Date: Mon, 13 May 2002 13:31:59 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Henry Armistead <74077.3176@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: Dorchester May 11 & Talbot O.-s. Fly. MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline May 11, 70th Dorchester County May Bird Count. Midnight - 8:30 P.M. Mostly fair or clear. 55-75 degrees. Wind NE-N-SW. Mel Baughman and Harry Armistead. 140 species. No unusual species in contrast to May 4. Least Bittern 2. Brown Pelicans 325 (all in the vicinity of s. Barren Island). Glossy Ibis 5. Red-breasted Merganser 8 (Hooper's I.). Bald Eagle 51. Peregrine Falcon 1 adult (probably a male) at Elliott I. Five rail species incl. Black Rail 2. Common Moorhen 5. 17 shorebird species incl. Semipalmated Plover 90. Greater Yellowlegs 70. Dunlin 325. Short-billed Dowitcher 55. Black-necked Stilt 3 (others found at least 7 there - Elliott I.). Five tern species incl. Forster's Tern 20 (worst total in years; they seemed almost absent today). Yellow-billed Cuckoo 8. Four owl species incl. Barn Owl 2. Chuck-will's Widow 10. Six woodpecker species incl. Red-headed Woodpecker 4 (3 locations). Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1. Swainson's Thrush 1. Yellow-breasted Chat 6. Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow 8. Bobolink 14. Last 2 species of the day were singles of Tricolored and Black-crowned Night Herons Critters: Gray Tree Frogs 2. Carpenter Frog 4. 3 'possums. 3 Gray & 1 Fox Squirrel. 1 Raccoon. 10 Nutria. 1 Muskrat. 1 d.o.r. Red Fox. For the first time I actively counted deer with a total of 128 White-tailed Deer/Sika Elk, incl. one field with 55, mostly Sikas. All but 3 of the deer were seen at night. Few butterflies but several Red-spotted Purples at Rigby yesterday. 4 Red-bellied Turtles. Very poor landbird flight today (8 warbler species) but the shorebird numbers were good. As I said last week I am concerned about the lack of birds in the marshes, especially some rail species (esp. Virginia and Black), never see/hear American Bittern anymore, even Marsh Wrens and Seaside Sparrows seem to be fewer. The marshes are not what they used to be. "Rigby's Folly", Armistead property on Ferry Neck, Talbot County, MD, near Bellevue. May 10, Fri., OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER, new yard bird, no. 261. Only the 2nd I've ever seen in MD, the other being one George A., Mark Hoffman and I saw on Assateague I. in late May c. 8 years ago. Great views, the white central underparts contrasting with the sooty wash on the sides looking like a "vest". White areas on the upper rump sides seen occasionally but mostly covered by the wings. A pronounced peak to the top of the head. An excellent flyer, a real predator, making impressive sallies for insects, often above it, even though it was perched in the top of tall trees during the course of this sighting. Often returned to same perch after hunting flights. Watched for a total of c. 20 minutes by Mel Baughman and myself. May 11, Wife, Liz, and daughter, Mary, watched hundreds of Cow-nosed Rays in our cove, some right next to the dock, rooting around on the bottom, occasionally doing complete breaches, way more than we've ever seen before. Dozens still present the next day. May 12, Mary, counted 22 Diamondback Terrapins in the cove, by far the best count for here. Go Terps. An agitated Carolina Wren led to the discovery of a 3-foot Black Rat Snake that had just eaten the wren eggs in a nest inside the base of the winch housing on my boat trailer, kept under the garage car port. Best to all.-Harry Armistead, 523 E. Durham St., Philadelphia, PA 19119-1225. 215-248-4120. Please, any off-list replies to: harryarmistead@hotmail.com ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================