Hi Everyone,
As Dan Haas already posted, there was much fun to be had on Assateague this past Sunday. A good group gathered at Bayside and Bayside Campground to begin the day's birding. From there folks spread out to cover the maintenence yard near Bayside, the Assateague Visitor's Center area, the new Bayside housing development on 611, Eagles Nest, and West Ocean City Pond. Some folks also visited a flooded field on Rt 50 at Logtown Rd, where Mikey Lutmerding had observed a large concentration of shorebirds earlier in the morning. Finally, in the afternoon and into the evening a few of us (Tom Feild, Jim Green, Bill Hubick, Mikey Lutmerding, Matt Tillett, and I) enjoyed a nice stroll along the beaches and marshes of North Assateague. A fun full day!
Some highlights:
Around 8:00 am a few of us noticed a couple warblers on the grass near the water. One did not fit easily into an expected id compartment. We studied the bird a bit, and Jim Stasz quickly consolidated the field marks (bright yellow on the throat, no supercilium, streaking on the back, dull streaks on yellow flanks; later, in flight, the bird showed the tell-tale yellow rump) into a name: AUDUBON'S WARBLER!! Jim yelled the name a couple more times to gather the dispersed birders. Just a note for the record--Bill Hubick arrived in time to see only a warbler with a yellow rump fly off. Sorry, Bill. :(
Jim Stasz found a Clay-colored Sparrow at Bayside. A Fox Sparrow was also present. Snow Geese--10,000 or more in all--flew south in one major movement.
Mikey Lutmerding and Mike Walsh had 2 Marbled Godwits and 5 Western Willets at Eagles Nest.
During our North Assateague hike, Tom Feild spotted 2 Cackling Geese (Richardson's) in a small flock of Canadas and also another Clay-colored Sparrow. We also had great looks (and nice photos by Bill) of Ipswich Sparrows (9 total observed). Jim Green had nice views of a Merlin on his walk back to the car.
Many additional highlights will be found in the eBird lists below. Full lists provided for Bayside, Bayside Campground, and North Assateague; edited lists provided for some other locations.
Thanks to everyone for a great fall day on the shore! Have fun,
Ron Gutberlet
Salisbury, MD
Location: Assateague I. NS--Bayside
Traveling Count: 0.25 mi, 6:50-8:25 am
Observers: Tom Feild, Jim Green, Dan Haas, Bill Hubick, Mikey Lutmerding, Chris Murray, Jim Stasz, Matt Tillett, Mike Walsh, Ron Gutberlet
Number of species: 51
Brant 18
Canada Goose 30
Wood Duck 3
American Black Duck 4
Surf Scoter 81
Black Scoter 4
Bufflehead 48
Red-breasted Merganser 32
Red-throated Loon 3
Common Loon 88
Horned Grebe 8
Great Cormorant 2
Double-crested Cormorant 4
Great Blue Heron 1
Killdeer 1
Sanderling 3
Bonaparte's Gull 22
Ring-billed Gull 1
Herring Gull 24
Great Black-backed Gull 2
Forster's Tern 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 7
Blue Jay 1
crow sp. 15
Tree Swallow 2
Carolina Wren 2
Golden-crowned Kinglet 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
Eastern Bluebird 2
Hermit Thrush 1
American Robin 43
Gray Catbird 2
Northern Mockingbird 1
Brown Thrasher 2
European Starling 18
American Pipit 2
Cedar Waxwing 4
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 53
YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER (AUDUBON'S) 1
Chipping Sparrow 2
Field Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 2
White-throated Sparrow 4
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 2
Northern Cardinal 16
Eastern Meadowlark 1
Brown-headed Cowbird 1
Purple Finch 3
Pine Siskin 2
Location: Assateague I. NS--Bayside Campground
Traveling Count: 0.75 mi, 8:25-10:05 am
Observers: Tom Feild, Jim Green, Dan Haas, Bill Hubick, Mikey Lutmerding, Chris Murray, Matt Tillett, Mike Walsh, Ron Gutberlet
Number of species: 31
Snow Goose 10000
Bufflehead 20
Red-breasted Merganser 1
Turkey Vulture 1
Northern Harrier 1
Dunlin 18
Herring Gull 6
Great Black-backed Gull 3
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 1
Horned Lark 1
Carolina Wren 9
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1
American Robin 10
Gray Catbird 3
Northern Mockingbird 2
European Starling 11
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 57
Palm Warbler (Yellow) 1
Eastern Towhee 2
Chipping Sparrow 13
Field Sparrow 1
Savannah Sparrow (Eastern) 1
Song Sparrow 10
White-throated Sparrow 50
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 22
Northern Cardinal 2
Red-winged Blackbird 5
Eastern Meadowlark 5
Pine Siskin 4
American Goldfinch 2
Location: Assateague I. NS--North 7 km.
Observers: Tom Feild, Jim Green, Ron Gutberlet, Mikey Lutmerding, Matt Tillett, Bill Hubick.
Number of species: 38
Brant (Atlantic) 300 Conservative estimate; all on bayside
Cackling Goose (Richardson's) 2 Spotted by Tom in a flock of Canadas going to roost
Canada Goose 1000 Conservative estimate
American Black Duck 51
Mallard 8
Surf Scoter 22
Red-throated Loon 3
Northern Gannet 80 Conservative estimate
Double-crested Cormorant 6
Great Cormorant 1 Last bird in a flock of seven cormorants flying by; Bill only
Great Blue Heron 1
Merlin 1 female; Jim Green on walk back
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Northern Harrier 2
Black-bellied Plover 18 Many vocalizing throughout hike; vocalizing long after dark
Killdeer 4
American Oystercatcher 12
Greater Yellowlegs 3
Willet 1 Jim Green
Ruddy Turnstone 1
Dunlin 35
Ring-billed Gull 44
Herring Gull 312
Lesser Black-backed Gull 1
Great Black-backed Gull 40
gull sp. 100
Forster's Tern 4 Feeding just beyond surf
Great Horned Owl 1 Shell Road, Matt
Mourning Dove 1
Horned Lark 4
American Pipit 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 35
Clay-colored Sparrow 1 Tom only
Savannah Sparrow 6 These six were by seet notes
Savannah Sparrow (Eastern) 1 Seen by Tom
Savannah Sparrow (Ipswich) 9 Great close-up viewing; excellent photos
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 2
Red-winged Blackbird 11
Location: Assateague State Park
Observers: Tom Feild, Jim Green, Ron Gutberlet, Matt Tillett, Bill Hubick.
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
Location: West Ocean City Pond
Point Count: noon-12:30 pm
Observers: Jim Green, Ron Gutberlet
Number of species: 17
Canada Goose 530
Wood Duck 6
Gadwall 2
American Wigeon 2
American Black Duck 20
Mallard 300
Northern Shoveler 8
Northern Pintail 37
Green-winged Teal (American) 25
Great Blue Heron 8
Greater Yellowlegs 1
Lesser Yellowlegs 1
Pectoral Sandpiper 1
Location: Logtown Road Fields
Observers: Jim Stasz, Bill Hubick, Tom Feild, Matt Tillett, Dan Haas, Chris Murray, Ron Gutberlet, Jim Green.
Excellent flooded field habitat right now. Mikey Lutmerding also had a White-rumped Sandpiper and at least two American Golden-Plovers.
Number of species: 10
Black-bellied Plover 25 Conservative estimate
Killdeer 150 Conservative estimate
Greater Yellowlegs 5
Ruddy Turnstone 2
Least Sandpiper 2
Pectoral Sandpiper 4
Dunlin 200 Conservative estimate
American Pipit 30 Conservative estimate |