MIDDLE ATLANTIC 
Rd., Worcester 9 Nov (ML) was notably late. A 
Purple Sandpiper at Bayside Campground, 
Worcester 5 Nov (RG, DBr) was surprising 
away from Ocean City Inlet, and 3 at Thomas 
Pt., Anne Arundel 29 Nov (MJl) were extraor- 
dinary. A Dunlin in the Region in Jul or Aug is 
a good find, so one in alternate plumage at 
Hart 2 Aug (EJS et al.) was intriguing (possi- 
bly of a Palearctic subspecies?). A Curlew 
Sandpiper in basic plumage was at Hart 13 Sep 
(SC). A rare fall transient in the Piedmont, a 
Stilt Sandpiper was at Mill Creek L., Amherst, 
VA 19 Aug (MJ). 
A lone Buff-breasted Sandpiper in flooded 
fields near Stuarts Draft, Augusta 27 Sep pro- 
vided a first county record (BTe); 3 at Mor- 
gantown, Charles, MD 31 Aug (GJ, GB, JH) 
represented a county high count. A juv. Ruff at 
Melitota, Kent, MD 18 Oct ODe, KGr) was the 
season’s only report for this species. Wilson’s 
and Red-necked Phalaropes were reported 
from multiple locations. The most unexpected 
were a Wilson’s Phalarope among Lesser Yel- 
lowlegs at Shirley Plantation, Charles City, VA 
26 Aug (ph. AD) and a Red-necked Phalarope 
at Trout Run, Garrett, MD 29 Aug (ML). 
A rare but increasingly regular visitor to 
Virginia’s Mountains & Valleys, a Laughing 
Gull was at Claytor L., Pulaski 19 Oct (KD, 
MS). An ad. Franklin’s Gull in basic plumage 
visited Cape Charles, Northampton 28 Nov 
(ph. FSB), one of few documented by photo- 
graph in the state. The second-cycle 
Franklin’s Gull at Hart 23 Aug (FJS et al.) 
continued from the summer. An imm. 
Franklin’s Gull was at Havre de Grace, Har- 
ford, MD 18 Oct (EB, JLS), and an ad. was at 
Roaring Pt., Wicomico 23 Nov (ML et al). An 
ad. Black-headed Gull at Trueman Pt., Prince 
George’s 11 Aug-1 Sep (FSh et al.) furnished a 
first Aug record for Maryland; a probable 
Black-headed x Ring-billed Gull hybrid ac- 
companied this bird 11-22 Aug (ph. FSh et 
al.). A first-cycle California Gull at Cape 
Charles, Northampton 1 Oct (FSB) was only 
the 2nd Virginia Eastern Shore record, al- 
though several more records come from 
C.B.B.T. First-cycle Thayer’s Gulls were at Sal- 
isbury, Wicomico 21 Nov+ (ML et al.) and 
Schoolhouse Pond, Prince George’s 25-26 Nov 
(FSh, JLS). A first-cycle Iceland Gull on the 
Appomattox R. at Hopewell, VA 15-27 Nov 
(ph. ABo & ABr) was a nice find; another at 
Salisbury, Wicomico 21 Nov (ML et al.) made 
one of few Nov records for this species in 
Maryland. An impressive 248 Lesser Black- 
backed Gulls at Back Bay and False Cape S.R 
15 Oct (DLH, JG) crushed the previous state 
high count. A first-cycle Glaucous Gull at 
Schoolhouse Pond, Prince George’s 26 Nov 
QHa) was a good find. 
Thirteen Bridled Terns seen on a 22 Aug 
pelagic out of Worcester established a new 
high count for Maryland (PG et al.). A Gull- 
billed Tern at Hart 9 Aug (KGr et al.) was no- 
table, as the species is rare outside Worcester. 
An inland Caspian Tern was at Mill Creek L., 
Amherst 16 Sep (MJ); the latest Caspian Terns 
were 2 at Assat. 16 Nov (MHo et al.). A juv. 
