Flicker - 140
Tennessee Warbler - 1
American Redstart - 1
Cape May Warbler - 152
Northern Parula - 13
Blackpoll Warbler - 18
Black-throated Blue Warbler - 4
Western Palm Warbler - 7
Myrtle Warbler ~ 350
Bobolink - 8
Clay-colored Sparrows are continuing to be seen on the island. One was seen
in the Bayside Campground both mornings, and another one was seen on Shell
Rd on Sunday morning.
Some other highlights:
Oceanside Campground (10/15, solo):
White-crowned Sparrow
Orange-crowned Warbler
Bayside (10/16, with Bill, Mark, Betsy, Mike, and Scott):
Red-headed Woodpecker - 2 - including one that made the jump across the bay
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 19 - noticeable increase over the previous day's
total
Hermit Thrush - 1
Cape May Warbler - 24
Bayside Campground (10/16, with Bill, Betsy, Mike, and Scott)
Clay-colored Sparrow - 1
Orange-crowned Warbler - 1
Yellow-breasted Chat - 1
White-crowned Sparrow - 1
Bobolink - 1
Baltimore Oriole - 1
Bayside Development Pond (10/16, solo, not on AI):
Redhead - 1
To finish off the weekend, Bill and I did a sea watch from Assateague State
Park, where we had:
Parasitic Jaeger - 3
Pomarine Jaeger - 1
Northern Gannet ~ 8
American Wigeon ~ 40
Scaup sp. ~ 4
Rob Ostrowski
Crofton, MD
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