Big January Results
Miliff@aol.com
Tue, 2 Feb 1999 12:05:50 EST
Hello all,
My second annual "Big January" has just finished. I was not blessed with a
winter finch invasion (as last year) and never made it offshore (where another
several species should be guaranteed). Last year I had 170 species but did
not visit Western MD (where this year I added four species I missed in 1998).
Below is a summary of the species which I got in only one year:
1998 only 1999 only
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King Eider Brown Pelican
Red Knot Willet
Ovenbird Long-billed Dowitcher
Yellow-breasted Chat Cape May Warbler
White-winged Crossbill Orange-crowned Warbler
Red Crossbill Clay-colored Sparrow
Purple Finch Black-capped Chickadee
Pine Siskin Common Raven
Rough-legged Hawk Ruffed Grouse
Palm Warbler Northern Goshawk
Glaucous Gull
Vesper Sparrow
Baltimore Oriole
Glossy Ibis
Ring-necked Pheasant
Lincoln's Sparrow
Short-eared Owl
Below is a list of all the 177 species I recorded. 185-188 should be possible
with a pelagic trip (or two) and a few winter finches. Not sure if 190 is
possible or not...it would require birding 24-7 (I only birded 22-6). My
major misses this month were:
Palm Warbler: I underestimated how hard this one would be. I lucked into one
in Calvert County in January 1998. I figured I would bump into one on the
Eastern Shore at some point, but even when I was looking specifically on my
last two trip over there, I was unable to turn one up. I looked for the
Montgomery County individual on Old Baltimore Rd. (without specific
directions) and actually found the bluebird flock in the right area.
Unfortunately, I did not find the warbler on the 29th when I looked)
Rough-legged Hawk: No luck finding the one in Calvert County Jan. 5, or
finding my own at Elliot I., Deal I., Irish Grove, Clear Spring, Pleasant
Valley, Dan's Rock (one had been present there intermitently), Rocky Gap (two
seen day before), or anywhere else.
Purple Finch, Pine Siskin: Only a couple reports anywhere, mostly of birds at
feeders. Should not be missed in even an everage year for the species.
Other misses were: King Eider (none reported this year), Osprey
(reported in Montgomery County in early January, I did not chase it), Black
Rail (could be found with extensize effort), Sora (reported on Ocean City and
Crisfield CBCs, could be found with extensive effort), Spotted Sandpiper (seen
on Crisfield CBC, I tried three times without success), Red Knot (none present
this year), Little Gull (tried 7+ times at Ocean City Inlet), Laughing Gull
(no reports but might have been possible in Jug Bay area before the Jan. 2
cold snap when they appeared to vacate. I found a dead one in Baltimore in
late January), Ruby-throated Hummingbird (one at a feeder in Worcester left
before I arranged permission to see it), Blue-headed Vireo (tried twice for
one found along Muddy Hole Rd., Wicomico County, around Christmas), Long-eared
Owl (found on Ocean City CBC), Yellow-headed and Brewer's blackbirds (checked
every blackbrd flock I could find...), Evening Grosbeaks (none around in
Western MD this year), crossbills (need I elaborate?).
The list below is ranked by difficulty. Code 1 birds were those
I thought should not be missed by any January attempt. Code 2 birds were
missable, but with any reasonable effort should be gotten and/or are present
more often than not and are easily found when present (e.g. King Eider, Purple
Finch). Code 3 birds should be findable with great effort or are only rarely
present (e.g. Thayer's Gull, Baltimore Oriole), while code 4 birds have only a
very few records for January and are extreme rarities (e.g. Brown Pelican,
Cape May Warbler). All Code 3 and 4 birds are in ALL CAPS.
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Red-throated Loon (1)
Common Loon (1)
Pied-billed Grebe (1)
Horned Grebe (1)
Northern Gannet (1)
BROWN PELICAN (4) One of few January records, two seen at Smith Island
Great Cormorant (1)
Double-crested Cormorant (1)
American Bittern (2) Deal Island and Smith Island
Great Blue Heron (1)
Great Egret (2)
SNOWY EGRET (3) probably anual at Smith Island, where I saw one this year
LITTLE BLUE HERON (3) see Snowy Egret (saw 2 LBHE), also at OC Jan. 4
Tricolored Heron (2)
Black-crowned Night-Heron (1)
GLOSSY IBIS (4) Deal Island, several present this year
Tundra Swan (1)
Mute Swan (1)
Greater White-fronted Goose (2) After several misses, got one at Tanyard
Snow Goose (1)
Ross' Goose (1) Easily findable at Blackwater with any effort, got mine at
Hurlock
Brant (1) Surprisingly almost missed this one, scarce this year
Canada Goose (1)
Wood Duck (2) easy in Pocomoke area, got mine at Showell Ponds&Rocky Gap (!)
Green-winged Teal (1)
American Black Duck (1)
Mallard (1)
Northern Pintail (1)
BLUE-WINGED TEAL (3) several at Showeel Ponds on OC CBC still present
Northern Shoveler (1)
Gadwall (1)
EURASIAN WIGEON (3) Assateague and Ocean Pines
American Wigeon (1)
Canvasback (1)
Redhead (1)
Ring-necked Duck (1)
Greater Scaup (1)
Lesser Scaup (1)
Common Eider (2)
Harlequin Duck (2)
Oldsquaw (1)
Black Scoter (1)
Surf Scoter (1)
White-winged Scoter (1) none seen in Ocean City, all sightings were in the Bay
Common Goldeneye (1)
Bufflehead (1)
Hooded Merganser (1)
Common Merganser (1)
Red-breasted Merganser (1)
Ruddy Duck (1)
Black Vulture (1)
Turkey Vulture (1)
Bald Eagle (1)
Northern Harrier (1)
Sharp-shinned Hawk (1)
Cooper's Hawk (1)
NORTHERN GOSHAWK (3) One n. of Grantsville, Garrett County
Red-shouldered Hawk (1)
Red-tailed Hawk (1)
Golden Eagle (2) one near Choptank followed by two at Dan's Rock
American Kestrel (1)
MERLIN (3) borderline code 2? I got mine in Ocean City Jan. 4.
