Better to bird without egrets than not to bird at all.
 
 
 


--- On Wed, 8/18/10, Dan Haas <> wrote:


From: Dan Haas <>
Subject: Re: [MDOSPREY] Sandy Point State Park: Sabines gull
To: 
Date: Wednesday, August 18, 2010, 5:42 PM


So I just had to go and at least LOOK this afternoon, as improbable
(more like impossible) that this bird might still be around SPSP.

No luck.  And I could've used the BLACK TERNS as coveted County Birds
too, but it was not to be.  The weather was too nice.

Here are the quick highlights:
TERNS: Common 1, Forsters 5, Least 4, Caspian 11, Royal 1
GULLS: The regular 4, but one Greater Black Backed Gull is dying a
slow death with fishing line tangled all around it's bill and blood on
it's chest.
FALCONS: One on the bridge.
EGRETS: Only that I missed the Sabine's Gull.  Oh, and one flyover SNOWY.
SANDPIPERS: Two Westerns and one Semi on the beach pond.
DOWITCHERS: Two SB Dows flew over headed North, calling.
SWALLOWS: One PUMA, one NRW and several Barn.
BIRDERS: Surprisingly, none.  Perhaps the winds pushed them inland to
the border of Howard and Montgomery Counties?

One the way home, the first field on the left on Whitehall Road, just
South of 50, held:
5 CATTLE EGRET
1 Chipping Sparrow

Pleasant Plains Turf Farm:
29 Killdeer
2 Semi Plover
9 Semi Sand
1 Least Sand
1 Solitary Sand

Good Birding,

Dan Haas
West Annapolis, MD


On Wed, Aug 18, 2010 at 1:37 PM, stanley arnold <> wrote:
> Hi Folks,
>
> Hoping to get an hour or two of birding in this morning before a
> mid-morning doctor's appointment, I set out for Sandy Point (AA Co.)
> early, arriving about ten minutes past six.  The weather was
> miserable.  The wind, it was a blowin'.  The rain, it was a blowin'
> too.  I drove through some fairly heavy rain enroute, which seemed to
> lighten up upon my arrival at the park, giving me enough time to get
> out to one of the bath houses before getting soaked.  Wind and heavy
> rain followed, but I stayed dry under the eave of the building scoping
> the usual flock of gulls and the part of the bay that was not
> obstructed by trees.  All the usual stuff:  the big four gulls,
> Caspian Tern, Royal Tern, Common Tern, Forster's Tern.  I did have one
> good find, however, when three BLACK TERNs came wafting by, one of
> them in almost full breeding plumage.
>
> I scanned for about an hour, but then it was time for me to go.  I
> debated whether to drive to the parking area out at the point (the
> small craft launch area), but thought what the heck, I'll see if
> there's anything on the beach.  Good I came out here, because there
> were a lot more gulls sitting on the beach, with a few more terns.
> While sitting in the car with the windows partially lowered I sifted
> through these larids, bringing my Great Black-backed Gull count up to
> 640.  As I looked out over the water I noticed a tern flying by, so
> put my binoculars on it.  It had long slender wings and a FULL BLACK
> HOOD.  I was momentarily befuddled--a tern with a black hood?--but
> when I caught a glimpse of the upper mantle I saw white triangular
> patches, and then I knew I was looking at a SABINE'S GULL.  I jumped
> out of the car, heart thumping, and got my scope set up in the rain,
> and watched the bird fly away to the north.  It had a pure white tail.
>  I saw the bird mostly from the side or from the rear, and did not
> have enough time to get off any digiscopes.  The rain began to fall
> heavily as the bird disappeared behind a tree near where I stood, and
> I realized it was well past the time for me to go.
>
> Phil, I know you'll want a full report.   It will be forthcoming.
>
> BTW, Elaine had our first fall warbler in the yard today--a colorful
> NORTHERN PARULA.
>
> Stan Arnold
> Ferndale (AA Co.)
> 
>