DORCHESTER COUNTY, FERRY NECK/RIGBY’S FOLLY, September 18-21, 2009.
14th DORCHESTER COUNTY FALL BIRD COUNT (in part), this is how my day went. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19. I have results from 5 other parties, with still one more outstanding. After I return from 16 days at Kiptopeke, Virginia, I’ll issue a final report combining everyone’s results, in mid-October. So far it’s obvious it was a poor day for passerines with very high tidal and impounded fresh waters, making the location of shorebirds difficult. Over 100 Bald Eagles reported so far.
My route: Hooper’s Island, Swan Harbor & Meekins Neck in the pre-dawn and morning, Blackwater N.W.R. in the early afternoon, and Elliott Island Road late in the day. Weather: beautiful, temps 66-79, winds NE 10-15 becoming W at 15, clear but with c. 5% cloud cover part of the time. 117 miles by car, 2 by foot. 4:30 A.M. – 7:30 P.M.
Results: 111 hard-earned species. 10 shorebirds, 11 raptors, 2 owls, 4 terns, 6 woodpeckers, 7 warblers, 0 thrushes, 3 swallows, 1 vireo, 9 waterfowl, 4 gulls, 3 sparrows, 7 heron types. 73 species by 9 A.M., 89 by 11:15.
Abbreviations: BNWR, Blackwater refuge. EIR, Elliott I. Road. HI, Hooper’s Island. SH, Swan Harbor.
Of most interest: 1 adult Blue Goose with 3 Canada Geese in a ploughed field next to Kraft Neck Road. 5 Mute Swans (2 at SW side of Barren Island; 2 adults and a large, flying immature at Gadwall Bend, EIR). Mallard 625 (most are at Harry Elzey’s farm at Golden Hill). Blue-winged Teal 1 and Green-winged Teal 3, pathetic totals. AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN 1, BNWR (perhaps new for the overall fall state count? This individual has been present here at Sewards since last winter). Brown Pelican 28, HI. Double-crested Cormorant 565, widespread. Great Egret 126 (impressive – a formation of 29 in stately procession to the southwest over the EIR marsh at dusk). Snowy Egret 71. Tricolored Heron 18 (EI). Black-crowned Night Heron 6, EI, last species of the day. Turkey Vulture 140. Osprey 6. A male Cooper’s Hawk and a male Northern Harrier tangling with each other over the EIR marsh. Bald Eagle 62, incl. 31 in the greater HI area, perhaps my best total ever for there. Merlin 1, EI.
SHOREBIRDS. A nice aggregation just west of Gadwall Bend, EIR, foraging in flooded Spartina patens & Distichlis spicata marsh saved the day with a Black-bellied Plover, c. 101 Greater and 4 Lesser yellowlegs, 4 Semipalmated and 9 Least sandpipers, 12 unID’d peep, 2 Pectoral Sandpipers, and 3 Short-billed Dowitchers.
Herring Gull 465. Great Black-backed Gull 165, most of them on the experimental jetties s. of Ferry Narrows Bridge, Middle HI. 6 Caspian, 82 Royal, 2 Common and 118 Forster’s terns. Eastern Screech-Owl 7 (several responding in broad daylight; compare to the spring count last May 9 when 6 parties were unable to find even 1). Great Horned Owl 1, flushes from the road shoulder way out in the middle of the EIR marsh and perches on wire midway between 2 phone poles, and stays there for 15 minutes oblivious to pasing cars and to me – I stay there 15 minutes scanning for the night herons.
Belted Kingfisher 7. Red-headed Woodpecker 1, BNWR, Wildlife Drive. Fish Crow, only 1, middle HI. 58 Tree, 4 Bank and 11 Barn swallows, the latter on wires on EIR way out in the marsh. Brown-headed Nuthatch 9. Marsh Wren 2, a hard row to hoe this time of year. Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1. Eastern Bluebird 36. American Robin 9 at Swan Harbor, the only ones all day. Black-throated Green Warbler 1. Pine Warbler 12, 6 of them singing. Prairie Warbler 1. Northern Waterthrush 2.
Scarlet Tanager 1. Savannah Sparrow 7, EIR shoulders, a favored locale for them this time of year. Seaside Sparrow 4, 2 of them responding to the Saltmarsh Sparrow song on my iPod, which does not have Seaside Sparrow on it. Rose-breasted Grosbeak 2. Bobolink 25, in their favored field across Route 355 from the end of Wildlife Drive, BNWR. Boat-tailed Grackle 42, EIR. House Sparrow, all of 3, middle HI.
