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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