Date: Fri, 16 May 2003 12:43:29 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Henry Armistead <74077.3176@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: Delaware "May Run" May 15 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline May 15, 2003, Thursday, Delaware Big Day. 519 miles. 23 hours. 185 species. Route: pre-dawn - Dragon Run, Thousand Acre Marsh, Delaware City, Milford Neck, Port Mahon, Bombay Hook N.W.R.; morning - Delaware City, Reedy Pt., Thousand Acre Marsh, White Clay Creek S.P. n. of Newark and U. of DE; afternoon: Woodland Beach W.A., Route 9, Cape Henlopen, Lewes, Broadkill Beach & Primehook N.W.R., Little Creek W.A., Port Mahon, Bombay Hook N.W.R. Weather: Mostly overcast, 46 - 69 degrees F., winds NE variously 5-25+ m.p.h. but mostly c. 10 m.p.h. Occasional brightening and sunshine. Sprinkled for a few minutes once or twice. Better weather than forecast. Our night list was not high since there were no landbirds migrating and calling overhead but we did hear 11 species of shorebirds. Several species we often have trouble hearing were better represented than usual, mostly at Thousand Acre Marsh and Milford Neck. We heard 6-7 each of Great Horned Owl, Whip-poor-will, Virginia Rail, Sora, Common Moorhen, and woodcock but we missed both bitterns, Black Rail, and nighthawk. We heard skimmers at night at Port Mahon. In the morning we skipped the splendid woodlands of the A. I. duPont Institute north of Wilmington, so often good for warblers. But they had not been good for the past few days so we went to White Clay Creek instead, which had a good flight. Here Yellow-throated Vireo, Acadian Flycatcher, and Kentucky Warbler are common breeding birds along with a few Cerulean Warblers. We depend on this locality also for Warbling Vireo, phoebe, kingfisher, rough-winged swallow, Louisiana Waterthrush, et al. Migrants here were good including Blackburnian, Tennessee, Canada, multiple Magnolia, and numerous other warblers plus Veery. Nevertheless today we missed Nashville, Cape May, Bay-breasted, Wilson's warblers, etc. White Clay Creek is a beautiful riparian creek valley with abundant ash, sycamore, and other attractive forest. Within the past few days Olive-sided Flycatcher, Mourning Warbler, and Least Flycatcher were found at White Clay by numerous observers but we missed them. Many of today's shorebirds were at temporary wet areas in poorly-drained farm fields. We also found a golden plover with a large Black-bellied Plover flock on the north side of the entrance to Bombay Hook refuge in a ploughed field. At Cape Henlopen not many birds were present but from the parking lot we saw a Piping Plover (best looked for at low tide), numerous gannets, both loon species, a Red-breasted Merganser, oystercatcher, and Royal & Common Terns. Today's last species was 2 Lesser Scaup at Port Mahon, accompanied by a dozen or so Ruddy Ducks in the murky waters of Delaware Bay. Here there are so many rocks and rip-rap along the beach that I think this may interfere with horseshoe crabs when they haul in to lay their eggs. Very high tide when we were there due to the NE winds and full moon. Other highlights today were the 3 falcons and the usual big heron sunrise flight from Pea Patch Island as seen at Reedy Point (all 10 breeding species of herons and ibis, including several Tricolored Herons and Yellow-crowned Night Herons plus loads of Glossy Ibis and Cattle Egrets). No Sedge Wrens anywhere. Our strategy is to try for southern breeding landbirds in the Redden Forest area in mid-afternoon downstate in Sussex County. Hard to get them then but that's when we are there. We went to stakeout areas and found Prothonotary, Prairie, and Pine warblers, Red-headed Woodpecker, Vesper Sparrow, and Summer Tanager but missed Worm-eating & Hooded warblers and Pileated Woodpecker and dipped on a stakeout Dickcissel seen recently in a big alfalfa field. Best bird today was a Lincoln's Sparrow well seen by all of us from the car at Woodland Beach W.M.A. Here at mid-day strong NE winds had forced some migrants to the lee side of a small area of bushes and trees where we also had good looks at a Yellow-rumped Warbler, House Wren, and Willow Flycatcher at this micro migrant trap. Commoner on the Piedmont in spring, this was the first Lincoln's Sparrow we had seen on a Delaware May Run. Port Mahon marsh has deteriorated. One reason is the invasion of Phragmites. Due to what I sense is West Nile