Hi all,
Because of a combination of factors I stayed home and birded in my yard
most of yesterday, actively from about 6:45 till 9:30 or so, then more passively
throughout the rest of the day, off and on as time permitted. I ended the
day with my last new bird around 8 PM when a single Common Nighthawk flew over.
Although nothing really new (no new yard species) showed up, and there
weren't many neo-trops passing through, I managed to see 42 species yesterday, and
since my yard list is now at 100, that's 42% of my entire list! Not a bad
effort for the time of year, all things considered.
I had 1 Scarlet Tanager (already molted into non-breeding plumage), 1
immature Red-eyed Vireo, 2 BG Gnatcatchers, 4 Baltimore Orioles, a small flock of
Cedar Waxwings feeding juveniles, both common wrens, 3 Gray Catbirds (all very
young, recently fledged), E. Wood Pewee, E. Kingbird, lots of Bluebirds, a
single N. Mockingbird (odd since they are so common all summer), and lots of
commoner species. I saw an immature Cooper's Hawk being harassed by hummers
(and again this morning!), and by mid-afternoon the vultures were moving around,
with many Turkey but fewer Blacks. I saw a flock of Mallards fly by early
and some Canada Geese, but no heron, shorebird, gull or terns. Really, just
the average common birds for this time of year, so I was surprised by my total.
Biggest miss would have to be Red-tailed Hawk, as there is almost always one
or two around, but none yesterday. And Red-winged Blackbirds were absent, as
were Common Grackles.
A fun day!
Rick Sussman
Woodbine,MD
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