August 9, 1999 901 Crystal Spring Farm Rd. Annapolis, MD 21403 miliff@aol.com Dear Friends, Area Birders, and Field Notes Contributors, First, I would like to apologize for the inevitable cross-postings which will occur. This mailing has been sent to Valley Birds, The Richmond Area Listserv, and MDOsprey, as well as personal email accounts. I cannot constantly monitor the changing subscription lists on all three of these excellent listservs, and want to ensure that I reach all active birders in the Region. Second, I want to make sure you aware that we have changed names YET AGAIN! What was once Bird Lore became Audubon Field Notes then American Birds then Audubon Field Notes again then A.B.A. Field Notes and finally A.B.A.'s North American Birds. If you are unfamiliar with North American Birds (formerly Field Notes), please read on - information on who we are and what the magazine includes is below. If not, please read on as well - we NEED your reports! Plus, there is some information on the bird movements of the season and my own personal highlights. I hope everyone will read the section: "The Local Staff". It details exactly what we hope for in our reports and how you can help. If you bird in the Appalachian Region (i.e. Maryland's western three counties and Virginia west of the Blue Ridge Mountains) please note that your sightings should no longer go to George Hall, who has retired. The new Appalachian Regional Editor is: Robert Leberman HC64, Box 453 Rector, PA 15677 (724) 593-7521 (no email address) ****************************************************************************** ************** The Summer reporting season (June 1-July 31) for A.B.A.'s North American Birds (formerly A.B.A. Field Notes) has just drawn to a close, so I urge anyone who has not yet reported their Spring sightings to us, the Voice of the Naturalist, or email groups such as Valley Birds, the Richmond area Listserv, or MDOsprey to please send in your sightings for inclusion in my next Season Report. Please send them no later than September 1! As always, the data are easiest to process if they come in continuously through the season. Late reports are always welcomed as well. This is the seventh mailing that I have sent out almost entirely by email. Email obviously has the opportunity to vastly improve the efficiency and speed with which I communicate with observers in the Region, and will also save much time, paper, and expenditure on the mailings. I ask anyone who wishes NOT to receive this mailing in the future on email, to respond. Also, if you read this mailing on one of the above mentioned listservs, or somewhere else, and did not receive a personal copy in your e-mailbox, please let me know so I can update my address list. I apologize again for any cross-postings. If you received this letter via "snail mail" and have an email address that I may use in the future, please drop me a note and say so! The Fall season runs August 1-November 30 (it is the longest season, being 4 months long). Data entry will be MUCH easier if reports are received continuously rather than all at the end. Please take good notes on your sightings and let us know of them. Photocopied field cards are OK, computerized sightings are ideal, but even a quick note or email will suffice as long as we get the information. As I've said before and will say again, I am entirely dependant on YOUR reports to write a good column. Be sure to check out the M.O.S. website (www.mdbirds.org) if you carry an interest in birding in Maryland and the D.C. area.. In addition to a wealth of information about the Maryland Ornithological Society (M.O.S.) And its chapters, the website also carries information on the birding sites in Maryland, the Maryland/D.C. Records Committee, and even photos of recent Maryland rarities (including Kelp Gull, the possible Slaty-backed Gull, Arctic Tern, White-faced Ibis, and Fork-tailed Flycatcher). Recently it has been linked to a new shorebird page that details the local conditions and recent reports from shorebirding locations in Maryland. Thanks to Fran Saunders for doing such a great job maintaining this site! SPRING 1999 This summer has been incredibly dry and July was one of the hottest on record for the D.C. area. This had to have effected our birds drastically, and any observations as to how birds in your area were effected would be most welcome. Of interest this summer were two significant expansions of Black-necked Stilt breeding range in the Region. Apparently several pairs bred at both Elliot Island, Dorchester County, MD, and the Chincoteague Causeway, Accomack Co., VA. Reports