Virus (WNV) hysteria unsightly tracked vehicles dot the marsh and have dug ugly, wide trenches and ditches, degrading the integrity of the marsh, rendering it less suitable for most marsh birds. On the other hand WNV has killed individuals of over 140 bird species not to mention some humans. I don't know what the answer is but suspect it is not marsh ditching and chemicals - there will always be mosquitos. The natural marsh that remains is less dense and verdant, largely unsuitable for marsh sparrows. We missed Northern Harrier and Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow today. Broadkill Beach (Primehook N.W.R.) has also deteriorated since the 1960s and 1970s when it resembled Elliott Island marsh in its heyday with easily-found Black Rails, woodcock, Henslow's Sparrows, and Marsh Wrens. These disappeared before it became largely impounded by the refuge. This year we did not find Black Rails on May 15, nor on the 2 Dorchester County bird counts of May 3 & 10 along Elliott Island Road. The following poetry seems appropriate in expressing what I feel about the passing of these and various other wildlife glories in our lifetimes. There ARE, of course, bright spots, including the comebacks by Bald Eagles, bluebirds, and peregrines, but generally I feel that there are not as many birds, as much variety as there used to be. There is still "splendor in the grass and glory in the flower" but not as much as in the recent past. Because of this year's winter Carolina Wrens and bluebirds seem to have taken a hit from the very cold weather and snows, although initially it didn't seem that way to me in the spring. They'll bounce back, as they have from other setbacks. "There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream, The earth, and every common sight, To me did seem Apparelled in celestial light, The glory and the freshness of a dream. It is not now as it hath been of yore; - Turn whereso'er I may, By night or day, The things which I have seen I now can see no more." Wordsworth. 'Ode on Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood'. Dramatis personae. Dave Cutler (leader & organizer). Howard Brokaw. Carl Perry. Harry Armistead. Howard is 86, began birding in 1927. Howard uses this day as an important fundraiser for the National Audubon Society, where he was recently on the board of directors. He is the grandson of the famous artist and illustrator Howard Pyle. Howard collected his grandfather's art, correspondence, writings, and other memorabilia for decades and recently donated all of this to the Brandywine Museum. Dave has been one of my mentors and friends since he took me on my first Christmas Bird Count at Bombay Hook N.W.R. in the mid-1950s. He was formerly an executive at Triangle Publications under Walter Annenberg when Triangle owned "TV Guide", "Seventeen" and the "Philadelphia Inquirer". Carl is a longtime friend and is an engineer with Armstrong Tile. Along with Harry LeGrand he co-founded the Cape Hatteras Christmas Bird Count. We have been together as a team for 7 or 8 years. Our average age is around 70. In some circles we are, in connection with this May bird count at least, referred to (fondly, I think) as the "Has-Beens". Nevertheless we usually "win" the contest to achieve the largest one-day May birdlist in Delaware, important to the few of us who care. For each of us this Delaware "May Run" is one of the high points of the year. Be that as it may, I am tired of driving, of thermoses of coffee, and of cargo areas that are a morass of tripods, scopes, clothing, and unhealthy food. Today's effort, as usual, was possible because of up to 10 days combined advance work and scouting by Dave, Carl, and Howard. I don't enjoy scouting and am already booked up for time by the 2 all-nighters I do every year on the 1st and 2nd Saturdays of May in Dorchester County, MD, for the spring bird counts there. Dave Cutler has been conducting these Delaware "May Runs" since the late 1940s. Three times we have recorded 201 species, the best efforts for us. Today's total of 185 (preliminary, determined in our exhaustion last night) was a surprise to us. When we totalled up the species close to sunset we all thought we had not done this well, since our waterfowl, shorebird and warbler lists were mediocre. Best to all.-Henry ("Harry") T. Armistead, 523 E. Durham St., Philadelphia, PA 19119-1225. 215-248-4120. 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