Date: Tue, 2 Jan 2001 20:11:52 EST Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Mark Hoffman Subject: Chincoteague CBC-MD (Worcester) Sector Results Comments: cc: obrienm@algorithms.com, Jlstasz@aol.com, MH1920@aol.com, dave036@earthlink.net, nroberts@shore.intercom.net, 74077.3176@compuserve.com, Chan_Robbins@usgs.gov MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit MARYLAND SECTOR 2000 CHINCOTEAGUE, VIRGINIA, CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT Stockton, MD. Dec. 29, 2000. Times: 0640-1730; owling 0555-0640. Freshwater ponds and streams frozen; salt marshes, bays and running water partially frozen open. Temperature 22-36 F; light NW to light NE winds. Observers: 7 in 4-6 parties. Total party-hours 40.5; 35.0 on foot, 5.5 by car. Total party-miles 68.3; 32.0 on foot, 36.3 by car. Owling party-hours 2.9; party-miles 13.1. All areas in Worcester County, Maryland, including E. A. Vaughn Wildlife Management Area-Central Area (areas south of Scarboro Creek and north of Pikes Creek), E. A. Vaughn Wildlife Management Area-Southern Area (areas south of Pikes Creek and north of George Island Landing Road), George Island Landing, Stockton, Big Mill Pond, Swans Gut, Greenbackville Road and Rabbit Knaw Road. New areas covered this year were the Selby Tract (NW of Stockton) and Thews Farm (E of Big Mill Pond), areas of the recently acquired (by DNR) Chesapeake Forest. Thanks to DNR for allowing access to these areas. All comments refer to the 10 years (1991-2000) for which complete data is currently available for this sector. Species in caps are new to the cumulative list. New highs are indicated. (X/10) means the species has been recorded on X of the 10 counts. Initials are given for species recorded by a single party. CW = count week. Common Loon 0 (3/10); Pied-billed Grebe 3; Horned Grebe 0 (4/10); American Bittern 1 (2/10, JLS et al.); Great Blue Heron 62 (new high, prev. high 43); "southern herons" 0 (sometimes we get a Great Egret [2/10], Tricolored Heron [1/10] or Black-crowned Night-Heron [3/10]); Black Vulture 55; Turkey Vulture 233; Snow Goose 3,102 (3,085 white, 17 blue) (much smaller than normal dawn flight out of Chincoteague Bay inland, major flight to north of circle); Ross' Goose 3 (new high, 3/10, JLS et al.); Canada Goose 682; Brant 0 (4/10); Tundra Swan 0 (8/10); Wood Duck 0 (6/10); Gadwall 17 (4/10); American Wigeon 2 (5/10); American Black Duck 296; Mallard 356 (new high, prev. high 309; Mallard/Am. Black Duck (sp.) 2 (no large raft of "quackers" in Chincoteague Bay at dusk off of Georges Island Landing as in past); Northern Shoveler 5 (3/10, MOB, LZ); Northern Pintail 0 (3/10); Green-winged Teal 6 (5/10, MLH); Ring-necked Duck 0 (2/10); Lesser Scaup 5 (2/10, MOB, LZ); Bufflehead 940 (new high, prev. high 361, MOB, LZ); Common Goldeneye 3 (4/10, MOB, LZ); Hooded Merganser 15 (no large flight at dusk at Georges Island Landing [e.g., 640 in 1998]); Red-breasted Merganser 35 (MOB, LZ); Bald Eagle 6 (5 imm., 1 ad.); Northern Harrier 10; Sharp-shinned Hawk 11 (new high, prev. high 9); Cooper's Hawk 2 (7/10); Red-shouldered Hawk 1 (5/10, MLH); Red-tailed Hawk 19 (ties high); American Kestrel 6; Merlin 1 (2/10, MOB, LZ); Peregrine Falcon 2 (new high, 3/10); Northern Bobwhite 22 (9/10, ties high, MOB, LZ); Rails 0 (sometimes get Clapper/large rail [sp.] 3/10 or Virginia 6/10, although the latter species is less common since Michael stopped poaching them from the territory to the south, in Virginia no less!); American Coot 0 (1/10); Black-bellied Plover 0 (5/10); Killdeer 7 (last year 152); AMERICAN AVOCET 1 (new species, Vaughn WMA/Central, JLS and MH); Greater Yellowlegs 37 (10/10); Lesser Yellowlegs 1 (7/10, JLS et al.); WESTERN SANDPIPER 2 (new species, MOB, LZ); Dunlin 109 (new high, prev. high 83, MOB, LZ); Long-billed Dowitcher 4 (new high, prev. high 1, 4/10); dowitcher (sp.) 18 (new high, prev. high 5); Common Snipe 0 (6/10); American Woodcock 23 (new high, prev. high 13); Ring-billed Gull 1,071; Herring Gull 104; Great Black-backed Gull 14; Rock Dove 4 (MLH); Mourning Dove 140; Eastern Screech-Owl 14; Great Horned Owl 11; Short-eared Owl 0 (3/10); Belted Kingfisher 8 (new high, prev. high 6); Red-bellied Woodpecker 27; Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 4; Downy Woodpecker 51 (new high, prev. high 43); Hairy Woodpecker 16; Northern