1. 82nd DORCHESTER COUNTY, MD, May Bird Count, May 10, 2008, Saturday.
151 species. Will total up the # of individuals later.
EFFORT: 5 parties, 6 observers. 432 mi. by car, 8.5 mi. on foot. 21.25
hrs. by car, 35.25 by foot. 3:30 A.M - 10 P.M. Only 1 party was out
before first light, 2 after dusk. This is better-than-average coverage by
historical standards. For aditional general commentary please see the
report I posted a few days ago concerning my personal route of the day.
OBSERVERS: Bob Abrams (BA) and Joan Boudreau (JB): Taylor's Island and
the Neck District. Harry Armistead (Compiler, mahov, Poo-Bah, and grand
panjandrum): EI, BNWR, SH, SWR, Moneystump Swamp & Hooper's Island. Diane
Cole (DCe): extreme southern Dorchester, Bishop's Head, Wingate,
Crocheron, Toddville. David Curson (DCu): northeast Dorchester:
Indiantown Rd., Chicone Road. Jared Sparks: northwest Dorchester, incl.
Secretary, Hurlock, East New Market.
WEATHER: highly variable. Crystal clear starlight with no wind 3:30-4:30
A.M. Light rain and little wind most of the morning, oppressive and
totally overcast with some fog and much mist. Low ceiling but lifts, a
lot, after noon. Fair becoming clear in the afternoon with (mostly) NW
winds ranging from <5 to >25 m.p.h., diminishing late. Clear and calm
after sunset. Cool, with temps from 50-62 degrees F. Water levels
disadvantageous, above normal tides and water in impounded areas high.
ABBREVIATIONS: BNWR, Blackwater N.W.R.; EI, Elliott Island Road; SH,
Swan Harbor (north of Hooper's Island); SWR, Shorter's Wharf Road.
COMPLETE LIST: Canada goose 133. mute swan 2 (EI). wood duck 11.
American black duck 19. mallard 210. blue-winged teal 2 males (1 ea.
BNWR, SWR). green-winged teal 8 (Robbins). GREATER SCAUP 2 (new to count;
BA,JB; photographed; Slaughter Creek). Ruddy Duck 10 (2 parties). wild
turkey 5. northern bobwhite 18. common loon 9. horned grebe 1
(Cambridge).
brown pelican 7. double-crested cormorant 67. great blue heron 62. great
egret 42. snowy egret 21. tricolored heron 1 (DCe). cattle egret 1
(BNWR). green heron 12. black-crowned night heron 1 (EI). glossy ibis 4
(EI). black vulture 31. turkey vulture 270. osprey 130. bald eagle 85.
northern harrier 6. sharp-shinned hawk 1. red-shouldered hawk 2.
red-tailed hawk 10. peregrine falcon 1 (BA,JB).
BLACK RAIL 1 (BA,HA,JB). clapper rail 18. king rail 1. Virginia rail 31.
common moorhen 2. black-bellied plover 9. semipalmated plover 4.
killdeer 15. American oystercatcher 3. black-necked stilt 5 (2 BNWR, 3
EI). greater yellowlegs 43. lesser yellowlegs 22. solitary sandpiper 1.
willet 19. spotted sandpiper 15. ruddy turnstone 4 sanderling 4 (SH,
HI). semipalmated sandpiper 5. least sandpiper 50. dunlin 400. American
woodcock 3 (EI).
laughing gull 1,982. Bonaparte's gull 1 (SH). ring-billed gull 42.
herring gull 81. great black-backed gull 6. Caspian tern 1 (BNWR). royal
tern 20 (SH & EI). common tern 2 (Hooper's I.). Forster's tern 40. least
tern 26 (nesting on the roof of Best Value Inn again).
rock pigeon 52. mourning dove 91. yellow-billed cuckoo 1 (DCu; a
remarkably low count). barn owl 1 (Bestpitch). eastern screech-owl 1.
great horned owl 6. barred owl 1. chuck-will's-widow 18. chimney swift
23. ruby-throated hummingbird 6. belted kingfisher 1 (JS).
red-headed woodpecker 2. red-bellied woodpecker 18 downy woodpecker 6.
hairy woodpecker 1 (Robbins). northern flicker 13. pileated woodpecker 10
(found by all 5 parties). eastern wood-pewee 13. Acadian flycatcher 4.
great crested flycatcher 66. eastern kingbird 15. white-eyed vireo 11.
red-eyed vireo 20. blue jay 10. American crow 82. fish crow 9.
horned lark 38 (4 parties). purple martin 38. tree swallow 269. bank
swallow 37. cliff swallow 6. barn swallow 360. Carolina chickadee 41.
tufted titmouse 24. red-breasted nuthatch 3 (DCe). brown-headed nuthatch
22. Carolina wren 39. house wren 9. marsh wren 34. blue-gray
gnatcatcher 6. eastern bluebird 55. wood thrush 26. American robin 402.
