Hi all,
The Montgomery Sitting Ducks once again held our (7th) Big Sit at Black
Hill Regional Park in Boyds. We did a bit below average this year, finding only
50 species, "sitting" from 6:15 AM until about 12:45 PM. Our last species
came shortly after noon when 5 Tree Swallows flew right over our heads. The odd
thing was that Mike Bowen and I were just talking about swallows, that he had
seen good numbers the previous day at Lilypons, and then within seconds the
5 flew over. Further talk of what we hadn't yet seen failed to produce
anything else new however, so we missed Chimney Swift, Osprey, Bald Eagle, Great
Horned Owl, PB Grebe or DC Cormorant, birds that we traditionally have had in
years past.
We did get at least 3 new species this year, as far as I can tell; Palm
Warbler (YAY Eric!), Field Sparrow and Chipping Sparrow, so the day was
productive never-the-less, bring our cumulative list to 91! We had 6 woodpecker
species, including a heard only Red-headed, and though I didn't put it on the days
list we thought we heard a Hairy as well, which would have given us all 7
species.
It was an absolutely gorgeous day, but bird numbers seemed low, maybe due to
the lingering warm weather. Our average species list is about 52.4, so we
came in a bit below that. We did however have a record number of participants
this year, with 19 including myself, and my thanks go out to all who helped;
Jim Green, Mike Bowen, John Pangborn, Linda Friedland, Betty Brody, Sujata Roy,
Eric Skrzypczak, Brad Beukama, Lydia Schindler, Tom Marko (Happy Birthday
TOM! We'll miss you!), Joy Bowen, Stephanie Lovell, Charlie Mosley, Kit Angell,
Tony and Cynthia Mead, Janet Millenson and Barbara Knapp.
P.S. The first 35 species were seen in the first hour and a half of birding,
so it really pays to get there early!
Rick Sussman
Woodbine,MD
**************New MapQuest Local shows what's happening at your destination.
Dining, Movies, Events, News & more. Try it out
(http://local.mapquest.com/?ncid=emlcntnew00000002) |