[MDOsprey] Summary Comments for 1999 Howard County May Count

Zucker, Paul A. (ZUCKEPA1@central.SSD.JHUAPL.edu)
Sun, 25 Jul 1999 18:29:01 -0400 

The comments below will appear in the next issue of the Howard County
Goldfinch, the chapter newsletter.  The tally of the individual species will
appear in the chapter newsletter and in Maryland Birdlife.

Paul Zucker
Howard County May Count Compiler


	The 1999 Howard County May Count was held on May 8, 1999 from 5:30
AM to 8:30 PM. There was a great turnout with 68 observers (just below last
year's high number of 69).  They split into 37 parties and tallied over
17000 individual birds.  The total species count was relatively high at 147,
which is the fourth highest total in the last 15 counts and the sixth
highest since my records start in 1974.  The total party hours (187 by foot
and 21 by car) were typical of the last several counts.  Notable for this
count was the cool weather: fog early followed by clouds, sun only in the
afternoon, a few brief showers, and a high temperature barely reaching 80
degrees.  The birds remained active all day, and warblers were quite
plentiful.  During the previous weekend warblers were quite scarce,  but a
large flight arrived during the preceding couple of days.

	The most notable sightings are listed along with number of times
seen in the last fifteen counts (including this year):  Horned Grebe (1),
Snowy Egret (2), Little Blue Heron (1), Wild Turkey (4), Semipalmated Plover
(2), Pectoral Sandpiper (1), and Horned Lark (2).  Twelve species had high
counts compared to the last 15 years:  Northern Harrier, Greater Yellowlegs,
Solitary Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Northern Parula,
Black-throated Blue Warbler, Prairie Warbler, Black and White Warbler,
Worm-eating Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, and Swamp Sparrow. Thus it was a
very good day for shore birds as well as for warblers.

	There were also some notable misses and low counts.  This was the
second year in a row that the Ring-necked Pheasant was not found, but the
Northern Bobwhite was seen after a two-year absence.  Both species were
found regularly before the last few years.  The Eastern Meadowlark was tied
with last year for a low count, and the Horned Lark was seen for the second
time in 15 years but had been seen frequently before that.  The
Whip-poor-will is another species which is seen rarely now but used to be
seen on most counts.  These trends are likely due to decreasing open-country
habitat as the county grows in population.  The Bay-breasted Warbler was
missed for the first time since the May count was shifted to the second
Saturday in May.  Similarly the Canada Warbler had a low count since the
date shift, except that it was missed last year.  Since May 8 is the
earliest the second Saturday can occur,  these counts are consistent with
the relatively late arrival of these species.  Conversely, the Purple Finch,
which was missed this year, has been seen on only one May count since the
date was shifted.  Another trend, which is baffling, is that the
Gray-cheeked Thrush has now been seen on four out of the last five May
counts, but only on three out of the preceding twenty-one counts.

	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:
Glenn Austin, Maud Banks, Mary Jo Betts, Karan and Bill Blum, Carl Brudin
III, Joe Byrnes, Marty Chestem, Jane and Dennis Coskren, Jeff Duguay, Ward
Ebert, Paula and Darius Ecker, Jeffrey Friedhoffer, Carol Garza, Edwin
Gould, Shiras Guion, Maureen and Dave Harvey, Kevin Heffernan, Jane Heim,
Emmalyn Holdridge, David Holyoke, Diane John, Mike Kerwin (area 1), Dave
Kubitsky, Mike Leumas, Nate Levy, Nathaniel Levy, Larry Line, Brigitte Lund,
Nancy Magnusson, Grazina and Mike McClure (area 4), Elayne and Jeff Metter,
Barry Miller, Sue Neri,  Doug Odermatt (area 5), Peter Osenton, Bonnie Ott
(area 6), Anita Picco, Susan Polniaszek, Suzanne Probst, Ann Marie Raterman,
Nanine Rhinelander, Chan Robbins, Stuart Robbins, Carol and Gary Roberts,
Susan Setterberg, Philip Smith, Romayne Smith, Jo and Bob Solem (area 7),
Pat Stewart, Chuck Stirrat (area 3), Tom Strikwerda, Eva Sunnell, Marilyn
Taylor, Jackie Telford, Marilyn Veek, Mark Wallace, Michelle Wright, Helen
Zeichner, and Sherry and Paul Zucker (area 2 and county compiler).