gray catbird 19. northern mockingbird 46. brown thrasher 7. European
starling 351. cedar waxwing 33 (3 parties).
northern parula 8. yellow warbler 3. black-throated blue warbler 2
(JB,BA). yellow-rumped warbler 8. black-throated green warbler 1 (JB,BA).
pine warbler 48. prairie warbler 12. blackpoll warbler 3 (BCn,JS).
black-and-white warbler 5. American redstart 2 (JS). prothonotary warbler
5. worm-eating warbler 2. ovenbird 26. Louisiana waterthrush 2 (2
parties; JS,DCn). Kentucky Warbler 2 (DCn). common yellowthroat 73.
yellow-breasted chat 16.
summer tanager 16. scarlet tanager 6. eastern towhee 38. chipping
sparrow 51. field sparrow 11. Savannah sparrow 1. grasshopper sparrow
12. saltmarsh sharp-tailed sparrow 12. seaside sparrow 71. song sparrow
17. swamp sparrow 1. northern cardinal 70. blue grosbeak 26. indigo
bunting 23. red-winged blackbird 945. eastern meadowlark 28. common
grackle 883. boat-tailed grackle 5 (SH,EI). brown-headed cowbird 84.
orchard oriole 34. house finch 13. American goldfinch 73. house sparrow
80.
FAMILY GROUP SPECIES TOTALS: heron types 8. waterfowl 9. raptors 9.
shorebirds 16. owls 4. woodpeckers 6. flycatchers 4. swallows 5.
vireos 2. warblers 17. sparrows (not counting towhee) 8. Most of these
totals are merely par, or, O.K.
MISSED SPECIES. Most of these are not surprising misses. Many are present
but are (in most cases) either uncommon local breeders, declining local
breeders (the 2 nightjars), migrants that may not have lingered this late
(White-throated Sparrow), may not have been present at all (Bobolink, and,
surprisingly, the dowitcher), or migrants that no longer seem to be as
common as formerly (Sora).
Little Blue Heron, both bitterns, Gadwall, Sora, Short-billed Dowitcher,
Whip-poor-will, Eastern Nighthawk, Eastern Phoebe, Northern Rough-winged
Swallow, thrushes other than Wood Thrush, Blue-headed and Yellow-throated
vireos, Yellow-throated Warbler, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, White-throated
Warbler, Baltimore Oriole, Bobolink,
WARBLERS ALWAYS UNCOMMON OR ELSE ABSENT LOCALLY IN MAY. These include,
especially, what I dub the spruce-montane-or-northern warblers: Cape May,
Bay-breasted, Tennessee, Wilson's, Nashville, and Blackburnian. Less
unusual here but still usually missed on these 2 counts are: Magnolia,
Canada, Chestnut-sided, and Hooded warblers plus Northern Waterthrush.
Palms are also uncommon in spring; to ever see one as late as May is
unusual.
A lot of these species are commonly to be had in May in the Piedmont and
mountain counties of Maryland as are Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Baltimore
Oriole, various vireos (what Floyd Parks jocularly referred to once as
"off-the-wall vireos"), and the non-Wood thrushes. Add all of this up (or,
more to the point, subtract it), combine that with the limited coverage in
Dorchester, and it is easy to see how my favorite county has big trouble
"competing" with the more populous or higher-elevation counties to the west
and north. Thank you for listening.
My grateful thanks to the staff of Blackwater N.W.R. for permitting access
to Moneystump Swamp, to Neil & Kate Birchmeier for their hospitality, and
to the participants.
2. May 11, Sunday: a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, May 11, flying over Rt. 481 2
mi. S. of the junction of Rts. 481 & 301.
OFF TOPIC, but possibly of interest:
3. PRIME HOOK N.W.R., DELAWARE, Wed., May 14. Carl Perry, Jared Sparks &
I made a spur-of-the-moment trip and were here from 4:30-8:15 P.M. Carl
found the WOOD SANDPIPER c. 5:30 in the west side of the north impoundment
(my 42nd Delaware life shorebird species). We saw well the white
supercilium, the lack of the dark area in the center of the retrices that
the Solitary Sandpiper has, and when the bird flew directly overhead at low
elevation, were easily able to hear its "tee tee tee" call, like a high
pitched, weaker Lesser Yellowlegs call.
