88TH DORCHESTER COUNTY MAY BIRD COUNT, May 14, 2011 (in full).
158 species. The # of individual birds to be totaled later, after the dust settles.
ABBREVIATIONS: BNWR, Blackwater refuge. Camb., Cambridge. CMcA, Colin McAllister. DC, Diane Cole. EI, Elliott Island Road. HI, Hooper’s Island. HLW, Hal Wierenga. JWS, Jared Sparks. LMD, Lynn Davidson. SH, Swan Harbor. TI, Taylor’s Island.
EFFORT: 14 observers in 9-10 parties. Such coverage is about as good as it ever gets in this county, where few birders reside. One of the participants acknowledged that he got a “late start.” I looked at his report and noted that his so-called “late start” was 5 A.M. Miles by car 737, by foot 18. Hours by car 66, by foot 54. Miles owling 101, hours owling 12. Time: midnight to midnight.
PARTY AREAS:
1. Colin McAllister: east-central county exclusive of Levin Willey’s area: S of Route 50, W of the Nanticoke River, including Griffith Neck Road, Steele Neck, DeCoursey Bridge, Fork Neck, , plus 2 Nature Conservancy areas N of Route 50: Walnut Landing Road (ADC atlas map 16 coordinates H-K, 12-13), as well as one in the vicinity of ADC atlas map 15, coordinates D 7-8.
2. Harry Armistead (compiler and grand panjandrum), my traditional route, which I have done on all 87 previous counts, approximate schedule: Elliott Island Road midnight-3:30 A.M.; Griffith Neck, Bestpitch Ferry & Greenbrier roads, 3:30-5 A.M.; Shorter’s Wharf Road & Andrews, central Blackwater refuge, Old Field & Egypt roads, Cambridge 5 A.M.-1 P.M.; Gum Swamp, Hip Roof Road, Moneystump Swamp unit of Blackwater refuge 1-2:45 P.M.; Hooper’s Island & Swan Harbor 2:45-4:15 P.M.; transit to Elliott Island Road via Key Wallace Drive and as per 3:30-5 A.M.; Elliott Island Road 5-8:30 P.M. (or later).
3. Diane Cole: Cambridge (complete city limits, incl. down Egypt Rd.) & extreme S county, Bishops’ Head, Toddville, Crapo, Wingate.
4. Carol & Lee McCollough: Neck District W of Cambridge.
5. Matt Whitbeck: Restricted area of Blackwater N.W.R. S of Shorter’s Wharf and extending W of Robbins Road (“hybrid warbler area”).
6. Levin & Diane Willey: areas S of Route 50 near Linkwood (Beaver Neck & Beaver Neck Village roads & Linkwood Drive: cf. ADC maps 13 & 14), exclusive of Colin McAllister’s area.
7. Karen & Bill Harris and Janet Shields: county N of Route 50 except as noted above under party 1.
8. Jared Sparks: Taylor’s Island, Slaughter & Parsons creeks, Smithville Rd. S to where Hip Roof Road comes in.
9. Lynn Davidson & Hal Wierenga: Route 16 & side roads from the Cambridge city limits SW to Parsons Creek and Route 335 from Cambridge to Key Wallace Drive + after-sunset work elsewhere.
THE LIST;
common loon 2. pied-billed grebe 3 (species present all spring in Pool 1 BNWR, often calling; may attempt to breed there, but this pond is usually drained in late spring; only confirmed as a breeder in 7 of 1284 blocks in the most recent state atlas). American white pelican 1 (Sewards). brown pelican 4 EI. double-crested cormorant 213. least bittern 3 (EI). great blue heron 103 (a small colony is near the Hyatt Regency in Cambridge fide DC). great egret 88. snowy egret 32. little blue heron 2 imm. (“calico” herons; I bet these are the same 2 individuals that have been seen at BNWR in recent days). tricolored heron 3 (EI). green heron 14.
black vulture 37. turkey vulture 298. Canada goose 270 incl. broods of 3, 3 & 5 downy young at Shorter’s Marsh. wood duck 54 (7 parties). gadwall 2 BNWR Pool 3a. American black duck 22 (party 2 only). mallard 352. green-winged teal 2 BNWR Pool 3a. red-breasted merganser 1ø SH. ruddy duck 9 1 @ BNWR Pool 5a + 3 adults and 5 young at Hurlock Wastewater Treatement Plant by party 7; apparently the 7th state breeding record, although some of the previous reports were unconfirmed; this record is extremely early in the year for this species to have young, anywhere (fide Bob Ringler).
osprey 145. bald eagle 81 (all 9 parties; I noticed on May 7 that the big nest W of the S end of Savanna Lake had fallen out of a Loblolly Pine there). northern harrier 4. sharp-shinned hawk 1 (TI). Cooper’s Hawk 1 (party 7). red-shouldered hawk 1 (party 9). red-tailed hawk 17 merlin 1 (party 9).
wild turkey 40 (7 parties). northern bobwhite 17 (5 parties; a pathetic number in view of today’s intense coverage). clapper rail 4. king rail 2. Virginia rail 31. sora 1 EI. common moorhen 9. American coot 1 BNWR Pool 3c.
