Rock Run CBC - Oakwood Sector Results

Marcia Watson-Whitmyre (mww@UDel.Edu)
Wed, 30 Dec 1998 13:05:57 -0500 

The Rock Run CBC was held on Tuesday, 12/29.  This is a report on my
sector, the Oakwood area (Cecil County side of the Susquehanna River,
north of Rt. 1 and east to the intersection of Slicer's Mill Rd/Rt.1).

The weather was lousy, with poor visibility due to fog and rain, and the
sound of rain coming down made even birding by ear difficult.  At times,
the Susquehanna was entirely fogged in, and this kept our gull &
waterfowl count low.  Although we spent considerable time along the
river from 2 pm on (when the fog had cleared a bit, but rain was still
coming down), the usual north-bound late-afternoon flight of gulls did
not materialize.

We had a total of 44 species, compared to high 50's and low 60's in past
years.

Best bird of the day was a Horned Grebe, seen from the Bell Manor Road
overlook on the Susq. River.  It was an adult in winter plumage, nicely
marked with good contrast between the black cap and white face and a
clean white breast (not dingy as they often are).  We were fortunate
that the fog had cleared enough to see the bird, about 2 pm.  It was
initially close to shore, but then moved out toward the middle of the
water.  We were able to keep it in view with a scope for over 15
minutes.

Second-best bird of the day was a female pheasant sitting in some
foxtails right by the roadside.  My husband George saw her as we drove
past;  we backed up and watched her, preening contentedly, for about 10
minutes.  She was oblivious to our presence and was still sitting
quietly when we drove off.

We found an Eastern Phoebe perched in a small tree on the river's edge,
near where Bald Friar Rd. comes down to the river bank.

The single goldfinch that we saw almost ended up inside the single
Sharp-Shinned Hawk that we saw.  

In general, bird numbers were low:  I think they were out there, but
they were just too difficult to see and hear.

Now for the data:

(1)  Horned Grebe:  1 individual
(2)  Snow Goose - white:  2500
(3)  Canada Goose:  433
(4)  Mallard:  6
(5)  Black Vulture:  120
(6)  Turkey Vulture:  89
(7)  Sharp-Shinned Hawk:  1
(8)  Ring-necked Pheasant:  1
(9)  Ring-billed Gull:  111
(10)  Great Black-backed Gull:  1
(11)  Rock Dove:  8
(12)  Mourning Dove:  12
(13)  Eastern Screech Owl:  1
(14)  Great Horned Owl:  1
(15)  Belted Kingfisher:  3
(16)  Red-bellied Woodpecker:  9
(17)  Downy Woodpecker:  7
(18)  Hairy Woodpecker:  2
(19)  Northern Flicker:  9
(20)  Eastern Phoebe:  1
(21)  Blue Jay:  44
(22)  American Crow:  30
(23)  Carolina Chickadee:  58
(24)  Tufted Titmouse:  8
(25)  White-breasted Nuthatch:  2
(26)  Carolina Wren:  9
(27)  Winter Wren:  2
(28)  Golden-crowned Kinglet:  7
(29)  Ruby-crowned Kinglet:  1
(30)  Eastern Bluebird:  9
(31)  American Robin:  2
(32)  Northern Mockngbird:  17
(33)  Cedar Waxwing:  7
(34)  European Starling:  28
(35)  Northern Cardinal:  66
(36)  Eastern Towhee:  5
(37)  American Tree Sparrow:  1
(38)  Song Sparrow:  39
(39)  Swamp Sparrow:  2
(40)  White-throated Sparrow:  238
(41)  Dark-eyed Junco:  72
(42)  Common Grackle:  13
(43)  American Goldfinch:  1
(44)  House Sparrow:  6

Big misses (compared to previous years):
Common Loon, P-B Grebe, Great Blue Heron, ducks in general and
mergansers in particular, hawks in general, Bald Eagle, Bobwhite, Coot,
Bonaparte's G., Sapsucker, Black-capped Chickadee (we usually have 1 or
2), Hermit Thrush, Field and Fox Sparrows, Red-winged BB, House Finch. 

Marcia Watson-Whitmyre
Cecil County