Hi All,

The Lower Kent County Christmas Bird Count Sunday, 19 December tallied 
113 species. As posted earlier, the star of the show was Maryland's 
first Golden-crowned Sparrow, found at Chesapeake Farms. A Blue 
Grosbeak, also at Chesapeake Farms, was another first for the count.

Other good birds included Rough-legged Hawk, Peregrine Falcon, two 
Short-eared Owls, an Eastern Phoebe, 11 Brown-headed Nuthatches, a 
yellow Palm Warbler, and a Lincoln's Sparrow. An immature Black-crowned 
Night-Heron seen on 17 December was not relocated on count day.

Notable high counts were 117 Bald Eagles, 49 Eastern Screech-Owls, 186 
Red-bellied Woodpeckers, 36 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, and 88 
White-breasted Nuthatches. Not count records, but impressive to watch, 
were very large blackbird flocks seen by several parties - nearly 40,000 
Red-winged Blackbirds and nearly 150,000 Common Grackles in total.

Notable misses on count day were Horned Grebe, American Tree and 
Chipping sparrows, and Eastern Meadowlark.

Thank you to all counters for their efforts on count day and enjoy the 
rest of the CBC season.

Nancy Martin
Chestertown, MD

Compiler, Lower Kent County CBC

Observing Nature is like unwrapping a big pile of presents every time 
you take a walk.