I was lucky to have the day off today and, after voting, birded at Sandy Pt. SP, Terrapin Beach Park, Ferry Pt. Park, and the Chesapeake Environmental Center. After feeling the chill standing in line this morning, it was a beautiful day and there was a lot of activity, even if diversity was relatively low.
Highlights from Sandy Pt. were 2 Brant, 4 Brown Pelicans, a Lesser Black-backed Gull (3 cy), and a Royal Tern.
At Terrapin the most noteworthy bird was an Eastern Wood-Pewee. This is apparently quite a late date for this species but I got good looks at it and got photos. It did not vocalize but it was typical Wood-Pewee shape with angular head, white wing-bars, no eye-ring, and long primary projection. I will post photos to my flickr page tonight or tomorrow. I also had 3 Purple Finches (all females). There was a ton of activity here including large flocks of Juncos, Sparrows (Chipping, Field, Savannah, White-throated and Song), Bluebirds, Kinglets, Woodpeckers, even Hermit Thrushes were tearing themselves away from their usual caliginous haunts. (I can't believe Halloween is over already!) :)
Highlights from CBEC were 2 Pied-billed Grebes, 2 Common Loons, 4 Gadwall, 8 Ruddy Ducks, and 1 Am. Wigeon. Red-breasted and Brown-head Nuthatches here as well (White-breasted at Terrapin for the hat-trick) along with hordes of Yellow-rumps, the only warbler species of the day. Here there was also a large mixed flock of sparrows, Bluebirds, Flickers, etc. foraging frenetically. During the activity, I watched a Brown-headed Nuthatch caching pine nuts in crevices in the bark of a Loblolly Pine which was pretty cool. Full list below.
Good Birding,
Frank Marenghi
Annapolis, MD
Common Loon
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Brown Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Canada Goose
Brant
American Black Duck
Mallard
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Bufflehead
Ruddy Duck
Bald Eagle
Cooper's Hawk
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Laughing Gull
Forster's Tern
Royal Tern
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Eastern Phoebe
Blue Jay
American Crow
Crow sp.
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin
Hermit Thrush
Northern Mockingbird
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch
Purple Finch
American Goldfinch
European Starling
--
|