Greetings,
As most of you know, yesterday was Birdwatcher’s Digest’s international BIG
SIT! We, The Turkey Pointers, began our SIT at Turkey Point; Elk Neck State
Park, Cecil County at around 0430. We stayed until 1130. Our early departure
was the result of very few birds being around. There was little to no evident
flight of passerines; particularly neotropics. We only had five warblers (listed
below) and we totally missed all flycatchers and vireos! However, we did score
some nice “boreal” species including 20 or so Purple Finches, 10+ Pine Siskin,
and our best bird of the day, which came around 0600; Northern Saw-whet
Owl!
Other notables included Great Egret, Snow Goose, Gadwall, Green-winged
Teal, Wood Duck, Hermit Thrush (our only catharus), Red-headed Woodpecker,
Merlin, Scarlet Tanager, Rusty Blackbird, Eastern Meadowlark, Baltimore Oriole,
and Common Loon. The latter was heard “singing” numerous times from out on
the bay pre-dawn.
Notable misses were: Phoebe, BH Vireo (here the day before), most warblers,
Song Sparrow, Chimney Swift, and Red-tailed Hawk. Also we only had TWO
Cardinals (heard only).
Despite my seemingly dim notation previously, we had a rather nice morning
with beautiful weather, a gorgeous sunrise, and a spectacular view of the
cosmos; which included views of Saturn and Venus forming a triangle with
Leo’s Regulus, meteors, Orion’s Blue Nebula, fly-by satellites, the Milky Way,
and many constellations, all while being serenaded by at least 5 owls of 3
different species! Yes, we probably could have ticked a few more birds if we’d
stayed longer but we were happy with the 77 species we attained.
I have placed a few photos on my “flckr” photo album. If you would like to
view them just follow this link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9382390@N05/
Thanks go out to the following participants: Sean McCandless, Tom Raub, Pat
Valdata, Harold Fogleman, and Parke John.
Below is a complete list of the birds we saw or heard from our circle. If anyone
would like numbers contact me directly, I will happily supply that information:
Turkey Point, Cecil County, MD
BIG SIT
October 14, 2007
0430-1130
1. Common Loon Gavia imme
2. Double-crested Cormorant Phalacrocorax auritus
3. Great Egret Ardea alba
4. Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias
5. Black Vulture Coragyps atratus
6. Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura
7. Snow Goose Chen caerulescens
8. Canada Goose Branta canadensis
9. Wood Duck Aix sponsa
10. Green-winged Teal Anas crecca
11. Mallard Anas platyrhynchos
12. Gadwall Anas strepera
13. Osprey Pandion haliaetus
14. Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus
15. Cooper's Hawk Accipiter cooperii
16. Sharp-shinned Hawk Accipiter striatus
17. Red-shouldered Hawk Buteo lineatus
18. American Kestrel Falco sparverius
19. Merlin Falco columbarius
20. Ring-billed Gull Larus delawarensis
21. Herring Gull Larus argentatus
22. Laughing Gull Larus atricilla
23. Great Black-backed Gull Larus marinus
24. Caspian Tern Sterna caspia
25. Forster's Tern Sterna forsteri
26. Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura
27. Eastern Screech-Owl Otus asio
28. Great Horned Owl Bubo virginianus
29. Northern Saw-whet Owl Aegolius acadicus
30. Belted Kingfisher Ceryle alcyon
31. Red-headed Woodpecker Melanerpes erythrocephalus
32. Red-bellied Woodpecker Melanerpes carolinus
33. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Sphyrapicus varius
34. Downy Woodpecker Picoides pubescens
35. Northern Flicker Colaptes auratus
36. Blue Jay Cyanocitta cristata
37. American Crow Corvus brachyrhynchos
38. Tree Swallow Tachycineta bicolor
39. Carolina Chickadee Poecile carolinensis
40. Tufted Titmouse Baeolophus bicolor
41. Red-breasted Nuthatch Sitta canadensis
42. White-breasted Nuthatch Sitta carolinensis
43. Brown Creeper Certhia americana
44. Carolina Wren Thryothorus ludovicianus
45. House Wren Troglodytes aedon
46. Golden-crowned Kinglet Regulus satrapa
47. Ruby-crowned Kinglet Regulus calendula
48. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Polioptila caerulea
49. Eastern Bluebird Sialia sialis
50. Hermit Thrush Catharus guttatus
51. American Robin Turdus migratorius
52. Gray Catbird Dumetella carolinensis
53. Northern Mockingbird Mimus polyglottos
54. European Starling Sturnus vulgaris
55. Cedar Waxwing Bombycilla cedrorum
56. Northern Parula Parula americana
57. Yellow-rumped Warbler Dendroica coronata
58. Black-throated Green Warbler Dendroica virens
59. Palm Warbler Dendroica palmarum
60. Common Yellowthroat Geothlypis trichas
61. Scarlet Tanager Piranga olivacea
62. Eastern Towhee Pipilo erythrophthalmus
63. Chipping Sparrow Spizella passerina
64. Field Sparrow Spizella pusilla
65. White-throated Sparrow Zonotrichia albicollis
66. Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis
67. Indigo Bunting Passerina cyanea
68. Red-winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus
69. Eastern Meadowlark Sturnella magna
70. Rusty Blackbird Euphagus carolinus
71. Common Grackle Quiscalus quiscula
72. Brown-headed Cowbird Molothrus ater
73. Baltimore Oriole Icterus galbula
74. House Finch Carpodacus mexicanus
75. Purple Finch Carpodacus purpureus
76. Pine Siskin Carduelis pinus
77. American Goldfinch Carduelis tristis
Thanks again
&
Good Birding,
Chris Starling
North East, MD
Beltedkingfisherchris (at) hotmail (dot) com |