Peregrine Falcon (1)
Ring-necked Pheasant (2) got mine at Cherry Hill, Baltimore
Ruffed Grouse (2) always missable, Snaggy Mt. Rd. (& Miller luck) came thru
Wild Turkey (1)
Northern Bobwhite (2) need to bird Lower Eastern Shore to be assured of one
Clapper Rail (1)
King Rail (1)
Virginia Rail (1)
American Coot (1)
Black-bellied Plover (1)
Killdeer (1)
American Oystercatcher (1)
Greater Yellowlegs (1)
Lesser Yellowlegs (2) found in Worcester, Somerset, and Dorchester - good year
WILLET (4) despite this being the 2nd straight year in OC, still very rare in
winter
Ruddy Turnstone (1)
Sanderling (1)
Western Sandpiper (2) tough toscope from mainland
LEAST SANDPIPER (3) A good year for lingering shorebirds: Vienna & Pocomoke
Purple Sandpiper (1)
Dunlin (1)
LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER (4) Crisfield, good year on three coastal CBCs
Common Snipe (1)
American Woodcock (1)
BLACK-HEADED GULL (3) Patuxent N.A.S. (thanks Kyle), in '98 @Conowingo
Bonaparte's Gull (1)
Ring-billed Gull (1)
Herring Gull (1)
THAYER'S GULL (3) 1st winter at Conowingo, in '98 at Salisbury
Iceland "Kumlien's" Gull (2) Annapolis, Reddington L., Brown Station LF
Lesser Black-backed Gull (1)
Glaucous Gull (2) Brown's Station LF, Reddington L.
Great Black-backed Gull (1)
Forster's Tern (2) Ocean City inlet
Rock Dove (1)
Mourning Dove (1)
Barn Owl (1 - if you know the right barn) also a Smith Island in cedars
Eastern Screech-Owl (1)
Great Horned Owl (1)
Barred Owl (1)
Short-eared Owl (2) This year was better than last for the species
Northern Saw-whet Owl (2) called up at night on Assateague and Cranesville Bog
Belted Kingfisher (1)
Red-headed Woodpecker (1) local, but easily found
Red-bellied Woodpecker (1)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (1)
Downy Woodpecker (1)
Hairy Woodpecker (1)
Northern "Yellow-shafted" Flicker (1)
Pileated Woodpecker (1)
Eastern Phoebe (2) should not be missed on Eastern Shore, but need to try for
it
Horned Lark (1)
TREE SWALLOW (3) last year was better, 150+ at Deal Island Jan. 10
Blue Jay (1)
American Crow (1)
Fish Crow (1) one in Garrett may be best bird of month!
Common Raven (1)
Black-capped Chickadee (1)
Carolina Chickadee (1)
Tufted Titmouse (1)
Red-breasted Nuthatch (1) VERY hard to come by downstate, easy in Western MD
White-breasted Nuthatch (1)
Brown Creeper (1)
Carolina Wren (1)
House Wren (2) two sites near Berlin
Winter Wren (1)
Sedge Wren (1) Irish Grove on two occasions
Marsh Wren (1)
Golden-crowned Kinglet (1)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (1)
Eastern Bluebird (1)
Hermit Thrush (1)
American Robin (1)
Gray Catbird (1)
Northern Mockingbird (1)
Brown Thrasher (1)
American Pipit (1)
Cedar Waxwing (1)
European Starling (1)
ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER (3) lucked into one on Smith Island
CAPE MAY WARBLER (4) 1st Jan. record for MD, at Bowie thanks to F. Fallon
Yellow-rumped "Myrtle" Warbler (1)
Pine Warbler (2) Tuckahoe SP and Berlin
Common Yellowthroat (2) Chesapeake Beach
Northern Cardinal (1)
Eastern Towhee (1)
American Tree Sparrow (1)
Chipping Sparrow (1)
CLAY-COLORED SPARROW (4) Thanks to Mark Hoffman, 4th January record?
Field Sparrow (1)
VESPER SPARROW (3) surprisingly hard, thanks to C. Vaughn, Somerset County
Savannah Sparrow (1)
Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow (2) not hard at all in right locations
Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow (2) ditto, but nearly missed, Irish Grove last
minute
Seaside Sparrow (2) easy only on Smith I., unclear if weather is a factor
Fox Sparrow (1)
Song Sparrow (1)
LINCOLN'S SPARROW (3) Again, thanks to Mark Hoffman - near Berlin
Swamp Sparrow (1)
White-throated Sparrow (1)
White-crowned Sparrow (1)
Dark-eyed "Slate-colored" Junco (1)
Lapland Longspur (2) Ironshire Station Rd. (Worcester) & Pleasant Valley
(Garrett)
Snow Bunting (2) n. end Assateague, scoped from Inlet
Red-winged Blackbird (1)
Eastern Meadowlark (1)
Rusty Blackbird (2) Reddington Lake and Hickory Point
Boat-tailed Grackle (1)
Common Grackle (1)
Brown-headed Cowbird (1)
BALTIMORE ORIOLE (3) one at feeder in Saint MAry's, on PAX River CBC
House Finch (1)
American Goldfinch (1)
House Sparrow (1)
There you have it! Not sure if I'll try next year or not...
Best,
Marshall Iliff
miliff@aol.com