Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 17:31:07 EDT Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Mark Hoffman Subject: Assateague - Little Sit MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable I birded on Assateague yesterday, after the big front/low moved through=20 Wednesday. 10/16/2003 Assateague Island/Bayside/Point 0635:1125 Common Loon 20; Brown Pelican 10; Double-crested Cormorant 30; Great Blue=20 Heron 2; Great Egret 45; Snowy Egret 1; Turkey Vulture 1; Snow Goose 10; Can= ada=20 Goose 20; Brant 6; Wood Duck 50 (multiple small flocks, migrating south);=20 American Black Duck 20; Mallard 2; Northern Pintail 4; Bufflehead 6 (1 pair=20= of=20 males in Bay, 1 mixed pair flying over the Bay, and a flyover pair of males=20= right=20 at the point. New Worcester record fall arrival, previous 10/20/1990, 2,=20 AI/Bayside, Hoffman, unpubl. obs.); Osprey 4; Bald Eagle 4; Sharp-shinned Ha= wk 1;=20 Black-bellied Plover 3; Killdeer 2; Dunlin 40; American Woodcock 1; Laughing= =20 Gull 60; Ring-billed Gull 4; Herring Gull 100; Caspian Tern 2; Royal Tern 4;= =20 Rock Dove 15 (over mainland); Mourning Dove 2; Belted Kingfisher 1; Red-bell= ied=20 Woodpecker 5 (new high for Assateague, previous 4, 10/9/2000, MLH, Iliff, et= =20 al. Acting like migrants.); Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 5; Northern Flicker=20 (yellow-shafted form) 35; Eastern Phoebe 2; Blue-headed Vireo 1; Blue Jay 4;= Tree=20 Swallow 1000; Red-breasted Nuthatch 1; Brown Creeper 1; Carolina Wren 2; Hou= se=20 Wren 1; Winter Wren 1; Golden-crowned Kinglet 20; Ruby-crowned Kinglet 5;=20 American Robin 40; Gray Catbird 20; Northern Mockingbird 3; Brown Thrasher 2= ;=20 European Starling 10; Cedar Waxwing 10; Northern Parula 1; Cape May Warbler=20= 8;=20 Yellow-rumped Warbler (myrtle form) 180; Prairie Warbler 1; Palm Warbler (ye= llow=20 form) 1; Palm Warbler (western form) 20; Blackpoll Warbler 1; Common=20 Yellowthroat 1; Warbler (sp.) 10; Eastern Towhee 4; Chipping Sparrow 3; Fiel= d Sparrow 2;=20 Savannah Sparrow 3; Song Sparrow 4; White-throated Sparrow 10; White-crowned= =20 Sparrow 1; Dark-eyed Junco (slate-colored form) 3; Northern Cardinal 4; Indi= go=20 Bunting 5; Dickcissel 1; Red-winged Blackbird 30; Eastern Meadowlark 3;=20 Boat-tailed Grackle 70; Brown-headed Cowbird 15; Baltimore Oriole 1; Purple=20= Finch=20 1; House Finch 4; American Goldfinch 3. Strong westerly winds, produced a modest flight, but considerable less than=20 the "big sit" on Sunday. The myrtles have taken over. Species total 76. =20 Warbler varitey down sharply (e.g., no Black-throated Blues id'd in dawn fli= ght). =20 Species recorded today not seen last Sunday were Bufflehead, Blue Jay,=20 Red-breasted Nuthatch, House Wren, and White-crowned Sparrow. 10/16/2003 Assateague Island/Ocean Side Campground 1130:1300 Double-crested Cormorant 120; Great Blue Heron 2; Sharp-shinned Hawk 3;=20 Cooper's Hawk 1; Greater Yellowlegs 1; Least Sandpiper 1; Common Snipe 2; La= ughing=20 Gull 20; Herring Gull 30; Red-bellied Woodpecker 1; Northern Flicker=20 (yellow-shafted form) 5; Eastern Phoebe 1; Tree Swallow 300; Carolina Wren 2= ;=20 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1; American Robin 2; Gray Catbird 4; European Starling=20= 30;=20 Yellow-rumped Warbler (myrtle form) 50; Palm Warbler (western form) 8; Comm= on=20 Yellowthroat 1; Eastern Towhee 1; Chipping Sparrow 2; Clay-colored Sparrow 1= (see=20 below); Song Sparrow 10; White-throated Sparrow 10; White-crowned Sparrow 3;= =20 Northern Cardinal 2; Red-winged Blackbird 5; Eastern Meadowlark 1; Boat-tail= ed=20 Grackle 10; House Finch 2. Regarding the Clay-colored, it was behind camp site #35. In most of the=20 State this might still be in caps, but it's Assateague's 33rd record, all be= tween=20 9/3 and 10/28. First recorded in Worcester County on 9/11/1963, 1 caught at= =20 the Ocean City banding station (Robbins, C. S. 1963. Second record of=20 Clay-colored Sparrow in Maryland. MB 19:109). Chan prophetically commented=20= "more=20 frequent checking of boarders of weedy fields and of coastal or bayside thic= kets=20 may show that small numbers of Clay-colored Sparrows pass throught Maryland=20 regularly in fall". The species has expanded its breeding population eastwa= rd,=20 which one would think has contributed to the increase in sightings as well.=20= =20 Interestingly, Worcester's second record, at Ocean City on 9/28/1965 (MB=20 22:13 and unpublished HTA notes in Robbins files; although Audubon Field Not= es=20 cites the date as 9/27/1965 and HTA's letter to Chan has all the other OC re= cords=20 on 9/27), was by frequent MDOsprey contributor Harry Armistead, and Will=20 Russell. In Harry's orginal notes to Chan on this bird (I'm telling tales h= ere),=20 he commented "This one takes a little courage to report, but we're sure of i= t=20 and are ready to take the consequences". He was clearly comtemplanting=20 writing a note on the bird (always the literary one =E2=80=A6), but commente= d in his next=20 report "In connection with the clay-colored sparrow which WCR and I saw last= =20 September, I have thought it over and decided not to write an article. I th= ink=20 this is the wrong sort of thing to encourage articles on. It would be=20 different if the bird had been banded or a specimen had been taken. =E2=80= =A6 There are=20 enough difficult sight records which have already attracted too much publici= ty." =20 I think I'm having a flash-back here. 10/16/2003 Assateague Island/Ferry Landing Road (woods) 1305:1330 Double-crested Cormorant 20; Great Egret 3; Greater Yellowlegs 1; Herring=20 Gull 1; Belted Kingfisher 1; Red-bellied Woodpecker 1; Northern Flicker=20 (yellow-shafted form) 1; Eastern Phoebe 1; Red-eyed Vireo 1 (surpringsly, th= e second=20 latest fall sight record, the lastest being 11/14/1992, AI, M. O'Brien, MB=20 49:28. But like a lot of depature records, a full 20 later banding records o= f 29=20 individuals between 10/17 and 10/31); Carolina Wren 1; Golden-crowned Kingle= t 1;=20 Black-throated Blue Warbler 2; Yellow-rumped Warbler (myrtle form) 30; Pine=20 Warbler 1; Common Yellowthroat 1; Eastern Towhee 2; House Finch 2. Mark Hoffman Sykesville, MD Mhoff36100@aol.com =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 =========================================================================