17th DORCHESTER COUNTY FALL BIRD COUNT (in part), September 14, 2012.
109 species. # of individuals to be totaled later. George & Harry Armistead. Jim Brighton joined us for the last 1.5 hours at Elliott Island Road, where we watched the evening heron flight.
Full report with totals from all 9 areas to be combined in a few days. Not much of a passerine/neotropicals flight today.
5:15 A.M. – 7:45 P.M., a 14.5-hour effort. 108 miles by car, 1 mile on foot.
ROUTE: Hooper’s Island, Swan Harbor Road & Meekins Neck Road in the morning. Blackwater N.W.R.central area in mid-day. Elliott Island Road in the afternoon until dusk.
ABBREVIATIONS: BNWR, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. EIR, Elliott Island Road. HI, Hooper’s Island. SHR, Swan Harbor Road.
Of most interest: SWAINSON’S HAWK, 4 sightings 7:15 – 8:30 A.M., 1st from the marsh bend on Meekins Neck Road, then sightings 2-4 from Swan Harbor Rd. N of Upper Hooper’s Island. See more excruciating detail at the end of this report.
Other highlights: 3 American Golden Plovers (BNWR), 92 Bald Eagles (last year I saw 57 on this same route).
Canada Goose 43. Mute Swan 1 (seen from Wildlife Drive). American Wigeon 1. American Black Duck 26. Mallard 84. Blue-winged Teal 30. unID’d teal 230 (BNWR). Green-winged Teal 60. Pied-billed Grebe 5 (EIR). American White Pelican (BNWR). Brown Pelican 2 (HI).
Double-crested Cormorant 225. Great Blue Heron 40. Great Egret 97. Snowy Egret 100. Little Blue Heron 1i (EIR). Tricolored Heron 11 (EIR). Black-crowned Night Heron 10 (EIR).
RAPTORS (10 SPECIES): Black Vulture 6. Turkey Vulture 105. Osprey 9. Northern Harrier 12. Sharp-shinned Hawk 3. Cooper’s Hawk 3. Red-tailed Hawk 4. American Kestrel 8.
Clapper Rail 7. King Rail 2 (BNWR). Virginia Rail 1. Common Moorhen 1 (EIR).
SHOREBIRDS (12 SPECIES): Black-bellied Plover 9. Semipalmated Plover 40. Killdeer 6. Greater Yellowlegs 34. Lesser Yellowlegs 35. Spotted Sandpiper 1. Sanderling 13 (SH). Semipalmated Sandpiper 16. Least Sandpiper 35. unID’d peep 225. Pectoral Sandpiper 18. Stilt Sandpiper 7.
Laughing Gull 235. Ring-billed Gull 14. Herring Gull 95. Great Black-backed Gull 80 (Middle HI experimental jetties). Caspian Tern 38 (widespread). Royal Tern 65. Forster’s Tern 110.
Rock Pigeon 14. Mourning Dove 24. Eastern Screech-Owl 1. Great Horned Owl 2. Chimney Swift 1. Ruby-throated Hummingbird 4. Belted Kingfisher 8. Red-headed Woodpecker 1 (BNWR). Downy Woodpecker 4. Northern Flicker 18. Pileated Woodpecker 1. Red-bellied Woodpecker 0.
Eastern Wood-Pewee 4. Great Crested flycatcher 1. Eastern Kingbird 1 (BNWR). Blue Jay 15. American Crow 27. Fish Crow 1. Tree Swallow 4. Barn Swallow 4.
LI’L SPRITES: Carolina Chickadee 18. Tufted Titmouse 8. Red-breasted Nuthatch 3. Brown-headed Nuthatch 30. Carolina Wren 11. House Wren 2. Marsh Wren 0. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 4.
Eastern Bluebird 17. American Robin 7. no brownthrushes. Gray Catbird 1. Northern Mockingbird 17. European Starling 240. Cedar Waxwing 2.
WARBLERS (11 species): Yellow Warbler 1. Chestnut-sided Warbler 1. Magnolia Warbler 1. Cape May Warbler 1. Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler 1. Blackburnian Warbler 1. Pine Warbler 13. Blackpoll Warbler 1. Black-and-white Warbler 1. American Redstart 2. Common Yellowthroat 2. pathetic numbers.
Summer Tanager 1. Eastern Towhee 2 (Meekins Neck Rd.). Chipping Sparrow 13. Savannah Sparrow 8 (EIR). Seaside Sparrow 3 (Great Marsh & EIR). Northern Cardinal 20. Blue Grosbeak 4. Indigo Bunting 2.
