Hi Everyone,

I joined Jim Brighton and John Hubbell for another day on the lower Eastern Shore on Saturday (9/26). I crashed at Jim's place in Easton on Friday night, both of us noting the major flight underway soon after dark. Rob Ostrowski and I had done some listening in Caroline Co. that night and quickly noted over 50 warbler calls. Oh to have more confidence calling warblers at night! There were easily 7-8 different species in the flight. Meanwhile, Jim had already noted a big thrush movement over Easton. When we stepped out of the house to meet Hubbell at 4:00 a.m., several thrushes passed over as we packed up the car.

Easton, Talbot Co.

Gray-cheeked Thrush--3
Swainson's Thrush--2
warbler sp.--3

We decided that despite the gusty winds reported on the immediate coast, we were going to try for our Gray-cheeks in Worcester and Somerset Counties. Not only did all three of us need that species in both counties, but John had a mission. He was just two birds away from joining the notorious 5,000 Maryland County Bird Club. Armed with coffee, we visit a quiet road that John had scouted out along the county line, Meadow Bridge Road. When we arrived, we found that the cool weather was keeping the bugs completely silent. The wind was totally still, and immediately upon stepping from the car we hear a Great Horned Owl and a couple whinnying and trilling screech-owls. The conditions are pristine, so we're confident that it is just a matter of time. The Great Horned Owl hoots and despite distance it is crystal clear - loud even. Now THIS is listening! Several minutes pass and a Gray-cheeked call rings out - 'Veer!' - over Worcester air space. Excellent.
 Worcester County birds should be sought and celebrated like state birds, so we're all psyched to finally have our Gray-cheeked. OK, so now John is ready for one more. The minutes pass quietly. Finally, crystal-clear and to our south, another 'Veer!' A Gray-cheeked Thrush over Somerset becomes John's 5,000th county bird. We exchange hand shakes and congratulations. For anyone who has watched John's enthusiastic and methodical approach to finding Maryland's birds in every corner of the state over the years, it should be clear that 5,000 is a worthy achievement. He becomes only the sixth member of the 5,000 club after Stasz, Ringler, Iliff, Hafner, and - most recently - Holbrook. Congratulations, John! 

We still had an important question to answer, though. Where do we need to be at dawn? With these strong winds blowing all night - particularly with that easterly component - we had to figure out where the fallout was going to be. Many Eastern Shore locations made sense - Eastern Neck, Taylor's Island, Terrapin... Was Assateague too risky, or could this be a morning we'd never forget? Would there be a warbler fallout, a Northern Wheatear hopping around the Bayside parking lot?  We had to find out! We arrived just after sunrise and soon we were joined by J.B. Churchill. Unfortunately, our experience matched Mikey Lutmerding's at Point Lookout. It was slow. Our best guess is that with such ideal conditions, everything just kept right on going. SOMEWHERE south of us there must have been a real fallout, but it was not here!

Below are the full lists for Bayside and the abridged lists for the rest of the day. First, here is the rest of the photo haul, including photos one of Friday's WHITE IBIS on Assateague:

http://www.billhubick.com/photos/updates/20090927.php

Assateague I. NS--Bayside
* We arrived slightly later than desired and missed much of the heron flight. Winds were fairly gusty, but overall it was just slow!

Brown Pelican--43
Double-crested Cormorant--67
Great Egret--33
Snowy Egret--26
Little Blue Heron--9
Tricolored Heron--18
Peregrine Falcon--2
Spotted Sandpiper--1
Sanderling--1
Laughing Gull--95
Herring Gull (American)--22
Great Black-backed Gull--1
Caspian Tern--1
Royal Tern--26
Mourning Dove--1
Belted Kingfisher--1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)--5
EASTERN KINGBIRD--1; my new late date in Maryland; ties John's late date
Red-eyed Vireo--1
Tree Swallow--1
Carolina Wren--4
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher--1
Gray Catbird--3
European Starling--6
Cedar Waxwing--36
Magnolia Warbler--1
American Redstart--1
Northern Cardinal--2
DICKCISSEL--1; heard calling as it landed in the scrub to north of parking lot
Baltimore Oriole--1

Assateague Island NS--Bayside Campground

Brown Pelican--7
Double-crested Cormorant--10
Great Egret--1
Snowy Egret--1
Little Blue Heron--3
Tricolored Heron--1
Osprey--1
Laughing Gull--30
Herring Gull--3
Caspian Tern--25; roosting off the campground
Royal Tern--20
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)--2
Red-eyed Vireo--1
Tree Swallow--2
Carolina Chickadee--2
Carolina Wren--4
American Robin--1
Gray Catbird--7
Northern Mockingbird--1
Brown Thrasher--3
Cedar Waxwing--5
Northern Parula--2
Cape May Warbler--1
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)--1
Pine Warbler--1
American Redstart--2
Common Yellowthroat--1
Northern Cardinal--6
Boat-tailed Grackle--6

Assateague I. NS--Life of the Marsh
* No sign of yesterday's White Ibis or the foraging heron flock. Slightly higher tide when we visited today than yesterday.

Great Egret--2
Snowy Egret--2
Little Blue Heron--2
Tricolored Heron--1
Laughing Gull--45
Herring Gull--10
Gray Catbird--4
Brown Thrasher--1
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)--1
Black-throated Green Warbler--1
Black-and-white Warbler--1
American Redstart--1
Eastern Towhee--3
Boat-tailed Grackle--6

Assateague I. NS--Life of the Forest

Great Egret--1
Bald Eagle--1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)--1
Red-eyed Vireo--1
Tree Swallow--30
House Wren--1
WINTER WREN--1
Pine Warbler--12
Northern Waterthrush--1
Common Yellowthroat--1
Eastern Towhee--4
Baltimore Oriole--1

After leaving Worcester, Jim led John and me along a nice route through prime habitat in northeastern Dorchester Co. We had a lot of trouble finding flocks of birds, and those that we found were mostly residents. Here are just a couple of stops worth mentioning.

Nanticoke River--Sharptown (Dorchester)

Turkey Vulture--5
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)--1
Red-eyed Vireo--1
Cedar Waxwing--1 juvenile
Northern Parula--1
Magnolia Warbler--1
American Redstart--2

Hurlock WWTP

SNOW GOOSE--1; first migrant of the season; none present for most of summer
Canada Goose--390; first migrant flocks starting to gather; noted that the birds were decidedly skittish
Mallard--36
Killdeer--37
Spotted Sandpiper--4
Lesser Yellowlegs--3
Least Sandpiper--3
Horned Lark--5; field beside the WWTP
Tree Swallow--60

Shiloh Church Turf Farm

Merlin--1

Maiden Forest Road

Killdeer--6
Red-eyed Vireo--1
Pine Warbler--2
Black-and-white Warbler--2

Have a good week!

Bill

Bill Hubick
Pasadena, Maryland

http://www.billhubick.com