Harford County May Count
David W. Webb (webb@netfox.net)
Tue, 12 May 1998 23:52:02 -0700
Folks,
Russ Kovach and I spent 20+ hours on Aberdeen Proving Ground this
past Saturday participating in the N.A. May Count. Like everyone
else in the mid-Atlantic area, we struggled with rain showers and
moderate winds throughout the day. Although we had a nice diversity
of species, total number of birds was low. The dawn chorus was
not quite as boisterous as I recall in previous years, and as a
result our warbler count was quite low (only 15). Sparrows were
also hard to come by (6 species, 25 individuals). All of the
favorite shorebird sites were flooded, thus we only came up with
3 shorebird species. Perhaps the worst part about the rain is that
our dictaphone got wet and we lost the last 2 hours of data. There
were several bright spots, making for an exciting day, nonetheless.
Here are the highlights:
13 Common Loon
1 Least Bittern (calling)
1 Little Blue Heron (adult)
18 Bald Eagle
1 Northern Harrier
3 King Rail
13 Northern Bobwhite
2 Wild Turkey (2 calling toms)
10 American Woodcock (several still displaying)
11 Least Tern
17 Whip-poor-will
1 Common Nighthawk
1 Red-headed Woodpecker
59 Eastern Kingbird (phenomenal total)
9 Yellow-throated Vireo (high)
1 Summer Tanager (calling)
7 Blue Grosbeak
52 Bobolink
1 Purple Finch (late find)
---------------
112 Species
Dave Webb
Havre de Grace, MD