We also saw a female Red Phalarope. Notable were 12 species of waterfowl:
Canada Geese, Green-winged & Blue-winged teal, Gadwall, Ruddy, Wood & black
ducks, Mallards, Lesser Scaup, pintails, shovelers, and 7 female-plumaged
Red-breasted Mergansers. I watched for several minutes a distant raptor
that was probably a Mississippi Kite, but couldn't be certain; might have
been a male harrier. We also spent some time out on the Fowler's Beach
unit, where a muddy field held 360 Black-bellied Plovers, the majority in
splendid, high breeding plumage. 2 brown Merlins were present. Also,
bobwhite, 10 Black-necked Stilts, hundreds of turnstones, dowitchers, peep
(esp. Leasts) and Dunlin, 2 oystercatchers, an imm. Bald Eagle, a Clapper
Rail, a few Sanderlings, Willets, skimmers, knots & semi. plovers. In
addition to the Wood Sandpiper and Wood Duck a lot of Wood Frogs were
tuneing up. 9 Ospreys were in sight simultaneously. It was nice to meet
Sharon Lynn, who discovered the Wood Sandpiper on May 5, apparently only
the 2nd record for eastern North America. (?). 1 Muskrat, 1 cottontail.
4. JAMES BOND. Liz and I attended a celebration of the life and exploits
of James Bond at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia the
evening of May 13. Hosted by Bob Peck (ANSP vice-president & librarian)
and Frank Gill (former ANSP V.P. and Curator of Ornithology), it was also
attended by Nate Rice (bird collections manager) and Doug Wechsler
(director of VIREO). Took place in a small meeting room just off the hall
with all of the huge dinosaur skeletal mounts. Others attending were Nancy
Keeler, who organized the meeting and works in the development office of
ANSP (was formerly at Hawk Mountain) and Ellen Miller as well as long-time
friends Herb and Betty Cutler.
This pleasant session might best be described as an "intime soiree" with
everyone chipping in with commentary and memories as they enjoyed, in
addition to each others' company, nuts, olives, cheese, crackers, and, in
the best 007 tradition, martinis concocted with Bombay Gin. Some of Bonds'
c. ANSP 2,000 bird specimens were displayed, including Zapata Rail, Zapata
Wren, and Ivory-billed Woodpecker. Bonds' various medals were also there
to be seen.
Frank Gill, former American Ornithologists' Union President and one of
Americas most accomplished naturalists (guiding force behind "Birds of
North America", author of the leading ornithology textbook, and on, and on)
had also been honored with most (perhaps all?) of these same medals. Bob
Peck is also extraordinary, well-versed in the history of natural history,
author of several books including one on Louis Agassiz Fuertes, veteran of
expeditions to Mongolia and Ecuador. He is the sort of adept individual
whose focus or focuses may at any moment take some unpredictable, creative
turn.
A selection of JB's books was there, too, along with some by his wife, Mary
W. Bond. Bond's field guide to the birds of the West Indies was the only
comprehensive area guide for decades, notable among other virtues for its
fine line drawings by Earl L. Poole, an underappreciated artist. JB used
to be a neighbor in Philadelphia, and, although I did not know him well, or
have much contact with him, nevertheless over the years various memories
and impressions formed a rich font of associations. JB died at 89 on
February 16, 1989.
I learned this evening that JB loved to hunt, and that his father, Francis,
was also a bird collector. Frank's description of what it was like to work
with JB and Rodolphe Meyer de Schauensee (whose area of expertise was South
American birds) when Frank first came to ANSP was fascinating, and amusing
as well. By coincidence, both my father and JB were in the same class
(1918) at St. Paul's School, Concord, NH, but both ended up graduating
elsewhere, in my father's case the same school Bob Peck & I graduated from
40-45 or so years later.
At our meeting lots was discussed including Bond's discovery in the 1960s
of an Eskimo Cutlew that had been shot by a hunting club in Barbados.
Photographic images of Bond (and of Ian Fleming, including the two
together) were shown on the room's screen. Fleming liked JB's name and
adopted it for his secret agent in the celebrated 007 series. It is a
privilege to know most of the folks at the meeting. Son, George, worked at
ANSP for 6 or 7 years. Frank hired him. Doug was his boss. Nate is a
colleague he is friendly with. George would have liked to have been there,
too, but was obliged to lead a tour in North Carolina.
5. GRASSHOPPER QUOTE CORRIGENDUM. In my last post I didn't quite get it
right from memory. Here it is, in full: "As Scott's paintings reveal, the
grasshopper can be a resplendent creature, as beautifully panoplied as a
medieval knight, down to the chevrons on its femur ... " Adrian Higgins,
the "Washington Post," September 1, 2005. This is from a review of "Field
guide to grasshoppers, katydids, and crickets of the United States"
(Comstock/Cornell, 2005, 280pp., $29.95, paper, 357 maps, 48 color plates,
etc.) by John L. Capinera, Ralph D. Scott, and Thomas J. Walker.
Best to all.-Henry ("Harry") T. Armistead, 523 E. Durham St., Philadelphia,
PA 19119-1225. 215-248-4120. Please, any off-list replies to:
harryarmistead at hotmail dot com (never, please, to 74077.3176 ....) |