Sandwich Tern at Tyaskin Park, Wicomico 19 
Aug (CB) was unexpected. A Black Tern at 
Stuart’s Draft, Augusta 28 Aug (AL) provided 
an uncommon w. Virginia record, and 2 
Forster’s Terns at Bell’s Lane, Staunton, Augus- 
ta 30 Nov established a new late fall date for 
the county (AL). The highest count for Black 
Skimmer, a species declining in Maryland, 
C A Birders who remembered the diversity and numbers of seabirds brought to the Region by Tropical Depression 
D r\ Ernesto in Sep 2006 had similar hopes for Tropical Storm Hanna in early Sep 2008, but though the birding cover- 
age was extensive, far fewer individuals and species were noted. Hanna was fairly weak as it crossed the Region, bring- 
ing much less rain and wind than Ernesto, and the wind "switch" from southeasterly to westerly occurred in the lower Bay 
only toward nightfall on 6 Sep — which meant that normally productive sites like C.B.B.T. and Sunset Beach, Horthamp- 
ton, VA were utterly unproductive. Large inland lakes along the North Carolina/Virginia border were not covered during 
the passage of the storm, but these sites may have held a few storm birds, if the past is any guide. The most productive 
areas turned out to be along the narrow track of higher winds and especially rainbands, from the sw. Bay tributaries 
through e. Maryland (Table 1) — perhaps more indication that storm-entrainment of these birds occurs very patchily, 
mostly in areas of disturbed weather, rather than across the breadth of the storm's circulation. However, some of the birds 
observed at Ocean City appear to have come off the ocean, rather than from the west, so that one wonders what birds 
might have been observed at a seawatch in Virginia Beach on the oceanfront, an area not covered during Hanna. 
Table 1. Birds reported in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia in association with the passage of Tropical 
Storm Hanna, 6-9 September 2008. 
Species 
# 
Date 
Location 
Observer(s) 
Notes 
Cory's Shearwater 
1 
6 Sep 
Ocean City Inlet, Worcester, MD 
MJIetal. 
unidentified procellariid 
1 
6 Sep 
College Creek, James City, VA 
BT 
brief view of distant bird 
Northern Gannet 
1 
6 Sep 
C.B.B.T. 
ESB 
Magnificent Frigatebird 
1 
7 Sep 
Eastern Shore of Virginia N.W.R. 
BL,GW 
Purple Gallinule 
1 
6 Sep 
Rte. 13 near Townsend, Northampton, VA 
RC 
imm. 
Black-bellied Plover 
1 
6 Sep 
North Branch, Allegany, MD 
JBC, DY 
Black-bellied Plover 
1 
6 Sep 
New Design Rd., Frederick, MD 
JLSetal. 
Black-bellied Plover 
1 
6 Sep 
East Potomac Park, D.C. 
PP etal. 
Ruddy Turnstone 
1 
6 Sep 
Hagerstown, Washington, MD 
JLSetal. 
Red-necked Phalarope 
1 
6 Sep 
Fort Smallwood, Anne Arundel, MD 
FSh 
Red-necked Phalarope 
2 
7 Sep 
C.B.B.T. 
ESB 
Parasitic Jaeger 
4 
6 Sep 
Ocean City Inlet, MD 
MJl et al. 
also 13 jaeger sp. 
ParasiticJaeger 
1 
7 Sep 
C.B.B.T. 
DSc et al. 
Long-tailed Jaeger 
1 
7 Sep 
C.B.B.T. 
ESB 
also 1 jaeger sp. 
Sabine's Gull 
1 
6 Sep 
Sandy ?t., Anne Arundel, Ub 
LW 
Royal Tern 
2 
6 Sep 
Jug Bay, Prince George's/ Anne Arundel, MD 
JSh 
rare far up the Patuxent R. 
Sandwich Tern 
1 
6 Sep 
Solomons, Calvert, MD 
TB,JKo 
Sandwich Tern 
2 
7 Sep 
Point Lookout S.P., Sf. Mary's, MD 
PC,MTi 
Common Tern 
12 
6-9 Sep 
Carvin's Cove, Botetourt, 
MP 
well inland 
Bridled Tern 
1 
6 Sep 
Ocean City Inlet, MD 
MJIetal. 
Sooty Tern 
2 
6 Sep 
Hains Point, D.C. 
DCz, PP et al. 
adults 
Sooty Tern 
6 
6 Sep 
Ocean City Inlet, MD 
MJIetal. 
4adults,2juvs. 
Sooty Tern 
1 
6 Sep 
Rum Pointe G.C., Worcester, MD 
MJl 
juv. 
Sooty Tern 
2 
6 Sep 
Fort Washington, Prince George's, MD 
JD,JA 
1 adult, 1 juv. 
Sooty Tern 
1 
6 Sep 
Riley's Lock, Montgomery, MD 
EPa 
Sooty Tern 
7 
6 Sep 
Sandy Pt., MD 
HW,LD 
Sooty Tern 
1 
6 Sep 
L. Anna, Louisa, VA 
JB 
Sooty Tern 
2 
6 Sep 
Nansemond R., Suffolk, VA 
LWi 
1 adult, 1 juv. 
Sooty Tern 
2+ 
7 Sep 
Point Lookout S.P.,MD 
PC, MTi 
adults 
Black Tern 
32 
6 Sep 
Susquehanna Flats, Harford, MD 
DZ 
Black Tern 
47 
6 Sep 
Rappahannock R., Westmoreland, VA 
FA 
Black Tern 
66 
6 Sep 
Black Walnut Pt., Talbot, MU 
JR 
VOLUME 63 (2009) • NUMBER 1 
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