from Truitt's Landing Rd. (where the White-faced Ibis was in the spring) are of interest since Sedge Wrens lingered there until at least May 30 and surely meant to breed. Did anyone see them there? A suspicious Sedge Wren was at Deal Island in July, and while breeding has occurred a number of times on Maryland's Lower Eastern Shore, it is always of interest. Another amazing breeding season story concerns Brown Pelicans. Harry Armistead et al. surveyed the Spring Island, Dorchester County, colony that began last year. This year there were 140 nests (vs. 15 last year). And of course, pelicans have been becoming more and more common as wanderers in the Bay: let us know if you saw any! In what seemed a poor year for Dickcissels several pairs bred at Custis Tomb for a first breeding record on VA's Eastern Shore, but even more shocking were the Bobolinks that bred in the same field! Breeding Bobolinks are unknown away from Piedmont or Mountains in the Region. Finally, the continued presence of Maryland's Kelp Gull is curious, if not troubling. For those hoping to make a case for the bird's natural vagrancy from South America (or South Africa or Australia) the non-migratory nature of this bird may be disturbing. Finally, it is increasingly evident that there is significant IMPORTATION of Kelp Gulls into the U.S.A.. Some people in LA are trying to track down some solid evidence on this, and the rest of us should investigate the same question. Could this bird be an escapee (or the progeny of an escapee)? Rarities are of particular interest for the Field Notes column, and I welcome any documentation that can be provided (perhaps a copy of what you sent to the Maryland or Virginia Records Committees?). Photos are of special interest, and a high percentage of quality photos are likely to make it into print. The Middle Atlantic Coast column is usually lacking in good photographic material (few of my own photos are worth publishing!) so any pictures you can send would be FANTASTIC. No (new) extremely rare birds were reported from the Summer Season, but a number of notable birds were seen. Documentation would be desirable for these: Kelp Gull continuing at Sandgates through at least August 1 Ruff in Queen Anne's County, July 18-21 Ruff at Easton Waste Water Treatment Plant, July 17 (and Tanyard July 19) An early Long-billed Dowitcher at Easton W.W.T.P. July 24 and later Glaucous Gull at Chesapeake Beach during July Many of you may have already sent your documentation on to us, and if so, many sincere thanks! If not, whatever you can provide (even if only the date you saw the bird(s) - the range of dates here may not be complete or accurate). There may be rarities I've omitted or not yet heard about, so please send info on those as well! Please note in particular that although widely observed and photographed, the Kelp Gull has almost NO documentation in to the Maryland Records Committee. It would be great to have some of those excellent photos on file. Contact Phil Davis (2549 Vale Court, Davidsonville, MD 21035, 301-261-0184, pdavis@oao.com) if you have notes or photos on this bird, or any others, that you are willing to share. PERSONAL HIGHLIGHTS (long!) I began the season with a great couple of pelagic trips with Brian Patteson June 5-6, on which I saw my first White-tailed Tropicbird (an adult!), my first South Polar Skuas (three!), and my first Herald Petrels (three, light and intermediate morphs) as well as a general abundance of seabirds and beautiful sea conditions. Returning home I rushed to pack for a trip to Australia. I left late on June 8 and arrived in Sydney in the early morning of June 10. My sister wh had been studying at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, meant to meet me at the airport but couldn't quite handle the 6 a.m. arrival. After some nervousness and confusion I tracked her down though (the phones there are completely different) and she showed me around the city, where Welcome Swallows, Silver Gulls, Australian Magpies, Rainbow Lorikeets and Pied Currawongs were common. It was a couple days before I could get my fill of Australian birds, and unfortunately was the result of a weathered out pelagic trip. Still I was able to meet up with two Australian birders and be shown around properly. At Royal National Park I was overwhelmed with new birds: Sulphur-crested Cockatoos, Brown Gerygones, Satin Bowerbirds, Australian Grebes, Dusky Moorhens, Brown Falcon, and a wealth of other birds were all new. A little seawatching produced Crested Terns, Yellow-nosed and Black-browed Albatrosses, and distant Fluttering Shearwaters. At