Date: Wed, 22 May 2002 11:28:54 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Henry Armistead <74077.3176@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: part 4, Dorchester May count analysis MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline Part 4 (of 5 parts). Species abundance changes, 1966-2002, on 70 May counts in Dorchester County. Red-headed Woodpecker. 7/18. Average 0.5, if you will. Now they are found almost every year, sometimes as many as 6 per day. Recently there has been much logging in SDC. Combined with the huge number of trees, esp. Loblolly Pines, killed by salt water intrusion and perhaps also by bark beetles, this has all been to the advantage of Red-headeds. On the increase for at least 10 years. Acadian Flycatcher. 18/18. Average 3. This "run" of 18 straight would be unbelievable today. Seldom is this species encountered now and then only 1 or 2 at most. Horned Lark. 18/18. Average 8. In most recent years we only record 2-4. I don't have any sort of feel on how agricultural practices may have changed or what else may have affected the larks. Bank Swallow. 17/18. Average 18. In the early years the biggest counts were on the 1st weekend such as 80 in 1971, 78 in 1973, and 50 in 1967 vs. 21 as the biggest 2nd weekend count, in 1974. Now there are no big counts and Banks are often missed entirely. Colonies have existed only in a few spots such as Cambridge and extreme north Dorchester, which are not normally visited. Northern Rough-winged Swallow. 13/18. Average 2. Nests sparingly in Dorchester to the north of areas covered. Even harder to find now than Bank Swallow. In the early years of the count I did go to a nesting site in the north several times. Sedge Wren. 16/18. Average 2. Formerly a regular but uncommon nester in areas around Savanna Lake and just north of there on EIR. High count was 8 on May 4, 1968. These birds are gone now, although an occasional single may show up, often elsewhere. EIR used to be probably the best place in MD to see Sedge Wrens in the breeding season. Another notable count was of 10 on May 7, 1977. Brown Thrasher. 18/18. Average 9 with counts varying from 2-18. Brown Thrashers have been in a long decline over much of the East. Recently this species has been missed several times or else just 1 or 2 have been seen, e.g., Marshall Iliff, George Armistead and I listed 164 species on May 8, 1999, but no thrashers. Wood Thrush. 18/18. Average 22. Much scarcer now with sometimes only 3 or 4 recorded. Surely the stepped up logging in the county has impacted them but I can't believe this is the only reason why we aren't getting as many now. Eastern Bluebird. 17/18. Average 3. Has increased so greatly that some single day counts come close to the grand total for the first 18 counts combined. A dramatic example of their local increase can also be seen in the CBC's. The nearby CBC at St. Michaels recorded 1 bluebird on Dec. 19, 1971, vs. 642 on Dec. 17, 1995. How's that for population change? Nest boxes have no doubt helped bluebirds a lot but there must be several other reasons for their great increase. Logging with its leftover snags no doubt helps bluebirds here. Cedar Waxwing. 5/18. Average (meaningless with these few records, but here it is anyway) 2. For some reason waxwings turn up much more frequently now. Prior to the 1970's they were a very rare breeder on the lower Eastern Shore but now are found on many places in the breeding season. This is a bewildering species (in some respects like the Red Crossbill in its utter unpredictability) that seems to be capable of showing up anywhere, anytime. Now seen c. every other count. Yellow Warbler. 18/18. Average 14. Seem scarcer now with 2 or 3 to 8 more the norm. Perhaps cowbirds have impacted them as they are a favorite host species. The best places for them are tree hammock islands in the marsh at BNWR and, especially, EIR, as well as the willows along BNWR's Wildlife Drive. Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler. 18/18. Average 42, the average skewed by very high counts of 108 and 185 on May 1, 1971, and May 3, 1975, respectively. I am not sure anything is happening with Myrtles here, although they seem harder to get on the 2nd Saturday now and are sometimes almost missed then, whereas 2nd Sat. counts from 1970 to 1976 ranged from 6 to 51. Kentucky Warbler. 17/18. Average 4. Practically non-existent in SDC now. Getting one or two now would be a red letter day. During the previous atlas period Sam Droege found one or two along Liners Rd. s. of Shorter's Wharf. Eastern Meadowlark. 18/18. Average 52. Has undergone a precipitous decline here perhaps due to the scarcity of fallow fields. However, they are also much less common in the higher saltmarsh. Scarce now in former strongholds such as "Gadwall Bend" on EIR and the T-junction of Andrews and Lakesville (336) roads s. of Shorter's Wharf. Still quite a few along Egypt Rd. This species was actually missed once in 2001. Boat-tailed Grackle. 18/18. Average 17. For whatever reason this bird is not as common now. There are a few on Lower Hooper's I. and more on lower parts of the EIR. Did not always occur in SDC. I can remember finding the first ones for the SDC CBC the day before that count, which was Dec. 16, 1961. Blue Grosbeak. 16/18. Average 4. Sometimes hard to find on the first weekend. Otherwise this species became much commoner in the 1970's and 1980's than previously and perhaps has levelled off recently, although we had 18 on May 8, 1999, 8 more than on any of the first 18 counts. Best to all.-Harry Armistead, 523 E. Durham St., Philadelphia, PA 19119-1225. 215-248-4120. Any off-list replies, please, 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 ======================================================================= =========================================================================