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New Additions
Mostly on Assateague Island, Maryland. Last updated: 8/3/2009.
Above and below: A Black-necked Stilt in one of the new impoundments on Egypt Road, Dorchester Co., Maryland (8/1/2009).
Below: Whimbrel tend to be very skittish on Assateague Island, so it was satisfying to snap these close-up images. (8/1/2009).
Below: Least Terns roosting on the beach on Assateague Island, Maryland (8/1/2009).
Juvenile
Below: A pair of Least Terns with one parent holding a minnow.
Below: Ruddy Turnstones foraging on Assateague Island, Maryland (8/1/2009).
Below: A juvenile Eastern Bluebird at Antietam National Battlefield, Maryland (7/31/2009).
Below: An adult male Eastern Bluebird captures a cricket for a hungry youngster. (Antietam National Battlefield, 7/31/2009)
Below: A female Eastern Bluebird contributes a grasshopper. (Antietam National Battlefield, Maryland, 7/31/2009)
Below: A juvenile Western Willet on Assateague Island, Maryland (8/1/2009). This is my first time identifying this age/plumage in Maryland. The bird has very neat patterning on light buffy/gray upperparts, little contrast between scapulars and coverts, longer and more graceful shape (e.g., not flat-backed), and noticeable primary projection. According to The Shorebird Guide, juvenile Easterns have shorter (from photos almost no) primary projection. The bird was also the same size or even slightly larger than surrounding adult Westerns. Interestingly, the bill on this bird strikes me as much closer to Eastern Willet shape than I've seen on adult Westerns. To be safe, I'll retract my two Eastern Willets reported from Assateague today, as this detail surprised me.
Below: Black Terns - an adult and a juvenile - roosting on Assateague Island, Maryland (8/1/2009).
Below: Bottlenose Dolphins just off Assateague Island, Maryland (8/1/2009).
Below: A juvenile Herring Gull hanging out near the surf on Assateague Island, Maryland (8/1/2009).
Below: A family of Ospreys at Blackwater NWR, Maryland (8/1/2009).
Below: A juvenile Laughing Gull on Assateague Island, Maryland (8/1/2009).
Maryland's Next 10 Bird Species