For the second consecutive year I covered NE Dorchester Co. (north of US50) with Jared Sparks for the May Count. Highlights/lowlights:

1. Our only transient passerines were 2 Myrtle Warblers, 5 Blackpolls, 1 immature male Redstart, and 2 Savannah Sparrows.

2. Jared spotted 2 Glossy Ibis cruising over. This was fortuitous because the south county party missed ibis.

3. At Hurlock WWTP we found 5 Snow Geese including 2 cripples, 7 Ruddy Ducks, and our best shorebirds: 3 Semi Plovers, 4 Semi Sands, and 3 Dunlin.

4. A Virginia Rail responded to a tape at midday in a marsh on Hunting Creek.

5. Summer Tanagers outnumbered Scarlets 11 to 8.

6. Orchard Orioles outnumbered Baltimores 35 to 0.

7. Our most common warblers were Pine and Ovenbird with 24 each.

8. Cliff Swallows are nesting again on the Marshyhope Creek bridge at Brookview and the Nanticoke River bridge at Sharptown.

9. Only 19 sparrows of four species.

10. Our most common bird was Laughing Gull with 9,000 divided between the landfill and the pig farm. Common Grackle was the only other bird to get into three digits.

11. A pair of Bobwhite in a rural front yard.

12. Notable misses were Flicker and Brown Thrasher.

13. We tallied 103 species in 14 hours covering 119 miles.

Bob Ringler
Eldersburg MD