Date: Mon, 14 Oct 2002 11:46:40 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Matt Hafner Subject: Assateague Big Sit MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit On Sunday, 13 October, Jim Stasz, Zach Baer and I set out to do a Big Sit at the end of Bayside Campground. Our circle was situated on the boardwalk towards the canoe rental. In retrospect, this was probably not the best place for the circle. I was hoping for more migrants to be dropping into the area behind the canoes and the in the cedars on the edge of the point. During parts of the day with steady wind, we had trouble hearing birds on the other end of the parking lot. Oh well, next year we'll know better. The weather for the Sit was unpredictable and variable. Despite the Weather Channel radar showing no rain over Ocean City, the actual conditions proved otherwise. The rain let up when we started our Sit at 0600. There was a period from 0800-0900 which was quite miserable with steady drizzle and cold wind. There were several times during the day that the sun shone through the cloud breaks and it became somewhat warm. We arrived at the circle at 0600 and stayed until 1300. We were joined by Norm and Fran Saunders from about 0830-1200. Worst misses, in my opinion: Mallard, Killdeer, Blue Jay (calling from the campground, but not heard within the circle), American Robin, Chipping Sparrow (sparrows were scarce overall), Northern Cardinal (at the opposite end of the parking lot), Brown-headed Cowbird, American Goldfinch. Ducks and shorebirds were disappointing, but I wouldn't consider many of them bad misses. The list: total = 69 species Red-throated Loon - 1 headed from the bay to the ocean Common Loon - several headed north in the bay Brown Pelican Great Cormorant - 4 mixed in the cormorant flocks Double-crested Cormorant - large flocks southward all day Great Blue Heron - 2 flocks headed south Great Egret - morning heron flight Snowy Egret - morning heron flight Little Blue Heron - morning heron flight Tricolored Heron - morning heron flight Cattle Egret - 1 flying south with Great Blues! Black-crowned Night-Heron - first bird of the day!! Black Vulture - scoped over the mainland Turkey Vulture - scoped over the mainland Canada Goose - small flock scoped over mainland American Black Duck - several pairs flying around Black Scoter - 1 headed south in the bay Osprey - regular visitor Northern Harrier - scoped hunting the marshes of South Point Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2 made several passes during the day Peregrine Falcon - 2, both late in the day Black-bellied Plover - 1 calling from nearby marsh Greater Yellowlegs - 1 flyover Lesser Yellowlegs - 2 flyovers w/ Greater Dunlin - 1 flyby Laughing Gull - regular Ring-billed Gull - regular Herring Gull - regular Great Black-backed Gull - regular Caspian Tern - regular Royal Tern - regular Forster's Tern - 2 early Eurasian Collared-Dove - most surprising bird of the day!! see previous post for details Mourning Dove - 2 flybys Belted Kingfisher - 1 late in the day Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1 (missing central tail feathers) gave serious thought to flying to South Point, but never did while we were there. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 1 mid-day Downy Woodpecker - 1 regular Yellow-shafted Flicker - a few made passes Red-eyed Vireo - 1 behind the canoes American Crow - 2 calling birds headed south Fish Crow - several Tree Swallow - several large flocks headed north Carolina Wren - a few regulars Golden-crowned Kinglet - flock of 5 flying all over the place Swainson's Thrush - a few calling pre-dawn Gray Catbird - regular Northern Mockinbird - regular Brown Thrasher - regular European Starling - a few flocks flying by American Pipit - 2 flyovers Cedar Waxwing - small flock flyover Myrtle Warbler - most common passerine, lots flying over and in the brush Black-throated Green Warbler - two in morning flight Palm Warbler - 2-3 Yellow race, 1 Western hanging around point Blackpoll Warbler - several flyovers American Redstart - 2 in morning flight Common Yellowthroat - only 1 scolding behind the canoes Eastern Towhee - several regulars Song Sparrow - only about 4 regulars White-throated Sparrow - only 1 behind canoes Rose-breasted Grosbeak - 1 calling pre-dawn Dickcissel - 2 flyovers Bobolink - 2 flyvovers Red-winged Blackbird - several flocks Eastern Meadowlark - 4 flying by Boat-tailed Grackle - a few small flocks around Common Grackle - 4 individuals flying by House Finch - several small flocks regular Matt Hafner College Park, MD ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================