the shore we found two-banded Plover and Australian White Pelican. And, the highlight of the day, was a totally unexpected displaying male Lyrebird. I was amazed by the size of that bird - close to a turkey! Several days later my sister and I hopped a plane to New Zealand. We flew into Aukland, then after three days on to Christchurch, rented cars on both islands, and just wandered aimlessly around. Though it was rainy for the entire visit, the land is as beautiful as you've heard. Unfortunate though that most of the native forest (which abounds with tree ferns and looks really Jurassic) has been mostly converted to the sheep pastures that are so scenic. The fragments of forest left are far more spectacular than the postcard shots of the sheep on the misty hillsides. Though we rarely ever saw the sun, I thought that the foggy carpets to the valleys and misty veneers only added to the experience. And I might mention that we saw mutliple rainbows every day. The birding highlight in New Zealand was certainly the pelagic trips that run out of Kaikura on the South Island. Internationally known as one of the better whale watching locations, the shelf edge is only a km or so off the coast and thus it is a short boat ride to prime whaling and birding grounds. We saw 5 Sperm Wahles, a pod of Dusky Dolphins, 4 species of albatross (Wandering, Buller's, Shy, Black-browed), Cape Petrels, both Giant-Petrels, Common Diving-Petrel, Hutton's Shearwater, and Westland Petrel. I couldn't take it and had to return the next day (amounting to another 400 km round trip). This time I went out on the birding boat, which is very small and will take you out on your own for $90.00 NZ, about $45.00 US. It is only for two hours but is unquestionably the best seabirding I've ever experienced. Once out in the deep watr a chum block was tossed overboard and instantly birds that we hadn't really noticed before started wheeling in from downwind. Before long there were a minimum of 200 Cape Petrels and 40 albatrosses (5 species, including Southern Royal this time) feeding right off the stern. I easily could have caught any of them by hand. Our trip Down Under continued in Melbourne where we met up with our parents and drove the Great Ocean Road. Had our first kangaroos (Gray) and my sister spotted the only koala from the car as we were driving. Then after a quick stint in Sydney we spent some time up in the Daintree Rainforest near Cairns where we also did a Great Barrier Reef dive. It was my first SCUBA experience and surely spoiled me - among myriad tropical fish and towers of coral, we also encountered a Green Sea Turtle, a sleeping Silvertip Shark that the instructor woke up and chased out towards us (!), and some species of cuttlefish that changed colors from the mottled browns or coral to the brilliant white sand bottom as quickly as we change channels on the boob tube. When startled though, the cuttlefish lit up the edges like running lights with a phosphorescent blue. The Daintree Rainforest was equally splendid (though we dipped on Cassowary) with Brush-Turkeys, Orange-footed Scrubfowl (both Megapodes), Great-billed Heron, Little Kingfisher, and Azure Kingfisher being highlights, along with Flying Foxes and Crocs. Chris Dahlburg's birding river cruise is not to be missed and is one of the better birding tours I've taken. We then hopped another plane up to Darwin and a visit to Kakadu NP (where Crocodile Dundee was filmed). In the dry season when we were there waterbirds of all stripe are concentrated along the river and in waterholes there, and the birding is spectacular, certainly the best I experienced in Australia and some of the largest heron concentrations I've seen. Additionally the park is routinely burned and each bushfire had a entourage of hunting raptors including Whistling and Black kites and Brown Falcons. The bird highlight may have been a single Black Bittern, a bird I had very much hoped to see back at the Daintree. We closed our visit at Ayer's Rock where the birds are few but the sunsets are unrivaled. Needless to say it was a fantastic trip and marked Australia and New Zealand as places to return as soon as I figure out a way to start making a little money! I can only envy the 5 months my sister had there. I write to you now from Mobil Green Canyon 18, an oil platform about 100 miles of the Lousiana Coast near the slope edge. For the past three migration seasons Louisiana State University has stationed five observers on these rigs to try to monitor the trans-Gulf migration. This year more funding came in, the team was expanded to ten, and here I am! Not