Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 13:10:03 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Walter Ellison Subject: Kent County MOS Fall Count MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hi All, We ran our Kent County Fall Count on Sunday 21 Sept with a small, but = dedicated crew from 5:35 AM to 7:10 PM. We finished with 97 species and = 3917 individuals for the day. We concentrated on water habitats for the = most part, which is reflected in the individual totals for many species = and in the list of missed species. Our most surprising misses were = Red-tailed Hawk, Horned Lark and Field Sparrow. Observers were Cathy = Carroll (from Baltimore County), Walter Ellison, Ian Ellison (in charge = of caterpillars), and Nancy Martin. Highlights: Herons, 5 species -=20 24 Great Blue Herons; 5 Great Egrets; 3 Snowy Egrets (Eastern Neck = Narrows); 99 Cattle Egrets (75 at the sheep farm near the west end of = Reeses Corner Rd, and 24 flying west over Chesapeake Bay from Tolchester = Beach at 6:15); 3 Green Herons. Waterfowl, 14 species - 18 Mute Swans (OK not really a highlight); 30 Canada Geese (no obvious = migratory birds); 11 Wood Ducks; 1 American Wigeon (on Eastern Neck n. = of the refuge in a waterfowl pond); 10 American Black Ducks; 210 = Mallards; 1 Blue-winged Teal; 275 Northern Shovelers (270 at the John = Hanson Rd Pond); 24 Northern Pintail (Chesapeake Farms); 29 Green-winged = Teal; 1 Ring-necked Duck (hen at Chesapeake Farms); 1 Lesser Scaup = (eclipse drake at Great Oak Pd); 1 Surf Scoter (mouth of Huntingfield = Creek south of Rock Hall); 5 Ruddy Ducks (John Hanson Rd Pd). Vultures & Raptors, 7 species - 28 Black Vultures; 92 Turkey Vultures; 17 Osprey; 9 Bald Eagles; 1 = Northern Harrier; 5 Sharp-shinned Hawks; 1 Accipiter (sp); 5 American = Kestrels. Shorebirds, 5 species (poor total) - 32 Killdeer; 1 Greater Yellowlegs; 7 Lesser Yellowlegs; 1 Semipal-mated = Sandpiper (Chesapeake Farms); 1 Red-necked Phalarope (molting out of = juvenile plumage, Great Oak Pond). Gulls and Terns, 10 species - 233 Laughing Gulls; 117 Ring-billed Gulls; 34 Herring Gulls; 1 Lesser = Black-backed Gull (ad or 3-yr-old, seen in flight at Eastern Neck = Narrows); 107 Great Black-backed Gulls (most at Rock Hall Harbor); 80 = Caspian Terns; 6 Royal Terns (all at Eastern Neck NWR); 4 Common Terns; = 175 Forster's Terns; 8 Black Terns (feeding west of Eastern Neck over = Chesapeake Bay). Selected "Near Passerines" - 1 Barred Owl (Chesapeake Landing dawn & = dusk); 29 Chimney Swifts; 4 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (3 in jewelweed = at Tolchester Beach); 2 Belted Kingfishers. Warblers, 8 species - 1 Tennessee Warbler; 2 Northern Parulas; 4 Magnolia Warblers; 2 = Black-throated Blue Warblers; 7 Pine Warblers; 1 Black-and-white = Warbler; 2 American Redstarts; 9 Common Yellowthroats.=20 Sparrows, 4 species (need more folks to work the weeds) - 1 Eastern Towhee; 3 Chipping Sparrows; 6 Savannah Sparrows; 4 Song = Sparrows. Top Fifteen Most Numerous Species: 1015 European Starlings 380 Red-winged Blackbirds 275 Northern Shoveler 233 Laughing Gull 210 Mallards 175 Forster's Tern 123 Double-crested Cormorants 117 Ring-billed Gulls 115 House Sparrows 107 Great Black-backed Gulls 99 Cattle Egrets 92 Turkey Vultures 84 Rock Pigeons 82 Northern Cardinals 80 Caspian Terns Good Birding, =20 Walter Ellison 23460 Clarissa Road Chestertown, MD 21620 phone: 410-778-9568 e-mail: rossgull@crosslink.net "A person who is looking for something doesn't travel very fast" - E. B. = White (in "Stuart Little") =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 =========================================================================