Date: Sun, 14 Jul 2002 11:16:15 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Tim Carney Subject: Baltimore County spring migration notes MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hey everyone,=20 This is Tim Carney from the Baltimore Bird Club. I just recently met = Matt Hafner after I had joined the Yahoo! Groups Teen Birder mailing = list. Matt and I went birding on July 10 and he found me five lifebirds = (Caspian Tern, Least Tern, Bank Swallow, Prothonotary Warbler, and Blue = Grosbeak) and we managed to score 76 species in less than five hours. I = think that's pretty good for mid-July! Matt is an excellent birder and I = look forward to going out birding again with him this week or next = weekend. We were supposed to go to Bombay Hook today, but the rain = spoiled our plans. Oh well, maybe there will be a rarity there next = weekend that wasn't here this weekend.=20 Anyway, the purpose of this post is to tell you a little bit about my = recent birding in my hometown of Rosedale. From the first day of April = until May 23, I did some hardcore birding (and a lot of banding) at my = home in Rosedale and my school, CCBC Essex (Essex Community College). I = was about five feet away from an Ovenbird on several occasions, two feet = away from a Blue-winged Warbler, got to watch my favorite N. American = bird, the Blackburnian Warbler (a spring male!!) for 20 minutes as he = sang and ate a winged insect about ten feet above my head (first one for = the area, too!!), got several lifers and several new birds for the area, = and discovered what is only the third Cooper's Hawk nest in Baltimore = County.=20 I even had a records system. I typed the species in the left column of a = spreadsheet, and made the next 31 columns very very narrow. I typed the = dates of a 31-day month (1 - 31) in each of the narrow columns. If I saw = a bird on the 16th, I would highlight "16" in the same row as that bird. = If I heard the species only, I would write a tiny "H" next to the date. = I am an obsessive lister!=20 Even though I was birding as early as April 1, I did not began recording = daily sightings until April 22. These species were seen before April 22: = Canada Goose=20 Mallard=20 Red-shouldered Hawk=20 Red-tailed Hawk=20 Killdeer -- new for yard=20 Ring-billed Gull=20 Rock Dove=20 Mourning Dove=20 Red-bellied Woodpecker=20 Downy Woodpecker=20 Northern Flicker=20 Blue-headed Vireo=20 Blue Jay=20 American Crow=20 Carolina Chickadee=20 Tufted Titmouse=20 White-breasted Nuthatch=20 Carolina Wren=20 Blue-grey Gnatcatcher=20 Ruby-crowned Kinglet=20 Hermit Thrush=20 American Robin=20 Northern Mockingbird=20 European Starling=20 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) -- heard only=20 Palm Warbler (Yellow)=20 Black-and-white Warbler=20 Eastern Towhee=20 Chipping Sparrow -- heard only=20 Field Sparrow=20 White-throated Sparrow=20 Dark-eyed Junco=20 Northern Cardinal=20 House Sparrow=20 House Finch=20 American Goldfinch=20 Red-winged Blackbird=20 Common Grackle=20 Brown-headed Cowbird -- heard only=20 This is a summary of my daily listings. I stopped birding at CCBC Essex = when school was coming to a close, so the sandpipers were probably = present much later than my "latest" date. Earliest and latest dates for = migrants are given: Canada Goose: resident Mallard: resident Heron sp (probably a Great Blue): flew overhead on May 7 Egret sp: flew overhead on May 13 Turkey Vulture: occasional fly-by; April 22, May 3, May 4 Bald Eagle: flew overhead on May 3 Cooper's Hawk: April 24 - May 8. Discovered a nest at CCBC Essex, = heard the "nest call" on May 4, and saw one bird land on it on May 8. A = professor at the school informed me that there were two juveniles which = flew off with the parents early this month. Red-shouldered