Greetings,
A banner year due in great part to the weather and expertise of all those who stopped by to help Sean McCandless and I count birds. Sean's impeccable ability to hear the faintest fight note and ID them was certainly an asset and led to us identifying 95 species (List Below) this morning from Turkey Point (ENSP) in Cecil County.
Highlights were Saw-whet Owl making its second Big Sit appearance, the first coming 2006. Also, We pulled a Cackling out of a small flyby group of Canadas. Some great views of many birds added to our delightful day but the best view of all was definitely the adult Merlin which perched at eye level on a near-by snag and devoured yellow Palm Warbler for about 15 minutes (great photo ops!!!).
Our results are posted below. I will try to get pictures uploaded over the next day or two.
-Chris S.
1. Common Loon Gavia imme
2. Double-crested Cormorant Phalacrocorax auritus
3. Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias
4. Green Heron Butorides virescens
5. Black Vulture Coragyps atratus
6. Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura
7. Snow Goose Chen caerulescens
8. Canada Goose Branta canadensis
9. Cackling Goose Branta hutchinsii
10. Mallard Anas platyrhynchos
11. Ruddy Duck Oxyura jamaicensis
12. Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus
13. Northern Harrier Circus cyaneus
14. Cooper's Hawk Accipiter cooperii
15. Sharp-shinned Hawk Accipiter striatus
16. Red-shouldered Hawk Buteo lineatus
17. Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis
18. Merlin Falco columbarius
19. Killdeer Charadrius vociferus
20. Ring-billed Gull Larus delawarensis
21. Herring Gull Larus argentatus
22. Laughing Gull Larus atricilla
23. Great Black-backed Gull Larus marinus
24. Forster's Tern Sterna forsteri
25. Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) Columba livia
26. Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura
27. Eastern Screech-Owl Otus asio
28. Great Horned Owl Bubo virginianus
29. Barred Owl Strix varia
30. Northern Saw-whet Owl Aegolius acadicus
31. Chimney Swift Chaetura pelagica
32. Belted Kingfisher Ceryle alcyon
33. Red-headed Woodpecker Melanerpes erythrocephalus
34. Red-bellied Woodpecker Melanerpes carolinus
35. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Sphyrapicus varius
36. Downy Woodpecker Picoides pubescens
37. Hairy Woodpecker Picoides villosus
38. Northern Flicker Colaptes auratus
39. Pileated Woodpecker Dryocopus pileatus
40. Eastern Wood-Pewee Contopus virens
41. Eastern Phoebe Sayornis phoebe
42. Red-eyed Vireo Vireo olivaceus
43. Blue-headed Vireo Vireo solitarius
44. Philadelphia Vireo Vireo philadelphicus
45. Blue Jay Cyanocitta cristata
46. American Crow Corvus brachyrhynchos
47. Fish Crow Corvus ossifragus
48. Tree Swallow Tachycineta bicolor
49. Northern Rough-winged Swallow Stelgidopteryx serripennis
50. Carolina Chickadee Poecile carolinensis
51. Tufted Titmouse Baeolophus bicolor
52. Red-breasted Nuthatch Sitta canadensis
53. White-breasted Nuthatch Sitta carolinensis
54. Carolina Wren Thryothorus ludovicianus
55. House Wren Troglodytes aedon
56. Golden-crowned Kinglet Regulus satrapa
57. Ruby-crowned Kinglet Regulus calendula
58. Eastern Bluebird Sialia sialis
59. Veery Catharus fuscescens
60. Swainson's Thrush Catharus ustulatus
61. Gray-cheeked Thrush Catharus minimus
62. Hermit Thrush Catharus guttatus
63. Bicknell's Thrush Catharus bicknelli
64. Wood Thrush Hylocichla mustelina
65. American Robin Turdus migratorius
66. Gray Catbird Dumetella carolinensis
67. Northern Mockingbird Mimus polyglottos
68. European Starling Sturnus vulgaris
69. American Pipit Anthus rubescens
70. Cedar Waxwing Bombycilla cedrorum
71. Black-throated Blue Warbler Dendroica caerulescens
72. Magnolia Warbler Dendroica magnolia
73. Yellow-rumped Warbler Dendroica coronata
74. Black-throated Green Warbler Dendroica virens
75. Pine Warbler Dendroica pinus
76. Palm Warbler Dendroica palmarum
77. Eastern Towhee Pipilo erythrophthalmus
78. Chipping Sparrow Spizella passerina
79. Field Sparrow Spizella pusilla
80. Savannah Sparrow Passerculus sandwichensis
81. Song Sparrow Melospiza melodia
82. White-throated Sparrow Zonotrichia albicollis
83. Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis
84. Indigo Bunting Passerina cyanea
85. Red-winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus
86. Eastern Meadowlark Sturnella magna
87. Rusty Blackbird Euphagus carolinus
88. Common Grackle Quiscalus quiscula
89. Brown-headed Cowbird Molothrus ater
90. Baltimore Oriole Icterus galbula
91. House Finch Carpodacus mexicanus
92. Purple Finch Carpodacus purpureus
93. American Goldfinch Carduelis tristis
94. House Sparrow Passer domesticus
95. Brown Creeper Certhia americana |