Date: 5/14/13 2:36 pm
From: Harry Armistead <harryarmistead...>
Subject: [MDBirding] Elliott Island Road, May 11, 2013
92nd DORCHESTER COUNTY MAY BIRD COUNT (in part), ELLIOTT ISLAND ROAD, MAY 11 2013. Jared Sparks & Harry Armistead.

8 other areas have coverage today. I hope to total and summarize all 9 areas, in a week or so.

Midnight – 8:30 P.M. (20.5 hours), 119.1 miles by car, 2 on foot. 120 species. No rarities or ratites. In many respects a very satisfying day with interesting weather and a lot of birds, bird song, some great sights. Inclement weather prohibits birding for no more than 1.5 hrs., during some of which we dose.

The AREA: all of E.I.R. but also Vienna, the Route 50 borrow pit N of Vienna, Kraft Neck, Lewis Wharf, and part of Steele Neck roads. All of these we did twice during daylight (but just once the part of Steele Neck). We did all of EIR 3 times, once in the dark, twice in Daylight.

SPECIES REPRESENTATION IN SOME GROUPS:

9 sparrows (good): Chipping 22, Field 2, Savannah 3, Grasshopper 2, Saltmarsh 1, Seaside 60, Song 4, Swamp 6, White-crowned 1 adult (Chapel of Ease Road).

8 heron types (good): great blue 14, little blue 1 ad., tricolored 8, green 1, black-crowned night 1, great egret 25, snowy egret 12, glossy ibis 3.

6 rallids (good): clapper 19, Virginia 26, king 2, sora 1, common gallinule 3, coot 1.

8 waterfowl: Canada goose 20 (incl. a pair w/ 2 goslngs), wood duck 7, gadwall 2, black duck 24, mallard 14, mallard X American black duck 1, blue-winged teal 2, green-winged teal 2, ruddy duck 320 (a most unlikely most numerous species of the day). Species with 2s all represent pairs.

11 shorebirds (low nos. for most): black-bellied plover 18, semipalmated plover 83, killdeer 3, greater yellowlegs 6, lesser yellowlegs 6, willet 9, spotted sandpiper 1, semipalmated sandpiper 9, least sandpiper 22, dunlin 70, short-billed dowitcher 1. The BBPLs, SESAs & SEPLs in a ploughed, wet field N side of Steele Neck Road. WHERE are all the Leasts … sometimes see 100s.?

11 warblers: northern parula 6, yellow 2, myrtle 1, pine 22, prairie 1, American redstart 1, prothonotary 3, worm-eating 1, ovenbird 18, common yellowthroat 70, yellow-breasted chat 1.

The OTHER SPECIES: wild turkey 7, common loon 1, double-crested cormorant 8, black vulture 1, turkey vulture 40, osprey 3, bald eagle 31, northern harrier 3, red-tailed hawk 2, laughing gull 12, ring-billed gull 1, herring gull 6, Caspian tern 1, royal tern 4, Forster’s tern 7,

rock pigeon 8, morning dove 18, yellow-billed cuckoo 1, great horned owl 1, barred owl 1, chuck-will’s-widow 4, chimney swift 10, red-headed woodpecker 1 ad., red-bellied woodpecker 2, downy woodpecker 2, northern flicker 1, pileated woodpecker 1, eastern wood-pewee 3, great crested flycatcher 37, eastern kingbird 12,

white-eyed vireo 10, red-eyed vireo 8, blue jay 6, American crow 24, fish crow 3, horned lark 1, purple martin 12, tree swallow 20, barn swallow 80, Carolina chickadee 3, tufted titmouse 21, brown-headed nuthatch 3, Carolina wren 1, house wren 8, marsh wren 50, blue-gray gnatcatcher 2,

eastern bluebird 14, wood thrush 5, American robin 20, gray catbird 7, northern mockingbird 11, European starling 7, summer tanager 12, scarlet tanager 1, eastern towhee 7, northern cardinal 16, blue grosbeak 21, indigo bunting 19, red-winged blackbird 250, eastern meadowlark 1, common grackle 145, boat-tailed grackle 12, brown-headed cowbird 38, orchard oriole 20, house finch 2, America goldfinch 6, house sparrow 8.

WEATHER. Definitely. Basically mostly overcast with strong SW winds, WARM & WET, with periods of rain in the predawn darkness & once in the late afternoon. 64 - 81°F.