Missed (none of these THAT surprising): turkey & quail, Barred Owl (tried at 3 spots), hummingbird, Great Crested Flycatcher, White-eyed Vireo, waxwing, parula, Yellow and Magnolia warblers, Ovenbird, towhee, Field and Song sparrows, Baltimore Oriole. After 14 years it is still puzzling why towhee, crested flycatcher, Song and Field sparrows are so hard to find on this count.
Butterflies: 8 Orange Sulphurs, 12 Buckeyes, 3 Red-spotted Purples, 4 Cabbage Whites, 1 Viceroy, 1 Pearlcrescent, 12 Monarchs, 2 Common Wood Nymphs, 6 Cloudless Sulphurs, and 1 Black Swallowtail.
Other non-avian taxa: Big chorus of Southern Leopard Frogs in Pool 1, BNWR. A Fox Squirrel at the east end of the woods on Lewis Wharf Road. Still a few blooming Marsh Hibiscus. A riot of yellow from the countless 1000s of Tickseed Sunflowers blooming along Wildlife Drive, BNWR. Sika Elk at dusk, EIR. 1 Eastern Cottontail, BNWR. A few of the special cicadas are still “calling”, have a sort of double “note.” There’s a good recording of an insect that sounds just like them on the Lang Elliott A guide to wildlife sounds CD, identified as Scissor-Grinder Cicada. I have never heard these cicadas anywhere north of Blackwater refuge. 24 Painted Turtles, 6 Red-bellied Sliders. Seems like a good Persimmon crop this year.
SUNDAY, September 20. BLACKWATER N.W.R. The bird walk includes A. J. O’Brien, Jane Pilliod, Rashul Gupta and his mom, Rita Gupta, M.D., Robert Johnson, Lisa Krentel, Tom & Ellen Cimino, and myself. 54 species. 7 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Some of the creatures below are seen before or after the official birdwalk hours.
Of most interest: 6 pintails, 8 Green-winged Teal, the white pelican, 2 Ospreys, 12 Bald Eagles, 9 kestrels, 2 King & 2 Virginia rails, 6 Caspian and 22 Forster’s terns, 1 hummingbird, 2 Red-headed Woodpeckers, 1 Hairy Woodpecker, 2 Brown-headed Nuthatches, 2 waxwings, 5 meadowlarks, and a Baltimore Oriole. 3 of these are species I missed yesterday … always the case. High waters continue to hinder what is already a sub-par day with few migrant passerines. But it is sunny with a light breeze and low humidity. Beautiful.
Also: a Fox Squirel, 3 Sika Elk (incl. a young one) & 1 Eastern Cottontail. 2 Red-bellied Sliders and 6 Painted Turtles. Butterflies: 2 Red-spotted Purples, 2 Cabbage Whites, 7 Cloudless Sulphurs, 2 Orange Sulphurs, 9 Monarchs, 6 Buckeyes, and 2 Common Wood Nymphs. In Cambridge there is an extremely rufous Gray Squirrel, with NO gray, on a lawn bordering East Appleby Avenue. But best of all, a great view of a GRAY FOX on the west side of Egypt Road. Usually the only times I see Gray Foxes they are d.o.r. = requiescat in pavement.
FERRY NECK/RIGBY’S FOLLY:
Friday, September 18. Clear, 74-75, SW5-S5. Present 2:30 P.M. – dark only. Few birds. 1 imm. Bald Eagle. 5 mockingbirds. 1 Osprey. 4 deer. 2 Diamondback Terrapin.
Saturday, September 19. Liz does some birding to submit for the Talbot County fall bird count, finds 23 species around the yard including a sub-adult GOLDEN EAGLE well-seen, twice, from the dock. This is very early for a GOEA to show up on the Eastern Shore, would be pretty early even in the mountains. Circa the 9th yard record, most of these in the late October to mid-December period. Possibly the same bird was seen today by Wayne Bell, Amanda Spears et al. south of here at Taylor’s Island. Liz also sees an ad. Bald Eagle and a hen Wild Turkey with 3 small poults.
Sunday, September 20. Dave Harp comes to interview me. Earlier we see 6 Bald Eagles in sight simultaneously, 4 adults and 2 immatures. 1 Green Heron. 4 deer.
Monday, September 21. See the 4 Wild Turkeys as we leave plus a Cooper’s Hawk and an immature Bald Eagle.
VULTURE JAMBOREE. One has to do something on the long drive from and to Philadelphia. Why not count Turkey Vultures? Why not. Well, on the way home our 96 surpassed the 92 detected on the way down. Get out the champagne.
Best to all. – Harry Armistead.
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