Date: 12/24/12 10:06 pm
From: Matt Hafner <hafner.matt...>
Subject: [MDBirding] 3rd Annual Taylor's Island Count at Christmas Results 12/23/12


Sunday December 23rd was the 3rd Annual Taylor's Island Count at Christmas
(CAC). This is not a formal Christmas Bird Count and the name is a joke,
but this year we took the Count more seriously than previous years. We
recorded a higher species total than the previous two years combined, added
11 species to the cumulative list, set many new high counts, and still
finished by 1pm. Also, given that we were taking it more seriously, we
decided we needed a tally. Lunch at the Cambridge Plaza Tapatia was
excellent.

This year we divided into 2 groups: North Island (Bill Hubick, Mikey
Lutmerding, John Hubbell, Tom Feild) and South Island (Jim Brighton, Matt
Hafner, Ron Gutberlet, Rob Ostrowski)

We did separate predawn birding, but both teams started the day seawatching
at the end of Punch Island Rd, before the North Island headed into their
territory. Below is an annotated summary of this year's birds with a note
on how many years that species has been seen on the CAC. HC = New High
Count

94 species total

Canada Goose (3/3) - 228

Tundra Swan (3/3) - 208 HC (previous 95)

American Black Duck (3/3) - 307

Mallard (3/3) - 774

Canvasback (2/3) - 6

Redhead (3/3) - 9 Ties previous HC

Greater Scaup (3/3) - 4

Lesser Scaup (2/3) - 22

Scaup sp. (1/3) - 1

Surf Scoter (3/3) - 223 HC (previous 107)

White-winged Scoter (2/3) - 4 HC (previous 1)

Black Scoter (2/3) - 13 HC (previous 13)

Scoter sp. (1/3) - 300

Long-tailed Duck (3/3) - 115 HC (previous 75)

Bufflehead (3/3) - 82

Common Goldeneye (3/3) - 10

Hooded Merganser (2/3) - 2

Red-breasted Merganser (3/3) - 2

Ruddy Duck (2/3) - 399 HC (previous 1)

Red-throated Loon (2/3) - 3 HC (previous 2)

Common Loon (3/3) - 7 HC (previous 5)

Horned Grebe (2/3) - 3

Northern Gannet (2/3) - 11 HC (previous 1), group of 9 were following a
container ship up the bay

Double-crested Cormorant (2/3) - 72 HC (previous 15)

Great Cormorant (1/3) - 1 New to CAC, flying up the bay with DCCO

Brown Pelican (3/3) - 47 HC (previous 2) obviously still a lot in the Bay
right now

Great Blue Heron (3/3) - 5 HC (previous 2)

Black Vulture (3/3) - 28 HC (previous 5)

Turkey Vulture (3/3) - 23

Northern Harrier (2/3) - 4 HC (previous 2)

Sharp-shinned Hawk (2/3) - 1 Ties previous HC

Bald Eagle (3/3) - 26 HC (previous 13)

Red-shouldered Hawk (3/3) - 2 HC (previous 1)

Red-tailed Hawk (3/3) - 1

King Rail (1/3) - 1 New to CAC, from a freshish water marsh on Robinson
Neck Rd

Virginia Rail (1/3) - 4 New to CAC thanks to better weather for predawn
railing

Killdeer (3/3) - 6

Dunlin (2/3) - 110

Wilson's Snipe (2/3) - 1 Ties previous HC

American Woodcock (1/3) - 1 New to CAC, flushed from Punch Island Rd in the
early dawn and seen flying over adjacent fields, excellent spot by Jim

Bonaparte's Gull (2/3) - 30 HC (previous 3)

Ring-billed Gull (3/3) - 292 HC (previous 35)

Herring Gull (3/3) - 317 HC (previous 317) many more gulls in the bay this
year

Great Black-backed Gull (3/3) - 2

Gull sp. (1/3) - 20

Rock Pigeon (3/3) - 34

Mourning Dove (3/3) - 7

Eastern Screech-Owl (2/3) - 5 HC (previous 3)

Great Horned Owl (2/3) - 6 HC (previous 1) much better owling effort this
year

Belted Kingfisher (3/3) - 1

Red-bellied Woodpecker (3/3) - 11 HC (previous 6)

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (3/3) - 2 HC (previous 1)

Downy Woodpecker (3/3) - 17

Hairy Woodpecker (3/3) - 3 HC (previous 1)

Northern Flicker (3/3) - 10 HC (previous 5)

Pileated Woodpecker (3/3) - 1

Merlin (1/3) - 2 New to CAC, flying south at end of Punch Island in the
early morning

Blue Jay (2/3) - 11 HC (previous 7)

American Crow (3/3) - 55 HC (previous 49)

Carolina Chickadee (3/3) - 38 Ties previous HC

Tufted Titmouse (3/3) - 14

Red-breasted Nuthatch (2/3) - 4 HC (previous 1) still expected more

White-breasted Nuthatch (2/3) - 5 HC (previous 3) maybe the best place in
Dorchester County to find this species

Brown-headed Nuthatch (3/3) - 44 HC (previous 42)

Brown Creeper (3/3) - 3

Winter Wren (3/3) - 9 HC (previous 2)

Carolina Wren (3/3) - 12 HC (previous 3)

Golden-crowned Kinglet (3/3) - 4

Ruby-crowned Kinglet (3/3) - 19 HC (previous 14)

Eastern Bluebird (3/3) - 62 HC (previous 46)

Hermit Thrush (3/3) - 13 higher than last year's 6, but much lower than 30
in 2010

American Robin (3/3) - 15

Northern Mockingbird (3/3) - 6

European Starling (3/3) - 136 HC (previous 21)

American Pipit (1/3) - 72 New to CAC, Bayshore Rd

Cedar Waxwing (3/3) - 53 HC (previous 20)

Yellow-rumped Warbler (3/3) - 110 HC (previous 85)

Eastern Towhee (3/3) - 6 Ties previous HC

Chipping Sparrow (1/3) - 8 New to CAC, expected here

Field Sparrow (1/3) - 3 New to CAC, expected here

Savannah Sparrow (1/3) - 20 New to CAC, not sure how it was missed other
years

Fox Sparrow (3/3) - 2 we had 12 in 2010

Song Sparrow (3/3) - 29

Swamp Sparrow (3/3) - 31

White-throated Sparrow (3/3) - 12 HC (previous 9) Not a lot of WTSP on the
island

Dark-eyed Junco (3/3) - 20

Northern Cardinal (3/3) - 24 HC (previous 20)

Red-winged Blackbird (3/3) - 287

Eastern Meadowlark (2/3) - 35 HC (previous 16) 27 in one flock in the
marshes of the central island

Common Grackle (3/3) - 255

Brown-headed Cowbird (3/3) - 16

House Finch (3/3) - 3

Red Crossbill (Type 3) (1/3) - 15 New to CAC, North Point Rd, obviously
hoped for this year, excellent find by the North Island team, photos and
recordings by Bill Hubick can be seen here:
http://www.billhubick.com/photos/updates/20121224.php

Pine Siskin (2/3) - 20 HC (previous 1)

American Goldfinch (3/3) - 41

House Sparrow (2/3) - 14 HC (previous 8)

Good birding!

Matt Hafner
Forest Hill, MD

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