Busy weekend left me scrambling to catchup on a report to the listserve. Saturday was fantastic weather-wise, with great conditions for listening to and finding birds (low winds all day). About average for overall diversity (~114 species), 'tho perhaps a bit low on migrants, given the weather and peak of season. I echo Gail M.'s observation that it has been an odd migration season, at least it seems like that for areas I spend most of my time birding in PG county.
For this year's May Count, I birded 9.75 hours in southern PG county areas primarily around Jug Bay (PG only, at my house, Jackson Landing, Selby's Landing, and Mt Calvert); and also some in Upper Marlboro vicinity (PG Landfill and Melwood Rd).
The obvious highlight was the shorebirds ... BEST DAY EVER in PG County. There seemed to be a few everywhere I looked. PG County is rarely ever good for shorebirds, but Saturday was probably as close to "good" as it gets here! The tide cycle was crucial at Jug Bay, where I was on a boat trip with Greg Kearns (plus about 18 others!) from about 7-10 am, and had perfect timing for shorebirds with low tide for much of the trip. I also had many at the Landfill.
I tallied 10 species for the day altogether, including my all-time PG County high counts for 7 (!), plus a 2nd best count for 1 other:
Killdeer 6
Semi-p Plover 9* (new high*; prior high was 7)
Spotted Sand 29* (new high*; prior high was 10)
Solitary Sand 12 (2nd highest; high is currently 26)
Greater Y-legs 29* (new high*; prior high was 14)
Lesser Y-legs 19* (new high*; prior high was 18)
Least Sand 69* (new high*; prior high was 56)
Semi-p Sand 2
Pectoral Sand 27* (new high*; prior high was 22)
Dunlin 22* (new high*; prior high was 14)
Total 224 shorebird species individuals (also a new high for a PG-day count).
Also noteworthy were 2 Cattle Egrets, seen at the landfill. Uncommon for the count.
Cheers!
Jeff Shenot
Croom MD
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