Hi Everyone,
I spent Saturday, 5/14 running a long-planned Worcester Co. Big Day with Matt Hafner, Jim Brighton, and Mikey Lutmerding. We started at midnight, listening to WHIP-POOR-WILLs in the Nassawango, and then birded intensely until after dark Saturday night. It was an excellent day of birding and perhaps our most precisely executed plan to date. We spent most of the day ahead of our schedule, missed very few expected species (having landed Downy Woodpecker in the late afternoon!), and turned up a number of rare birds.
We had a moderate night flight that helped us start strong, providing BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO, AMERICAN BITTERN, VEERY, and SWAINSON'S THRUSH. During the day, we did really well with lingering waterfowl (10 species), including all three scoters, and with shorebirds (20 species). We also did pretty well with expected nesting species, landing all of the breeding warblers (see misses below). Unfortunately, unlike our migrant fallout on last year's Big Day, we had a very light flight of passage migrants, finding only a few odds and ends: Baltimore Oriole, WARBLING VIREO (Bayside Assateague), Northern Waterthrush (2), and Blackpoll Warbler. We had 17 warbler species this year, compared with 28 (!) last year. Equally importantly, many species such as Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Bobolink are often easy in a good flight and totally absent on other days. Still, it was an epic day of birding and we were satisfied with the 158 species we tallied. As far as I know, our
total from last year, 167 species, is the Worcester Co. Big Day record (Brighton, Hubick, Hubbell, Small). This is about the most fun I know how to have: participating in my favorite pastime, intensely, for 24 hours, at the peak of May, with great friends. Fantastic.
Perhaps the rarest find of the day was a mammal rather than a bird - a GRAY SEAL roosting on the south jetty at the Ocean City Inlet. Expanding in the Northeast, especially in Massachusetts, the species is still very rare in Maryland. Here's a range map: http://d35ei7ijlpqg4z.cloudfront.net/rangemap-5-1029-7-650894546048723948.jpg.
Photos:
http://www.billhubick.com/photos/updates/20110512.php
Full Big Day List (5/14/2011) - 158 species
Atlantic Brant
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
American Black Duck
Mallard
GREEN-WINGED TEAL--Drake at Berlin
RING-NECKED DUCK--Single drakes at West OC Pond and Berlin
SURF SCOTER--At least 20 at the Ocean City Inlet
WHITE-WINGED SCOTER--2 at the Ocean City Inlet
BLACK SCOTER--6 hens at the Ocean City Inlet
NORTHERN BOBWHITE--2 calling on Assateague! I hadn't encountered them on the island since about 2005, so this was very exciting! Bayside Campground.
Wild Turkey
RED-THROATED LOON--Bayside (1), Ocean City Inlet (3 flybys)
Common Loon--Bayside, Ocean City Inlet
Northern Gannet--Plenty visible while sea-watching, especially off Assateague
Double-crested Cormorant
AMERICAN BITTERN--Night migrant flew over Snow Hill
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret--Including South Point (21), Skimmer Island (at least 11)
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron--West Ocean City Pond, Skimmer Island at dusk
Glossy Ibis--Most small ponds
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier--Truitt's Landing and Cherrix Road
SHARP-SHINNED HAWK--Berlin
Red-tailed Hawk
Clapper Rail
King Rail
Virginia Rail
AMERICAN COOT--1 at Vaugn North
Black-bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
PIPING PLOVER--Two visible from Ocean City Inlet on North Assateague
Killdeer
American Oystercatcher
Spotted Sandpiper
Solitary Sandpiper--Small pond on Mystic Harbor Road (scouted)
Greater Yellowlegs
Eastern Willet
Lesser Yellowlegs
Ruddy Turnstone
RED KNOT--Flyby with SBDOs at dusk at Skimmer Island
Sanderling
Semipalmated Sandpiper
WESTERN SANDPIPER--1 at Berlin
Least Sandpiper
WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER--1 at Berlin
Purple Sandpiper
Dunlin
Short-billed Dowitcher--Major movement on 5/14. Noted at most stops as flybys, even well away from suitable habitat. We even had a group fly over us in the Nassawango. 100s counted at various sites over the course of the day.
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull--11 roosting on North Assateague; 20 even on Skimmer Island at dusk.
HERRING x LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL--Presumed. Adult. Skimmer Island at dusk. Mantle color intermediate between HERG/LBBG, structure supportive.
Great Black-backed Gull
Least Tern
Common Tern
Forster's Tern
Royal Tern
BLACK SKIMMER--46 at Skimmer Island. 1 at Truitt's Landing (cool location). Vocal here and actively feeding. Photographed.
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Yellow-billed Cuckoo--Small numbers by day; several night migrants.
BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO--Scarce migrant. Three night migrants.
Great Horned Owl--Including one seen as it was mobbed along Laws Road; two fledged young photographed on Assateague.
Barred Owl
Chuck-will's-widow
EASTERN WHIP-POOR-WILL--Sturges Road, Mount Olive Church Road
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
RED-HEADED WOODPECKER--Mount Olive Church Road
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker--Woods near Rum Pointe (unexpected), Mount Olive Church Road
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Acadian Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe--1 along Laws Road
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
White-eyed Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo
WARBLING VIREO--* Rare spring migrant (and scarce in fall). Singing male at Bayside, Assateague. (Recorded: http://www.billhubick.com/audio/Warbling_Vireo_Spring_Migrant_Assateague_20110514.mp3)
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Horned Lark
Northern Rough-winged Swallow--Bayside Development Pond
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Bank Swallow--Berlin, West Ocean City Pond
Barn Swallow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch--Mount Olive Church Road, Whiton's Crossing
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
House Wren
Marsh Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Eastern Bluebird
VEERY--Night migrant in Pocomoke City
SWAINSON'S THRUSH--Night migrants over Snow Hill
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Pine Warbler
Prairie Warbler
BLACKPOLL WARBLER--Life of the Forest
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Prothonotary Warbler
Worm-eating Warbler
Ovenbird
NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH--Bayside Campground, Herring Creek
Louisiana Waterthrush
Kentucky Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
HOODED WARBLER--Porters Crossing
Yellow-breasted Chat
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Grasshopper Sparrow
SALTMARSH SPARROW--Four at Truitt's Landing
Seaside Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Summer Tanager
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Blue Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Orchard Oriole
Baltimore Oriole--Bayside Assateague, Vaughn North
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
SELECTED MISSES
Worst: Swamp Sparrow, Eastern Screech-Owl, American Woodcock, Red-shouldered Hawk, Savannah Sparrow, Belted Kingfisher.
Not as unexpected: Common Moorhen, Pied-billed Grebe (found during scouting), Least Bittern, Brown Pelican, Red-breasted Merganser, all three falcons, Whimbrel, Blue-headed Vireo, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Bobolink, migrant warblers, especially Myrtle Warbler; and Rose-breasted Grosbeak.
CHAT MIMICRY
One of the most enjoyable observations of the day was a Yellow-breasted Chat mimicking other species in the middle of the night at Vaughn Central. It was including small samples of easily recognizable bird calls, including American Robin, Wood Thrush, and Green Heron. It then blew our minds with an American Crow imitation that seemed impossible. Listen for the two crow sounds in this recording:
http://www.billhubick.com/audio/Yellow-breasted_Chat_AMCR_Imitation_Worcester_MD_20110514.mp3
Other sound recordings:
http://www.billhubick.com/audioFiles.php
Full checklists for literally all stops will be submitted to eBird, of course, and sent to Mark Hoffman for the Worcester Co. May Count.
Good birding!
Bill
Bill Hubick
Pasadena, Maryland
http://www.billhubick.com
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