surprisingly, I've seen little since my arrival August 4. Only the very beginnings of migration are evident, with single Prothonotary, Prairie, and Yellow warblers, and one Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. Seabirds have been likewise scarce, but aside from Black Terns (about 25) and Laughing Gulls (about 8), the next most common species has been Masked Booby! I've seen three so far. As with all Gulf Coast birders, I am finding myself conflicted as I hope for poor weather to tire the poor birds out so they'll settle on my platform. Of course this is the worst for the birds. Maybe I'll just have to content myself with watching Masked Boobies - not so bad actually! ****************************************************************************** ************** NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS: WHAT IT IS To those not familiar with North American Birds, below is a quick summary of the magazine and what it includes. North American Birds is published quarterly (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter) and is meant to summarize the significant observations of field birders throughout the United States and Canada. The two countries (as well as the West Indies) are divided into 26 Regions, each of which has one-several Regional Editors. The Regional Editors collect information from birders in their Region and, at the end of each reporting season, compile the sightings into a Season Report. The deadline is 1 ½ months after the end of the season, so reports are asked for two weeks from the end of the season, but email reports can be received up to a month after the end of the season. The reporting seasons are: Spring: March 1-May 31 Summer: June 1 - July 31 Fall: August 1-November 30 Winter: December 1-February 28(29) The Season Reports always include information on rarities, early and late migration dates, high counts etc... but also usually include significant other news relating to birds in the Region. For anyone interested in birds and birding in the U.S.A. and Canada the magazine is invaluable - no other publication summarizes birding news from across the country so completely. Recently, feature articles have returned to Field Notes/North American Birds: recent articles have featured the first U.S.A. records for Stygian Owl (in TX) and Chinese Pond-Heron (in AK), and the hurricanes of 1996 and the birds associated with them. Pictorial Highlights have returned, and in addition to the black-and-white photos shown throughout the magazine, feature from 15-25 full color photos of (usually) rarities from around the country. Each issue also features a Changing Season column, which is a summary of all the Season Reports from different Regions, and attempts to identify some of the more noticeable trends of the season (i.e. Winter Finches were scarce south of Canada, Rufous Hummingbirds were found in unusual numbers on the East Coast, and most fall migrants lingered unusually late). Recently, different expert authors from around the country have been chosen to write the Changing Seasons column - depending on what trends need special highlighting and where the individual's expertise lies. Many state publications (Maryland Birdlife for example) publish similar summaries for their states and Regions, which are typically more detailed than the North American Birds season report, but the advantage of North American Birds is that it assimilates national trends. If you want to track the spread of Eurasian Collared- Doves across the U.S., find out how the Attwater's Prairie-Chickens and Whooping Cranes are faring in Texas, or what rarities the latest trip to Attu turned up, North American Birds is for you. NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS: HISTORY The magazine has undergone a number of changes in its lifetime, with the most major change occurring in the summer of 1997. In the early years of its existence, Audubon Field Notes was a small publication which included only the Season Reports. Eventually, the magazine was beefed up with color photos and feature articles (on everything from identification, to conservation, to out of range records) and assumed the new name, American Birds. In the early 1990's National Audubon fell on hard times, and the magazine was cut back to a bare minimum with only the Season Reports and Changing Season columns persisting. In the summer of 1997, it was agreed that Field Notes would be turned over to the American Birding Association (A.B.A.). Recently revived sections and a new management promise continued improvement in the quality of the publication. The first few