Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2002 19:02:05 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Peter Webb Subject: Henlopen-Ocean City Saturday: Com. Eiders Henlopen. MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit No MD rarities; adult male and female Com. Eider at Cape Henlopen. Razorbill reported earlier in day at Indian River Inlet; we didn't see it. The Baltimore Bird Club's scheduled trip to the Coastal stretch from Cape Henlopen, DE to Ocean City Inlet, MD did not find the previously reported Harlequin Duck at O.C. Inlet. Our most interesting birds were adult male and female Common Eiders and Peregrine Falcon at Cape Henlopen, DE, Red-breasted Nuthatches at the visitor center feeder there (but no sign of the resident Brown-headed Nuts) and the hybrid Tufted/Scaup Duck at Silver Lake in Rehoboth, DE. We did find Lesser Black-backed Gulls in Delaware and at West Ocean City Pond. The off-shore Gannets seemed to be all flying north and were visible at all coastal sites. Forster's Terns were mingling with the Bonaparte's Gulls and even sitting on the water with them at the Inlets (both states). A Razorbill had been reported ealier in the day at Indian River Inlet (DE) but we didn't spot it, although we did see a harbor seal there. At the O.C. Inlet, the tide was receding and the Purple Sandpipers were right under our feet, vocalizing as they fed on the rocks, poking about the little mollusks there. In addition to the expected Dunlin, American Oystercatchers, Sanderlings, and Black-bellied Plovers, there were three Greater Yellowlegs at Skimmer Island, viewed from the west end of the Rt 50 bridge. Brant were in the waters as expected. Our only identified Great Cormorants were at Cape Henlopen. All three Scoters were seen in Delaware, although the majority were Surf, and the others weren't seen by everyone on our trip. Surf Scoters all along coast. West Ocean City Pond had Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Shovelers, Gadwall, Hooded Merg's, Am. Wigeon, the afore-mentioned Lesser Black-back, and no herons other than Great Blue. We added one Ring-necked Duck to our species tally at Ocean Pines pond as the light was waning. Nice weather but no MD rarities. We had 18 observers and about 85 species overall. The full list by locations: H = Henlopen: ferry lot & adjacent waters, Visitor center feeders and nearby grassy fields, Tower lot and waters surrounding, and "Herring Point" (southeast end of roads in the park) = H Silver Lake in Rehoboth = Si Indian River Inlet, Delaware = IR various roadside birds in Delaware = DE Ocean City Inlet = OC Skimmer Island (tidal flats, viewed from west end of Rt 50 bridge, and surrounding waters) = Sk West Ocean City Pond = WOC Ocean Pines Pond = OP various roadside birds in Maryland = MD Red-throated Loon H IR OC Common Loon H OC Horned Grebe IR Northern Gannet H IR OC D. C. Cormorant Si OC Sk Great Cormorant H Great Blue Heron everywhere Black Vulture IR Turkey Vulture DE, MD Snow Goose DE Canada Goose everywhere Brant Sk Mute Swan MD Tundra Swan probably, flying Gadwall WOC Am. Wigeon WOC Black Duck Si, WOC Mallard Si, WOC, other sites Shoveler WOC, surprisingly not seen at Si Pintail WOC Green-winged Teal WOC Canvasback Si WOC OP Redhead Si (one drake seen) Ring-necked Duck OP (one drake seen) Greater Scaup Si Lesser Scaup Si COMMON EIDER H, one adult pair, off rocks by lighthouse Surf Scoter H IR OC White-winged Sc. H IR Black Scoter H IR Long-tailed Duck H IR distant and not seen by all, both sites. Bufflehead H OP Hooded Merganser WOC OP Red-breasted Merg everywhere Ruddy Duck Si Bald Eagle H adult, flyover Sharp-shin along road, DE Red-tail DE, MD roadsides Am. Kestrel DE roadsides Peregrine Falcon H rocks by lighthouse, brown imm. Blk-Bellied Plvr Sk Killdeer H Am. Oystercatcher OC Sk Greater Y-legs Sk three in shallow water off the flats Ruddy Turnstone H ("Herring Point") IR OC Sanderling H ("Herring Point") IR OC Purple Sandpier H ("Herring Point") IR OC Dunlin Sk Bonaparte's Gull IR OC Ring-billed Gull everywhere Herring Gull everywhere Lesser Black-bk adults, DE roadside off 404 E of Georgetown, WOC. Greater B-Bk everywhere Forster's Tern IR OC Rock Dove (Pigeon) everywhere Mourning Dove DE, MD roadsides Belted Kingfisher DE, MD roadsides Northern Flicker DE roadside Pileated Wpkr DE roadside (one observer) Blue Jay DE, MD roadsides Am. Crow everywhere Fish Crow DE, MD Horned Lark H, grassy fields in park, three birds Car. Chickadee H feeders T. Titmouse H feeders Red-br Nuthatch H feeders Carolina Wren H G-C Kinglet H (heard, two observers) E. Bluebird H roadside enroute to "Herring Point" Am. Robin various locations both states N. Mockingbird DE, MD roadsides Eur. Starling ubuquitous, everywhere Cedar Waxwing usual Si flyover "Yellow-rumped" (Myrtle) warbler - H WOC Savannah Sparrow H sand dunes near tower lot Song Sp. H White-thr H feeder Junco H N. Cardinal H, roadsides DE, MD Red-winged BB various roadsides and OP Com. Grackle DE, MD roadsides Boat-tailed Gkl IR Brown H. Cowbird OP House Finch H WOC Am. Goldfinch H House Sparrow, a.k.a. "Burger Kinglet" (attn: "Skunkhead" fans) DE, MD Pete Webb Baltimore, Md (USA) pwebb@bcpl.net (home, after 6) pew@niroinc.com (work, 830-5 M-F) ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================