Mike and I decided to bird St. Mary's County yesterday. The weather forecast was slightly better than it was for central Maryland and we both stood a chance for many county birds. 

We were expecting some waterfowl at Point Lookout, but we didn't observe any ducks on the water at all. There were a few Common Loons and two flyby Surf Scoters. Raptors were everywhere, especially Sharp-shinneds.  Our tallies were 8 Sharp-shinneds, 2 Coopers, 2 Kestrels, 4 Merlins, and 1 Peregrine. The actual numbers were no doubt higher than this, but not every bird was cooperative for an ID. Forster's Terns were still present in big numbers (~75) and were joined by at least 1 Common Tern. Some other highlights were a getting-to-be latish American Redstart and Scarlet Tanager. Watching the roughly 200 Tree Swallows play with the 30mph wind was also really interesting and enjoyable to watch. 

We spent the rest of the day checking various wet fields for shorebirds, larks, or any other field bird, and then visitng Myrtle Point Park and the legendary Beauvue Ponds. Our field checking only yielded Killdeer and Greater Yellowlegs. 

This was our first trip to Beauvue and I have to say it wasn't very like its image in my mind. I had always imagined something like Schoolhouse Pond or maybe Kershner's Pond, but in reality, its a series of 4 or 5 fairly large ponds, next to a small farm and surrounding meadow. Here is where we added our duck county birds. They included: 2 Ruddy Ducks, 13 Ring-necked Ducks, 18 Mallards, 1 Northern Pintail, 2 Green-winged teal. Also present were 3 Pied-billed Grebes, 3 Mute Swans, 1 Great-Blue Heron, and 1 Great Egret. An adult female Northern Harrier hunted nearby the ponds, and Meadowlarks were singing all around us. Not a bad first visit all.

Lists:

Location:     Point Lookout State Park
Observation date:     10/18/09
Number of species:     45

Surf Scoter     2
Common Loon     3
Double-crested Cormorant     58
Great Blue Heron     17     
Turkey Vulture     2
Bald Eagle     5
Northern Harrier     1
Sharp-shinned Hawk     8     
Cooper's Hawk     2     
Accipiter sp.     6     
American Kestrel     2
Merlin     4     
Peregrine Falcon     1
Laughing Gull     3    
Ring-billed Gull     2     
Herring Gull     52     
Great Black-backed Gull     35     
Common Tern     1     
Forster's Tern     68    
Mourning Dove     2
Belted Kingfisher     1
Red-bellied Woodpecker     2
Northern Flicker     8
Eastern Phoebe     1
Blue Jay     3
American Crow     8
Tree Swallow     150     
Carolina Chickadee     3
Brown-headed Nuthatch     2
Carolina Wren     5
Golden-crowned Kinglet     2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet     5
Eastern Bluebird     8
Hermit Thrush     1
Gray Catbird     8
Northern Mockingbird     1
European Starling     10
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)     75
American Redstart     1  
Scarlet Tanager     2
Eastern Towhee     3
Field Sparrow     2
Song Sparrow     4
Swamp Sparrow     2
White-throated Sparrow     7
Northern Cardinal     5

Location:     Fields along Rt 5 near Cornfield Harbor Rd, St. Mary's Co.
Observation date:     10/18/09
Number of species:     6

Great Blue Heron     1
Northern Harrier     1
Peregrine Falcon     1
Killdeer     5
Greater Yellowlegs     1
European Starling     30

Location:     Myrtle Point Park
Observation date:     10/18/09
Number of species:     27

Canada Goose     2     
Common Loon     1
Double-crested Cormorant     14
Turkey Vulture     1
Bald Eagle     1
American Kestrel     1     
Laughing Gull     4
Ring-billed Gull     5
Great Black-backed Gull     1
Forster's Tern     10
Red-bellied Woodpecker     1
Northern Flicker     1     
Blue Jay     2
American Crow     4
Carolina Chickadee     4
Tufted Titmouse     1
Carolina Wren     1
Golden-crowned Kinglet     1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet     2
Gray Catbird     1
Northern Mockingbird     2
Brown Thrasher     2
European Starling     5    
Yellow-rumped Warbler     3
Eastern Towhee     1
White-throated Sparrow     6
Northern Cardinal     8

Location:     Abell's Wharf
Observation date:     10/18/09
Number of species:     5

Common Loon     1
Osprey     1
American Crow     3
Yellow-rumped Warbler     2
Northern Cardinal     1

Location:     Beauvue Ponds
Observation date:     10/18/09
Number of species:     22

Canada Goose     115     
Mute Swan     3
Mallard     18
Northern Pintail     1
Green-winged Teal (American)     2
Ring-necked Duck     13
Ruddy Duck     2     
Pied-billed Grebe     3
Double-crested Cormorant     12
Great Blue Heron     1
Great Egret     1
Turkey Vulture     2
Bald Eagle     2
Northern Harrier     1
Accipiter sp.     1
Red-shouldered Hawk     1
American Kestrel     1
Mourning Dove     18
American Crow     3
Tree Swallow     10
Northern Mockingbird     1
Palm Warbler (Yellow)     1
Eastern Meadowlark     6

Robert Ostrowski
Crofton, MD