issues look drastically better than ever. Recently Field Notes has changed its name to North American Birds but continues with the same quality articles and photos. If you let your subscription slide I urge you to sign back on! A.B.A. FIELD NOTES AND RECENT CHANGES By now those of you that do subscribe to Field Notes (now North American Birds) should have received your first several issues that A.B.A. has put out (from Volume 51 #4 on). The most recent features an article on identifying Nazca Booby (a possible upcoming split from Masked Booby) and the first Yellow-throated Bunting from Attu. Some substantial format changes ave been made, feature articles have returned (see the article by Brinkley et al. on the Hurricanes of 1996 in 51 #4 and the article on the discovery of two A.B.A. area firsts in 51 #5) and color photos have returned to the back section (Pictorial Highlights). Some more changes are in the planning and I have confidence that the magazine will continue to improve. Recently, guest editors have been hired to write the Changing Seasons column (summarizing all the Regional reports) and the "fresh blood" has improved that column and the magazine as a whole. Delivery of issues, erratic at best under National Audubon, has showed marked improvement and should be timely from here on out. Subscription has more than doubled since A.B.A. took over and is still growing. If anyone would like information on how to subscribe please contact the American Birding Association at (800/850-2473). Subscription is $20 per year. THE LOCAL STAFF Starting in the fall of 1995, I have been the Middle Atlantic Coast Regional Editor. During that time I have had enormous assistance from Jim Stasz of North Beach, MD. His guidance and local knowledge has been invaluable over the past several years. Most importantly, he has helped by computerizing the reports so that their value may extend beyond the skeleton produced in the North American Reports report. ALL sightings of ALL species reported to us are included (yes, every starling and every House Sparrow). We now have three years' worth of reports in the working database, which is available to any interested parties. Recently we were able to provide a complete summary of all crossbill sightings to Julie Simard of McGill University, PQ, who is looking in depth at last winter's invasion. Reports should continue to go to Jim at P.O. Box 71, North Beach, MD 20714 jlstasz@aol.com. The Middle Atlantic Coast Region includes all of Maryland and Virginia east of the mountains. Essentially, in Maryland I cover all reports from Frederick County east, and in Virginia I cover all areas east of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The majority of reports I receive are from Maryland birders (calling all Virginians!), and a huge volume of reports also comes from the Voice of the Naturalist, Virginia Birdline, and Baltimore Birdline (which each send me ALL their reports), as well as from monitoring such email discussion groups as Valley Birds, the Richmond Area Listserv, and MDOsprey. Individual reports are most valuable though, so I urge anyone willing to send me a separate report for each season, even if you regularly call your sightings into the Voice or Virginia Birdline. A large number of sub-regional editors help with the assimilation and computerization of the data. If you actively bird any of their regions, I ask that you submit reports directly to them rather than to me. If you are willing to serve as a sub-regional editor for any of the uncovered counties or Regions of Maryland (or any part of Virginia), please let me know promptly. It would be a GREAT help! Currently, the sub-regional editors are: Patty Craig: Saint Mary's County (P.O. Box 84, Lexington Park, MD 20653) pattycraig@mail.ameritel.com Elizabeth Pitney: Wicomico County (7218 Walston Switch Rd., Parsonsburg, MD 21849) Jo Solem: Howard County (10617 Graeloch Rd., Laurel, MD 20723) Odenata@email.msn.com Ethel Engle: Caroline County (20789 Dover Bridge Rd., Preston, MD 21655) Sam Freiberg: Montgomery County (8733 Susanna Lane, Chevy Chase, MD 20815-4713) sammarcy@erols.com Al Haury: Anne Arundel County (852 Redwood Trail, Crownsville, MD 21032) cactuswren@erols.com Janet Shields: Frederick and Washington Counties (13105 Fountain Head Rd., Hagerstown, MD 21742 JANETBILL@prodigy.net) Sincerely, Marshall Iliff Mid-Atlantic Coast Regional Editor A.B.A. Field Notes 901 Crystal Spring Farm Rd. Annapolis, MD 21403 miliff@aol.com (410) 269-1589 Please send reports to: Jim Stasz Secretary, A.B.A. Field Notes P.O. Box 71 North Beach, MD 20714 jlstasz@aol.com