Today Harry Fink, Matt Rogosky, and I attempted to break the Howard County "unofficial" Big Day record of 119. I'm happy to report that we did so, with a total of 122 species today! This Big Day was run entirely by ABA Big Day rules. We had a wonderful day with 24 warbler species including N. Waterthrush, Tennessee, Hooded, Cape May, Blackburnian, and Chat; 10 sparrow species including Lincoln's and four White-crowned; a Cattle Egret and Semi Plovers at Fulton Pond; 2 Soras, a Virginia's Rail, a Marsh Wren, plus a Willow Flycatcher. We also had two Pied-billed Grebes (flagged as rare by eBird), and in a colossal downpour at Centennial, we found a Black-crowned Night Heron riding out the storm up high in a tree. We ended our night at Harry's house where two Screech Owls called and then posted up in a nearby tree, one offering great views through the scope.
We did miss some really easy birds unfortunately, including Thrasher (!) - I've had two singing every day in my yard for two weeks, but not today - Osprey, and Yellow-throated Vireo. Other expected birds that we missed were Yellow-throated Warbler, Canada Warbler, and Blue Grosbeak.
It was a very tiring day and we basically were soaked for most of the day. Very rewarding though!
Russ Ruffing
Woodstock, MD
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