Bobolink 270. Red-winged Blackbird 185. Common Grackle 31 (Lewis Wharf Rd. 30, EIR 1). Boat-tailed Grackle 1♂ (SHR). Brown-headed Cowbird 70. no orioles. House Finch 1 (HI). American Goldfinch 9. House Sparrow 22.
WEATHER: Overcast at start, NW15, 65°F. becoming mostly clear or fair for the rest of the day with winds NW15-20, subsiding at dusk (with concomitant rise in mosquitos), temps peaking at 75°F. The wind was a limiting factor in finding landbirds. Clouding over somewhat towards dusk. Tide low at HI, tidal waters low at BNWR (impoundments high), rather high but falling fast at the end of the day at EIR.
NON-AVIAN TAXA: One Muskrat the ONLY mammal. TURTLES: Painted Turtle 4, Redbelly Slider 4, Diamondback Terrapin 1. BUTTERFLIES: not many, 40+ Monarchs, 3 Cloudless Sulphurs, 1 Viceroy, 4 Black Swallowtails.
SWAINSON’S HAWK DETAILS. In good light to our W (right) with the rising sun to the E (left) looking S. Based on George’s numerous photographs raptor authority Brain Sullivan has this to say:
“Weird bird to be in MD on this date. It’s a second-fall bird that’s still going through its second prebasic molt, though it’s not typical in that regard. I would expect a bird to be more advanced than this on this date, but who knows, sometimes wandering birds can show weird molt patterns. Its only molted 3 inner primaries and no secondaries, which is about where it should be in late May or early June! It’s still working on P4 though.”
Unfortunately no one else saw this bird, Dorchester’s 2nd record and one of the few sightings ever for the state..
A very dark brown bird, a large hawk, streaked underneath, with long pointed wings, sometimes in a dihedral, the usual Swainson’s dihedral not as evident as it might have been due, I think, to the strong winds. In company with Turkey Vultures. When I first saw it in the distance I said: “Is that a redtail?” Then “No it looks like a harrier.” Then George ID’d it immediately as a Swainson’s Hawk.
During one of the Swan Creek Road sightings we had it in view for several minutes, closer than the other sightings. This is when George really went to work with his Canon camera rig. His photographs have already been posted elsewhere, incl. on MDBIRDING.
The hawk spent most of the time rocking back-and-forth in the high winds, not really going anywhere. Distances varied from ¼ of a mile to < 100 yards (the latter on Swan Harbor Road). It was rather low over the trees. Within minutes of 1st seeing the Swainson’s we notified numerous people and networks via cell phone, text messaging, and the like.
I have previously seen Swainson’s Hawks at Cape May, Kiptopeke (VA), Texas, California, and probably other places I’ve forgotten. George has also seen them numerous times, and probably on their wintering grounds in Argentina.
Bob Ringler provides some information from his database. There are 17 reports of the species from MD, only 4 of them accepted by the MD/DC bird records committee. Six were rejected. Seven other reports have either not been reviewed or perhaps in some cases are not worth considering at all.
Here is George’s take: First spotted from Meekins Neck Road at about 7:10am Dad and I were able to approach the bird much more closely along Swan Harbor Road. We saw it from 4 different vantage points, often keeping company with a few Turkey Vultures and every now and then a Bald Eagle would use the same patch of air these birds were kiting around in. I realized what the bird was almost instantly, but still being cautious asked my father, "Hey Dad, what's this hawk." He came over and said, "harrier? Doesn't look quite right..." Then I said, "I think it's a Swainson's." I went for the camera and managed a few poor shots before it disappeared. We were excited but assumed the bird was gone at that point. Then we went back to birding, as the day's primary purpose was to perform the fall bird census. Towards the end of Meekin's Neck, we spotted the bird again, this time over Swan Harbor Road, so we drove over there and soon found ourselves right underneath it. We later observed the bird from two other points along SwanHarbor Road, and then last saw it at about 8:45. Initially I identified it as a dark juvenile, but after examining the molt it became clear the bird must be entering its 2nd year as it was molting both tail and wing feathers, but still showed the heavy streaking below of a young bird. Structurally this bird showed all the typical markings of a SWHA. See photos at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/george_armistead/
Many thanks to Brian Sullivan and Bob Ringler for helping out with information bearing on this record.
Best to all. – Harry Armistead, Philadelphia.
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