Summary of 1998 Howard County May Count

Zucker, Paul A. (ZUCKEPA1@central.SSD.JHUAPL.edu)
Wed, 15 Jul 1998 10:36:30 -0400 

The summary comments about this year's May Count in Howard county are copied
below.  They will appear in the chapter newsletter, The Howard County
Goldfinch.  


	The 1998 Howard County May Count was held on May 9, 1998 from 5:30
AM to 8:45 PM. There was a great turnout with 69 observers (tied with 1994
for the record).  They split into 35 parties and tallied almost 17000
individual birds (the lowest total since 1993).  The total species count was
relatively low at 136, which is the fourth lowest total in the last 15
counts.  Although the total party hours (185 by foot and 21 by car) were
down slightly from the last few years, they were still higher than in eight
of the past fifteen counts.  Thus in spite of a large number of observers
and a moderate number of party hours, there was still a low species count.

	The most notable sightings were (with number of times seen in the
last fifteen counts including this year):  American Wigeon (5), Ruddy Duck
(4), Wild Turkey (3), Herring Gull (4), and Caspian Tern (4).  Only eight
species had high counts compared to the last 15 years:  Great Blue Heron,
Canada Goose (no surprise here), Semipalmated Sandpiper, Chimney Swift,
Belted Kingfisher, Rough-winged Swallow, White-breasted Nuthatch, and
Prairie Warbler.  Last year, in contrast, had thirteen high counts including
eight species of warbler.

	This year was the first time in the 25 years I have records that the
Ring-necked Pheasant was not found, and the second time that the Bobwhite
was not seen.  A large number of other species usually seen were lacking
this year:  Black-billed Cuckoo, Great Horned Owl, Least Flycatcher, Cape
May Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Palm Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, and
Canada Warbler.  Unusually low in numbers were the Eastern Meadowlark and
the Common Grackle.  The preceding cool weather along with the reduced
numbers (or absence) of late arriving species contributed to the impression
that the migration was "behind schedule."

	Special thanks go to the Randles for hosting yet another great tally
rally and to Chuck Stirrat for helping with the numerical tabulations and
for producing special checklists for use in the field and for the tallies.
The efforts of the participants and area coordinators are also appreciated:
Maud Banks, Mary Jo Betts, Karan and Bill Blum, Carl Brudin III, Joe Byrnes,
Marty Chestem, Lisa Colangelo, Jane and Dennis Coskren, Ward Ebert, Paula
and Darius Ecker, Zack Essner, Carol Garza, Jane and Ralph Geuder, Edwin
Gould, Maureen and Dave Harvey, Kevin Heffernan, Jane Heim, John Hoffman,
David Hollyoke, Diane Johns, Mike Kerwin (area 1), Julie and Dave Kubitsky,
Robyn Landry, Mike Leumas, Dennis Luck, Brigitte Lund, Nancy Magnusson,
Grazina and Mike McClure (area 4), Elayne and Jeff Metter, Barry Miller,
Erich Neupert, Carol and Paul Newman, Doug Odermatt (area 5), Richard Orr,
Peter Osenton, Bonnie Ott (area 6), Jeremy Pearse, Anita Picco, Susan and
Ron Polniaszek, Suzanne Probst, Ann Marie Raterman, Kurt Schwarz, Susan
Setterberg, Craig Sholley, Skip Skipton, Romayne Smith, Jo and Bob Solem
(area 7), Hank Stanton, Pat Stewart, Chuck Stirrat (area 3), Tom Strikwerda,
Eva Sunnell, David Thompson, Robin Todd, Mark Wallace, Helen Zeichner, and
Sherry and Paul Zucker (area 2 and county compiler).


Paul A. Zucker
Howard County Compiler