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Re: Who's still singing?

From:

Gerald & Laura Tarbell

Reply-To:

Gerald & Laura Tarbell

Date:

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:45:20 -0400

Let's add a couple more species to the list still singing. One's
semi-interesting, the other isn't.
    Morgan Run has developed a nice population of WILLOW FLYCATCHERS.
Several were out vocalizing today. They used to occupy a small out of the
way corner of this vast wilderness (huh?). Now they tend to be all over the
place.
    Since everybody else was naming off local residents still singing, I'll
add FIELD SPARROW.
   I was once asked how many families of birds there are. For those who know
me I would rather B.S. a stupid answer than admit I don't know something. So
I came up with 5. Ranked by order of birding interest from least to most,
they are:

Residents. I admit there are some neat birds in this group, like Bald
Eagles, some owls and other raptors, but these are birds that are seen year
around and are mostly too common to notice most of the time. Nobody ought to
get too excited when they see one.

Breeding birds. Yes, residents are also local breeders, but I reserve this
group for the migrants that come here, raise a brood or two and shuffle off
to some other part of the world. Some of them are gone by August, others
hang around into fall, but we see them every year and although Kentuckies
and Hooded Warblers are cute, other than some oddities like the Black Rails
on the eastern shore, we get used to these birds and ignore them some of the
time. Catbirds are in this group. I hear one singing now. Big deal.

Winter birds. I think winter birds tend to be slightly more interesting over
all than breeders because we do have some neat ones. Northern Shrike is
falling into this category now. We can find some practically every winter.
Go down the ocean, hon and we have some regulars like Brant, Eiders,
Harlequins, etc that make for a nice day's birding.

Migrators. These are birds that are just passing thru. The fall group can be
slightly different from the spring group. The Blackpolls that run thru my
yard in late May are kinda rare in fall. Connecticuts are spotted by the
lucky few in fall, but to get 'em in spring ya gotta head west of MD. But
these are some our most prized birds. Folks hang out in maintenance yards
hoping to spot Cape Mays, Gray Cheeked Thrush and Yellow-bellied
Flycatchers. They don't nest or winter anywhere near here and we strut a bit
after we get 'em.

Accidentals. The top of the birding delights chain. These are birds that
follow the Chan Robbins credo about using the wings they were born with.
They don't nest or winter here nor are we in their regular migration path.
Let's face it - Northern Lapwings, Spoonbills and Snowy Owls cause traffic
jams. For most of us they aren't just county ticks but life ticks.

So there is Ornithology according to me. Obviously there isn't anything
scientific about it and it way oversimplifies things. But lumping birds like
this helps sort out what we want to see the most. It also varies depending
on where you are. The Blackburnian I found at McKeldin in late April is in
category M here. Out in Garrett County, move it into category B - it breeds
there. Also some birds are kinda hazy as to where to put them. Robins come
to mind. They are mainly breeders here but they migrate early in spring and
late in fall and some can usually be found on winter counts. But when I find
one I usually think of it as a northern bird that didn't migrate as far as
most of them. Eruptors like last winter's Crossbills I would call
accidentals. They don't do this very often. Even if they do it in large
groups rather than singly like western hummers and Hammond's Flycatchers.

Bottom line- the Willows are more interesting than Field Sparrows because
the latter might be heard or seen year around. And they are more common.

Jerry Tarbell
Categorizing things in Carroll County