Hi Everyone,

Lance Biechele, Dana Bronecke, and I birded Pemberton Park today from 8-10am.  Highlights included Northern Harrier, Eastern Screech-Owl, and Rusty Blackbird.  The complete list is below.

Some sobering information about Rusty Blackbirds from eBird (www.ebird.org):

"Populations of Rusty Blackbirds are crashing! Their numbers have plummeted by as much as 88-98% over the last few decades, according to data gathered between 1966 and 2006 for the North American Breeding Bird Survey and Christmas Bird Count. A species that was once considered to be abundant is rapidly disappearing before our eyes. Your observations can help save this species by arming scientists with critical information about its ecology. The Rusty Blackbird Working Group has developed the Rusty Blackbird Blitz, a winter survey whose goal is to count Rusty Blackbirds range-wide just prior to spring migration.  From 7-15 February, search for Rusty Blackbirds in your area and report your observations to eBird."

Our sighting of 3 Rusty Blackbirds is just outside the date range for this eBird project, but we will keep an eye out for them next week at Pemberton!

Have fun,

Ron Gutberlet
Salisbury, MD




Location:     Pemberton Park
Observation date:     2/4/09
Observers: Ron Gutberlet, Lance Biechele, Dana Bronecke
Conditions: Tide was high; water was partly frozen and partly open; frost was on the ground and on plants and structures.
Weather (from www.accuweather.com for Salisbury, MD): 22-30 F, wind N to NW at 5-11 mph, relative humidity 84-81%, barometric pressure 29.98-30.01 in, visibility 8-6 mi, mostly cloudy with intermittent light snow and a little sun.
0.75 mi on foot as determined from www.runningmap.com.
Number of species:     29

Canada Goose     231
American Black Duck     16
Mallard     36
Great Blue Heron     1
Bald Eagle     1
Northern Harrier     1
Killdeer     8     all fly-overs (seen and heard) in groups of 4, 2, 1, and 1; seen around the same time coming from the direction of the Wicomico River
Herring Gull     42     all fly-overs, presumably on their way to the Salisbury Landfill
Eastern Screech-Owl     2     responded to whistling that was intended to bring in songbirds
Red-bellied Woodpecker     1
Downy Woodpecker     3
Pileated Woodpecker     1
Blue Jay     2
American Crow     2
Fish Crow     1
Carolina Chickadee     6
Tufted Titmouse     8
Brown Creeper     1
Carolina Wren     4
European Starling     5
Eastern Towhee     2
Song Sparrow     5
Swamp Sparrow     5
White-throated Sparrow     23
Northern Cardinal     10
Red-winged Blackbird     87     at least one was singing; I also heard RWBL singing at the TonyTank in Salisbury on 30 Jan 2009.
Rusty Blackbird     3     perched near the top of a tree by the boardwalk; spotted by Dana
Common Grackle     2
American Goldfinch     3

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)