Hawk: resident, breeds in woods behind my house Red-tailed Hawk: resident Greater Yellowlegs: May 6 - May 9 Solitary Sandpiper: May 4 - May 10 Spotted Sandpiper: May 1 - May 16. They breed at the college; I heard = this is a good find for Baltimore County... Semipalmated Sandpiper/Least Sandpiper/peeps: May 3 - May 10 Killdeer: probably a year-round resident; several pairs breed at = college Ring-billed Gull: resident Rock Dove (Domestic Pigeon): resident Mourning Dove: resident Chimney Swift: April 25 - May 23; summer resident? Red-bellied Woodpecker: resident Downy Woodpecker: resident Hairy Woodpecker: resident Northern Flicker: resident Eastern Wood-Pewee: May 15 - May 17 Great Crested Flycatcher: April 25 - May 20 Blue Jay: resident American Crow: resident Fish Crow: flew overhead on April 24 White-eyed Vireo: May 6 - May 9 Blue-headed Vireo: mid-April - May 4 Red-eyed Vireo: May 11 - May 20 Cedar Waxwing: May 2 - May 20 Eastern Bluebird: resident? Veery: May 13 Swainson's Thrush: May 10 - May 20 Hermit Thrush: mid-April - May 1 Wood Thrush: May 1 - May 15 American Robin: resident for most of year Grey Catbird: summer resident; first one on April 22 Northern Mockingbird: resident Brown Thrasher: April 23 - May 16 European Starling: resident White-breasted Nuthatch: resident Carolina Wren: resident House Wren: summer resident; first one on April 22 Blue-grey Gnatcatcher: mid-April Northern Rough-winged Swallow: May 4 - May 9 Barn Swallow: summer resident; first one on May 3 Ruby-crowned Kinglet: mid-April - May 4 Carolina Chickadee: resident Tufted Titmouse: resident House Sparrow: resident American Goldfinch: resident House Finch: resident Blue-winged Warbler: May 2 - May 3 Nashville Warbler: May 3 - May 14 Northern Parula: May 7 - May 12 Yellow Warbler: May 2 - May 17 Chestnut-sided Warbler: May 4 - May 20 Magnolia Warbler: May 1 - May 22 Black-throated Blue Warbler: May 1 - May 22 Yellow-rumped Warbler: April 2 - May 15 Black-throated Green Warbler: April 30 - May 7 Blackburnian Warbler: May 15 Prairie Warbler: May 1 - May 8 Palm Warbler: mid-April - May 3 or 4 (forgot date) Bay-breasted Warbler: May 18 Blackpoll Warbler: possibly on May 8, definitely on May 15 - May 23 Black-and-white Warbler: mid-April - May 20 American Redstart: May 7 - May 23 Ovenbird: April 22 - May 20 Common Yellowthroat: April 30 - May 23 Canada Warbler: May 17 - May 18 Wilson's Warbler: May 13 Song Sparrow: resident White-throated Sparrow: winter resident; last one on May 13 Dark-eyed Junco: winter resident; last one during mid-April Savannah Sparrow: May 1 - May 5 Chipping Sparrow: early April - May 16 Field Sparrow: early April Eastern Towhee: resident, but VERY common in mid-April Scarlet Tanager: May 18 - May 23 Rose-breasted Grosbeak: May 11 - May 12 Northern Cardinal: resident Baltimore Oriole: possibly on May 4 Red-winged Blackbird: resident Common Grackle: resident Brown-headed Cowbird: resident Also, I did some birding at Cromwell Valley and Loch Raven. Highlights = included Baltimore Orioles (very beautiful), Orchard Orioles, Yellow = Warblers, Palm Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Northern Parula, Indigo = Bunting male bathing in sunlight, Warbling Vireos, Ruby-throated = Hummingbird female, Solitary Sandpiper, Willow Flycatcher, Blue-grey = Gnatcatchers nesting, Eastern Bluebirds, Pileated Woodpecker calling, = Wood Thrushes, Red-eyed Vireos singing, lots of Bobolinks, American = Goldfinches, Black-and-white Warblers, very visual Red-winged = Blackbirds, Tree Swallows, Barn Swallows, Eastern Towhees, Mourning = Doves, Mallards, and of course the commoners (Blue Jay, crow, etc). Tim Carney =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =========================================================================