Hi Everyone,
After just a few hours of sleep, Jim Brighton and I were standing at stream crossings in the Nassawango on Sunday morning, listening to the sounds of spring on the Eastern Shore. Yes, the ethereal songs of Hermit Thrushes, ferociously dueling Winter Wrens, and the triumphant proclamation of Ruby-crowned Kinglets from the tree tops. Nope, not the boreal forest, it's just March 28th and 29 degrees. Migrant White-throats were seen hopping around 30 feet up in trees. Wild Turkeys were calling at literally - no exceptions - every morning stop in the Nassawango. Our main target for the day was to enjoy LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSHes on territory in March. It was a success, and a thoroughly enjoyable sight. Tom Feild joined us after accidentally sleeping in and received well-deserved harassment. The day gradually warmed, but I think the wind speed increased by one mile per hour for each degree of Fahrenheit. By late afternoon, the winds were so strong that there was
no hope of enjoying the early sounds of the saltmarsh at Fairmount. We did enjoy the continuing LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERs, though, and the nearly 500 Green-winged Teal.
Here are the abridged eBird lists:
Missing in the 3/27 report:
Six SPOTTED TURTLEs sunning at Blackwater NWR (photos)
Salisbury Airport predawn
Killdeer--1
Horned Lark--1
American Robin--3
Fooks Road
Wood Duck--2
Wild Turkey--1
Hermit Thrush--2
Pine Warbler--1
Eastern Towhee--2
Bear Swamp Road
Mallard--2 in the swamp
Wild Turkey--4
Red-shouldered Hawk--1
Hairy Woodpecker--1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)--2
Pileated Woodpecker--2
Golden-crowned Kinglet--1 singing
Hermit Thrush--5. Much singing and calling this morning.
American Robin--7
Brown Thrasher--4
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)--1
Pine Warbler--6
Eastern Towhee--6
Field Sparrow--1
Sturges Road (Wicomico)
Wood Duck--2
Wild Turkey--4
Red-shouldered Hawk--3
White-breasted Nuthatch--1
Winter Wren--2. Constant counter-singing by two birds. 10 minutes of non-stop Winter Wren. I haven't heard that intensity even up in Garrett. A true shame that I left my recorder at home this morning.
Hermit Thrush--6. Singing here as well
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)--5
Pine Warbler--11
LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH--2. * Target of the morning. The vanguard singing their heads off despite a temperature of 29 degrees. Recorded some video of the first singing male. March bird for me and Jim.
Sturges Road (Worcester)
Wood Duck--4
Mallard--2
Wild Turkey--2
Red-shouldered Hawk--1
Golden-crowned Kinglet--5
Ruby-crowned Kinglet--1. Singing boldly and at length
Hermit Thrush--5. Singing
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)--4
Pine Warbler--12
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored)--1
Brown-headed Cowbird--1
Nassawango Creek TNC--Mt. Olive Church
Winter Wren--1. Singing
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)--1
Pine Warbler--3
Brown-headed Cowbird--2
Nassawango Creek Preserve--Furnacetown
Red-shouldered Hawk--1
Eastern Phoebe--1
Winter Wren--1. Singing
Brown Thrasher--2
Pine Warbler--5
Louisiana Waterthrush--1. Singing from the stream crossing
Eastern Towhee--4
White-throated Sparrow--5. Acting like migrants, perched high in the trees
Brown-headed Cowbird--1
Pocomoke River--Whiton's Crossing
Wood Duck--2
Wild Turkey--3
Eastern Phoebe--1
White-breasted Nuthatch--2
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)--13
Non-avian: Spring Peepers, out-of-place Groundhog in the swamp, looking pretty rough. With a wound on its face and its presence on a road through a swamp, I can't help but wonder if it was trapped and released here.
Ocean City Inlet
Brant (Atlantic)--5
Mallard--4
Common Eider--23
Surf Scoter--40
Black Scoter--7
Red-throated Loon--9
Common Loon--7. Doing a bit of courtship displaying back in the harbor.
Northern Gannet--10
Double-crested Cormorant--15
Ruddy Turnstone--15
Sanderling--45. About 40 of these roosting in a tight cluster on Assateague
Purple Sandpiper--6
Laughing Gull--1
Ring-billed Gull--5
Herring Gull (American)--50
Great Black-backed Gull--4
Boat-tailed Grackle--1
Non-avian: Two healthy-looking HARBOR SEALs hauled out on the south jetty.
Ocean City--33rd Street
Long-tailed Duck--1
Bufflehead--35
Red-breasted Merganser--8
Common Loon--3
Horned Grebe--4
Double-crested Cormorant--1
Laughing Gull--1
Herring Gull (American)--10
Ocean City--Skimmer Island
Brant (Atlantic)--20
Canada Goose--4
Bufflehead--4
Red-breasted Merganser--16
Common Loon--2
Double-crested Cormorant--5
American Oystercatcher--9
Sanderling--3
Ring-billed Gull--5
Herring Gull (American)--125
Great Black-backed Gull--20
Boat-tailed Grackle--2
West Ocean City Pond
Northern Shoveler--35
Tree Swallow--2
Truitts Landing
Green-winged Teal (American)--65
Greater Yellowlegs--3
Lesser Yellowlegs--1
Pine Warbler--1
Steel Pond Road
White-breasted Nuthatch--2
Eastern Bluebird--1
Pine Warbler--2
Crisfield
American Black Duck--4
Bufflehead--44
Red-breasted Merganser--2
Common Loon--2
Northern Gannet--4
Double-crested Cormorant--11
Great Blue Heron--5
Great Egret--3
Osprey--4
Bald Eagle--3
Northern Harrier--1
Laughing Gull--35
Herring Gull (American)--185
Great Black-backed Gull--3
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)--1
Song Sparrow--1
Boat-tailed Grackle--9
Long Point Boat Landing
* No Snow Bunting or Semipalmated Plovers, though the sandbar that hosted the SEPLs was mostly hidden by a higher-than-average tide.
Bufflehead--43
Common Loon--1
Black Vulture--1
Red-tailed Hawk (Eastern)--1
Killdeer--1
Laughing Gull--3
Forster's Tern--1
Fairmount WMA--East Impoundment
American Black Duck--2
Green-winged Teal (American)--483
Snowy Egret--1
Bald Eagle--1
Greater Yellowlegs--3
Lesser Yellowlegs--2
Dunlin--7
LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER--10
Wilson's Snipe--2
Laughing Gull--2
Forster's Tern--4
Barren Creek Pond
Canada Goose--4
Wild Turkey--1. Roosting high in a tree.
Good birding,
Bill
Bill Hubick
Pasadena, Maryland
http://www.billhubick.com |