At the start, midnight: 74°F., SW15, distant lightning, clear then quickly becoming overcast, lightning getting close at 1 A.M., then a deluge at 1:15 A.M. when overcast, NE5+, 68°F. 3:15 A.M., 66°F., overcast, sprinkles light & variable winds. 5 A.M., 64°F., NE5+, overcast, occasional light rain. At noon: 74°F., SW20, fair. 4P.M., 81°F., mostly overcast, SW15. 4:30-5 P.M. light rain but also sun in some areas of the sky, beautiful. 8:30 P.M, 72°F., fair SW10+. I’ll take an overnight low of 64°F. any old time.

GREAT BLUE HERON NEST (s?). An active nest in the hammock on the E side of the road S of Blue Point, on ADC atlas grids D9-10 & E9-10 (where the trailer is). A 2nd nest c. 50 feet away but may not be active. I’ve never seen GBHE nests on Elliott I. Road before. This is where the Red-headed Woodpecker is.

SOUTH OF ROUTE 50 it is curious how scarce woodpeckers are. Red-headeds may be the most abundant woodpecker, getting big help from the countless 1000s of Loblolly Pines dying off due to salt water intrusion. Blue Jays have become scarce in this area.

TIDES at Fishing Point on Fishing Bay: high 3:36 A.M., low 10:26 A.M., high 3:59 P.M.

NON-AVIAN TAXA: a very good day (& night) for these, 28 species, although we missed Red Fox and Carpenter Frog. I don’t expect to hear peepers or chorus frogs at this juncture of the spring.

TURTLES (6 species; good): Diamondback Terrapin 9, Box Turtle 2 d.o.r. (1 being eaten by a Turkey Vulture) plus 1♀ crossing the road one way, 1♂ 100 yards away crossing it the other (let’s get together, guys, O.K.?), Painted Turtle 7, Redbelly Slider 2, Mud Turtle 1, Spotted Turtle 2, Snapping Turtle 1 (conventional wisdom is you remove the turtle from the road and place it on the shoulder facing in the direction it is heading; I do this and it crawls back onto the road; I then gently heave it into the ditch).

SNAKES. Northern Watersnake, 2 roadkills, a 3rd one alive and pugnacious. Black Racer 1, Henrys Crossroads c. 0.5 mi. W of Lewis Wharf Rd., d.o.r., but when I lift it up with a tire iron it shudders and writhes as if still alive.

BUTTERFLIES. Not many. Tiger Swallowtail 5, American Lady 2, unID’d sulphur 3, Spring Azure 1, unID’d large black swallowtail 5.

MAMMALS. Fox Squirrel 3 (Kraft Neck Road on the road right in the wooded swamp area; 1 missing 2/3 of its tail), Gray Squirrel 3, Sika Deer 21, White-tailed Deer 23 plus 2 long dead on the road (rib cages with skull and various accessories attached), unID’d mole d.o.r. 1, Muskrat 3, Raccoon 2, Virginia Opossum 2, Eastern Cottontail 1.

BATRACHIANS (not very vocal tonight): Green Tree Frog 30±, Cope’s Gray Tree Frog 1 (Lewis Wharf Road), Fowler’s Toad 4, Green Frog 10±, Bullfrog 2, Southern Leopard Frog 10±.

ALSO NON-AVIAN: Massive hatch of insects in the A.M. night, less so after sunset, somewhat like driving through snow flurries. A lot of fireflies pre-dawn, hundreds. Jared’s attention is attracted to what he identifies as Blue-eyed Grass (an iris) on the shoulder of the marsh road.

NIGHT LIST. 16 species (poor): Canada Goose 4, Osprey 1, Clapper Rail 13, King Rail 1, Virginia Rail 19, Sora 1, Common Gallinule 3, Least Sandpiper1, Dunlin 1, Barred Owl 1, Chuck-will’s-widow 1, Tree Swallow 3, Marsh Wren 29, Common Yellowthroat 7, Seaside Sparrow 4, Swamp Sparrow 1.

MISSED SPECIES: In spite of concerted efforts for the following species we miss them: Barn Owl, Acadian Flycatcher, Black-necked Stilt, screech-owl, woodcock & Brown Pelican. Also miss hummer, thrasher, quail, White-throated Sparrow, and, any more these days, Black Rail.

WHATEVER GETS YOU THROUGH THE NIGHT. There is a certain dread and apprehension before an all-nighter, especially when you’re 72. In recent years a quart-and-a-half of coffee during the course of the day and night does the job. This time I try the Wawa cold cappuccinos, 4 or 5 of them. They work just as well, with a lot less caffeine, but a lot more fat.

Best to all. – Harry Armistead, Philadelphia.

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