Announcing the 6th Annual Worcester County Fall Rarities Roundup
                            Saturday, November 12

 

Contact Mark Hoffman () or Matt Hafner 
() to sign up.  Mark and Matt will be available at the 
Francis Scott Key Motel the evening before the count to discuss strategies 
and to make last-minute area assignments.

On the day of the count, dinner will be on your own and then we will meet at
Norm & Fran's West Ocean City home for dessert and a tally-up, between 7:30
and 8:30 pm.  (If you need directions, contact Norm at )

Sunday will be reserved for chase parties if any good birds are located on
Saturday.

Why this count?  Worcester County is indisputably the birdiest county in
Maryland.  Early November is the most likely time for wandering Fall
vagrants to show up (the county's first record of Ash-throated Flycatcher
was located during the 1st Annual Rarities Roundup in 2000).

Some of the "most wanted" species for the county include Bell's Vireo,
MacGillivary's Warbler, Western Tanager, and any western empid.  Other good
birds that we might expect to locate during the day include Orange-crowned
Warbler, LeConte's Sparrow, Western Kingbird, and Eurasian Collared Dove.

How about "great birds?"  Well, it was during this period of time that Cape
May's Brown-chested Martin was seen and well documented a few years back.
Why not one for Maryland, as well?

Remember, the more people we get out in the field looking for birds on
November 12th, the more likely we are to have some excellent rarities.  It's
probably no accident that the first year of the count was the best one we
have had so far.  That year we had a good crowd of Maryland's finest birders
along with a passel of "big names" from Cape May, as well.  So sign up and
head out!  Remember, Worcester County needs you!

We will have a communications network in place in case some mega-rarity 
shows up the day of the count to facilitate a group-tick, so when you sign
up, please be sure to give us your cell phone number.

Mark your calendars now and make your motel reservations.  For those
planning on staying near Ocean City, a clean and relatively inexpensive
motel is the Francis Scott Key on Rt. 50, just west of the bridge into Ocean
City.  Their phone number is 410-213-0088 and they have a website that
accepts reservations at: http://www.fskmotel.com/.

Those of you planning to attend the tally/dessert on Saturday evening should
bring along any drinks you might want other than soft drinks and coffee, 
which will be provided by Norm & Fran.

We're looking forward to seeing a bunch of you in November and we have a 
feeling this may be the year for some new State species!  Be there!

To sign up, drop an e-mail to Mark or Matt at the e-mail addresses noted
above.  Be sure to include your cell phone number, if you have one, and your
preferences for the area of the county to be assigned to you.  Even if
you're a beginner, don't hesitate to sign up for the count. We'll pair you
with more experienced birders, and every pair of eyes in the field matters!


Best,
Mark, Matt, Norm, & Fran