Flicker 119 (new high, prev. high 85); Pileated Woodpecker 5; Eastern Phoebe 5; Blue Jay 28; American Crow 102; FISH CROW 5 (new species, at last! Recorded during count week in 1999, found by three parities, MOB, LZ, RFR, MLH, unusually common in OC count circle this winter as well); Horned Lark 55 (missed prior two years); Tree Swallow 1 (2/10, MOB, LZ); Carolina Chickadee 110; Tufted Titmouse 49; White-breasted Nuthatch 0 (3/10); Brown-headed Nuthatch 7 (7/10, ties high); Brown Creeper 3; Carolina Wren 123; House Wren 2 (9/10, high 10); Winter Wren 21; Sedge Wren 2 (8/10, high 11); Marsh Wren 0 (4/10); Golden-crowned Kinglet 92 (new high, prev. high 45); Ruby-crowned Kinglet 12; Eastern Bluebird 105; Hermit Thrush 121 (new high, prev. high 53); American Robin 2,657; Gray Catbird 18; Northern Mockingbird 25; Brown Thrasher 49 (new high, prev. high 28, 22 in Vaughn/Central and 21 in Vaughn/South); European Starling 306; American Pipit 680 (new high, prev. high 298, 310 by RFR and 340 by MLH); Cedar Waxwing 0 (8/10, seemed very scare on shore counts); Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler 262; Pine Warbler 6 (in the annual "warbler wars" Yellow-rumps again edged out Pines, 4 to 2, in MLH's sector around Big Mill Pond); Palm Warbler 4 (western) (7/10, high 18); Common Yellowthroat 2 (7/10, high 6); Yellow-breasted Chat 1 (2/10, RFR); Eastern Towhee 50 (new high, prev. high 47); Chipping Sparrow 63 (new high, prev. high 47); Field Sparrow 168 (new high, prev. high 98); Vesper Sparrow 0 (3/10); Savannah Sparrow 169; Le Conte's Sparrow 1 (2/10, JLS, MH, DP, flushed five times, Vaughn/Central, were seen last year); Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow 4 (4/5 post-split, JLS et al.); Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow 1 (4/5 post-split, JLS et al.); Fox Sparrow 49 (new high, prev. high 31); Song Sparrow 434 (new high, prev. high 340); LINCOLN'S SPARROW 1 (new species, MLH, near Big Mill Pond); Swamp Sparrow 364 (new high, prev. high 250); White-throated Sparrow 1,370 (new high, prev. high 1,065); White-crowned Sparrow 2 (2/10); Dark-eyed Junco 153; Northern Cardinal 117 (new high, prev. high 116); Red-winged Blackbird 1,455; Eastern Meadowlark 199; Rusty Blackbird 8 (MOB, LZ); Common Grackle 219; Boat-tailed Grackle 90 (new high, prev. high 43 (MOB, LZ); Brown-headed Cowbird 8; winter finches 0 (not unexpected, although this area is as good as any for PUFI in "non-flight years"); House Finch 58; American Goldfinch 57; House Sparrow 20. TOTAL SPECIES 104 (second best, 112 last year), plus 1 form. 17,606 individuals. Cumulative species total (for count days) 144, 4 species added. PARTICIPANTS: Matt Hafner (MH), Mark L. Hoffman (MLH, compiler-7263 Norris Ave., Sykesville, MD, 21784, Mhoff36100@aol.com), Michael O'Brien, Dave Powell, Robert F. Ringler, James L. Stasz, Louise Zemaitis. General party locations: Hoffman (Big Mill Pond and vicinity-areas south of Rt. 366 and west of Rt. 12); Ringer (Selby Tract, west end of Vaughn/South, Stockton Chicken Plant, areas south of George Island Landing Road and east of Rt. 12); Stasz, Hafner and Powell (Vaughn WMA-Central Area); O'Brien and Zemaitis (Vaughn WMA-Southern Area and George Island Landing Road, east of Greenbackville Rd.). Commentary: After the bone-chilling OC CBC the prior day, this was an idyllic day of winter birding in Worcester County. With virtually no wind all day, it was down right balmy, at times, with the sun brightly shining. Nonetheless, the harsh winter weather preceding the count day no doubt contributed to us missing a number of species (e.g., egrets/herons, shorebirds, vireos/warblers). We were unable to match last year's 112 species, despite better coverage (32.8 vs. 27.7 party-hours). Marshall's absence, at least in his own mine, could account for the different between last year and this. The increased hours and due diligence resulted in a large number of new high counts, particularly for many of the land birds (e.g., the Hermit Thrush total of 121 is close to the OC CBC's all time high of 130, reflective of both habitat and observers). The sparrowing was excellent, with good habitat on the newly accessible Chesapeake Forest tracts. -------------------------------- Mark Hoffman Sykesville, MD Mhoff36100@aol.com ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================