Winger West, Nancy Magnusson, and I participated in the Lower Kent County Christmas Bird Count and had the privilege to count birds on Chesapeake Farms. Our results are below. You might enjoy the narratives included.
Nancy made the call on the White-winged Crossbills that happen to land at the top of a sweetgum loaded with fruit. This is coincidental to the similiar sighting reported at North Tract also on Sunday - with crossbills eating the sweetgum fruits.
Location Chesapeake Farms West - LKC CBC, Kent County, Maryland, US ( Map )
Date and Effort Sun Dec 16, 2012 7:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
Party Size: 3
Duration:9 hour(s), 30 minute(s(
Distance:10.0 mile(s)
53 species (+1 other taa) total
105 Snow Goose
1100 Canada Goose
1 Tundra Swan
2 Gadwall (Male 1, Female 1)
700 Mallard
8 Northern Shoveler
18 Green-winged Teal (American)
2 Ring-necked Duck
1 Ruddy Duck
3 Ring-necked Pheasant
These were two beautiful males not afraid of cars. We saw them from less than 10 feet away twice during the day in the same area. One of them had only one leg and was a bit slower walking than the other. The other bird was heard only. (Male 1, Sex Unknown 1)
1 Pied-billed Grebe
3 Great Blue Heron
5 Black Vulture
16 Turkey Vulture
2 Sharp-shinned Hawk
1 Accipiter sp.
22 Bald Eagle
We saw more eagles today than any of us had ever seen on this count. Several times during the day we counted all the eagles we could see at one time standing in one place at different parts of the property. Our numbers are estimates,. The mature pairs were in distinctly different parts of the property. (Mature Male 4, Mature Female 4, Immature sex unknown 14)
2 Red-shouldered Hawk
2 Red-tailed Hawk
37 Mourning Dove
1 Belted Kingfisher
15 Red-bellied Woodpecker
1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
11 Downy Woodpecker
5 Hairy Woodpecker
17 Northern Flicker
1 Pileated Woodpecker
65 Blue Jay
8 American Crow
22 Carolina Chickadee
30 Tufted Titmouse
12 White-breasted Nuthatch
18 Carolina Wren
2 Golden-crowned Kinglet
43 Eastern Bluebird
4 American Robin
6 Northern Mockingbird
15 European Starling
2 Cedar Waxwing
4 Eastern Towhee
6 Field Sparrow
18 Savannah Sparrow
29 Song Sparrow
2 Swamp Sparrow
131 White-throated Sparrow
2 White-crowned Sparrow
42 Dark-eyed Junco
14 Northern Cardinal
1873 Red-winged Blackbird
10500 Common Grackle 10,500 Grackles seen flying and on the ground within 30 feet of us watching them in the car. We followed the cloud as it made its way southerly across the property. The sounds were magnificent. There was only a very small (~less then 1%) sprinkling of Red-winged Blackbirds and we only saw 3 Brown-headed Cowbird. Nancy ID both purple and bronzed races. Kent County Maryland is farm country, Chesapeake Farms is farm country and perfect habitats for clouds of grackles (and other flocking species of black birds).
[added 12/17 by Nancy Magnusson] Being in the midst of this was amazing - I've seen larger flocks, but have never been up this close and personal.
3 Brown-headed Cowbird
6 White-winged Crossbill
Nancy Magnusson and I saw the flock fly into the top of a sweetgum tree. Nancy got her scope on the flock and made the ID.
[added 12/17 by Nancy Magnusson] Irruption year. These guys landed ~200 yards away. The first bird I got on looked yellowish-orange with black wings and bold white wingbars. My knee-jerk reaction was oriole because of the color combo. Of course, there were more than one, which immediately got me over to WWCRs. I saw another yellowish version and two red versions hanging from the gum balls. I could not see the bills due to distance and lighting (overcast). Round finchy types, not long and lean. They all disappeared as I was lowering the scope for Marcy, and we could not relocate them. I have since heard of two other flocks found in sweet gum trees yesterday - that was not something I expected.
30 Pine Siskin
Marcy and Nancy observed this flock of small songbirds with notched tails first thing in the morning feeding at the top of a nearby tree in poor light, and they were completely quiet. We spent a lot of time ruling out other species (Cedar Wawing, American Goldfinch, Carlina Chickadee). About the same time we saw the flock, we also heard Cedar Wawing, but deteremined that was co-incidental. I got some looks at what appeared to be only female American Goldfinch, but the lack of any males seemed odd. Nancy observed streaking and yellow wingbar. After spending the time to observe, we watched as the entire flock flew off and heard one clinching "zreeeeeeet".
[added 12/17 by Nancy Magnusson] When we saw these birds silently fly in, it was about 0715 and overcast - we could tell they were birds because they flew. We assumed goldfinch because of size. On our return towards the car, the light gradually improved - we could see first that they were darker than goldfinches, then the streaking became visible, and then some yellow wingbars. We thought there were 15 until they took flight, when we estimated 30 - the silent feeding flock all started making PISI noises once they took to the wing.
84 American Goldfinch
Marcy Stutzman
Russett, MD 20724
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