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Re: 900+ Am. Robins at roost-CVP

From:

Les Roslund

Reply-To:

Les Roslund

Date:

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:02:44 -0400

There is a seasonally-used Robin roost site in Talbot County, beside Rte 50
right in Easton, MD.  The small patch of woods just north of the Holiday Inn
Express Motel is the location.

Robins have started coming to that site, as of a week or so ago this year,
right on schedule.

In previous years, Robin numbers using this site continued to grow until the
first week in November.  Some years the numbers have reached 30,000
according to early morning counts made by members of the Talbot Bird Club.
The birds start leaving the roost about 30 minutes before dawn (sun breaking
the horizon), and the flight out is finished within less than 20 minutes.
The flight out has birds bursting out in all directions, and often many of
them are quite close to the ground.   (Some of the car drivers along Rte 50
may get quite a surprise.)

Sometime in early November, when the temperature and wind conditions reach
some kind of trigger point, the birds just disappear, save for a very few
stragglers.  There can be as many as 20,000 or 30,000 counted the morning of
the day that they leave. That evening the number gathering into the roost
may may be only a few hundreds.  The rest are gone!

Les Roslund
Talbot County
Easton MD 21601


-----Original Message-----
From: Maryland Birds & Birding [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of James Meyers
Sent: Monday, July 20, 2009 7:44 AM
To: 
Subject: [MDOSPREY] 900+ Am. Robins at roost-CVP


On Sunday evening , July 19th , I observed groups of Am. Robins flying to
their communal roost at Cromwell Valley Park in Baltimore County.  Because
they were traveling due south I thought they might be the start of early
migration, so I began to count them as they passed overhead.  The count
lasted from 7:40 pm to 8:25 pm and totalled more than 900 birds.  The Robins
were in small groups, flying at tree-top level, and I saw many descending
into the valley at the Christmas tree farm.  Clearly these birds were coming
into roost, and I later learned that this is common behavior for Robins as
the breeding season winds down.  I may keep a close eye on this behavior and
try to ascertain when migration actually begins for Robins.  I remember
seeing many thousands of Robins migrating here last summer/fall ( was it mid
to late August ? ) and this year I hope to record my observations concerning
this most well known bird.

Jim Meyers
Cromwell Valley Park
Parkville Md