black-bellied plover 2. semipalmated plover 89 (4 parties). killdeer 53. American oystercatcher 2 SH. black-necked stilt 5 EI. greater yellowlegs 17. lesser yellowlegs 28. solitary sandpiper 2 (party 7). willet 19 (4 parties). spotted sandpiper 11 (5 parties). ruddy turnstone 6. sanderling 10 SH. semipalmated sandpiper 22 (5 parties). least sandpiper 305 pectoral sandpiper 1 (party 7). dunlin 159. short-billed dowitcher 7 (2 BNWR Pool 3a; 5 EI). American woodcock 4 (2 parties; declining locally).
laughing gull 6125 (in all likelihood not one of these will breed in Dorchester County, or, possibly, anywhere else in Maryland). ring-billed gull 58. herring gull 73. great black-backed gull 5. Caspian tern 3 (2 parties). royal tern 12 (2 parties). common tern 12 (3 parties). Forster’s tern 75. least tern 18 (5 parties). tern unID’d 1.
rock pigeon 51. mourning dove 164. yellow-billed cuckoo 5 (3 parties; low). barn owl 1 Bestpitch. eastern screech-owl 3. great horned owl 2. barred owl 1. chuck-will’s-widow 13. whip-poor-will 1 (party 7). nightjar unID’d 1. chimney swift 113. ruby-throated hummingbird 10 (6 parties). belted kingfisher 1 (party 7; scarce here in the spring and summer due to few suitable breeding sites: banks along waterfront areas).
red-headed woodpecker 5. red-bellied woodpecker 38. downy woodpecker 19. hairy woodpecker 9 (6 parties). northern flicker 22. pileated woodpecker 10 (6 parties). eastern wood-pewee 51. Acadian flycatcher 11 (3 parties). eastern phoebe 3 (most here breed N of Route 50). great crested flycatcher 216. eastern kingbird 59.
white-eyed vireo 29. blue-headed vireo 1 (party 7). red-eyed vireo 77. blue jay 48 (LMD & HLW witnessed a jay nest being raided by a Gray Squirrel). American crow 179. fish crow 51 (7 parties). crow unID’d 84 (4 parties). horned lark 34 (7 parties). purple martin 192. tree swallow 214 bank swallow 19 (2 parties). cliff swallow 6 (party 7). barn swallow 557.
Carolina chickadee 110. tufted titmouse 132. brown-headed nuthatch 45 (4 parties). Carolina wren 78. house wren 31 (5 parties). marsh wren 64 (3 parties). blue-gray gnatcatcher 22 (3 parties).
eastern bluebird 73. wood thrush 22 (4 parties). American robin 1025. gray catbird 18. northern mockingbird 130. brown thrasher 23 (6 parties). European starling 929. cedar waxwing 81 (4 parties).
blue-winged warbler 1♀ (TI, JWS). northern parula 2. yellow warbler 8 (4 parties). yellow-rumped wabler 2 yellow-throated warbler 1 (party 7). pine warbler 66. prairie warbler 34 (6 parties). black-and-white warbler 14 (2 paries). prothonotary warbler 25 (5 parties). worm-eating warbler 34 (4 parties. ovenbird 64. Louisiana waterthrush 5 (2 parties) common yellowthroat 250 (all 9 parties). Canada warbler 1 ♂ (CMcA). yellow-breasted chat 17 (6 parties).
summer tanager 37. scarlet tanager 8 (3 parties). eastern towhee 60.
chipping sparrow 235. field sparrow 9 (4 parties). Savannah sparrow 4 (3 parties). grasshopper sparrow 95 (7 parties). saltmarsh sparrow 5 EI. seaside sparrow 125. song sparrow 16 (4 parties; most here breed either in N county residential areas or in S county edges of saltmarsh where there are an abundance of Baccharis and other bushes). Lincoln’s sparrow 1 (LMD,HLW, a singing bird, also seen briefly; 2nd May count record). swamp sparrow 6.
northern cardinal 190. rose-breasted grosbeak 1. blue grosbeak 103. indigo bunting 291. dickcissel 3 (HLW,LMD; 2 seen on Egypt Road May 17 by Levin Willey & Gordon Jennings; 2 seen there May 7 by HTA; 2 seen there May 12 by CMcA; dickcissels have been found in this area beginning in 2009; one of the May 14 birds was at Pig Neck Road).
bobolink 3 (2 parties; one of these birds was seen by DC to chase a grasshopper sparrow). red-winged blackbird 1159. eastern meadowlark 23 (5 parties). common grackle 1382. boat-tailed grackle 8 EI all ♂. brown-headed cowbird 188. orchard oriole 91. Baltimore oriole 7 (2 parties; breeds N of Route 50 but not S of there). house finch 42 (7 parties). American goldfinch 124. house sparrow 165.
BIRDS WITH HIGHEST TOTALS (13 highest, all of them species over 200): laughing gull 6125. common grackle 1382. red-winged blackbird 1159. American robin 1025 (the Cambridge area, party 3, had the lion’s share). mallard 352. turkey vulture 298. indigo bunting 291. Canada goose 270. common yellowthroat 250. chipping sparrow 235. great crested flycatcher 216. tree swallow 214. double-crested cormorant 213.
HIGH COUNTS. Some of the highlighted high counts in this report may not be all THAT unusual given the good levels of coverage today, but it still blows my mind that, for example - to just pick one - there could be 95 grasshopper sparrows.
MISSED SPECIES (there’s always some): cattle egret, black-crowned night heron, mute swan, blue-winged teal, lesser scaup, American kestrel, northern rough-winged swallow, white-breasted nuthatch, ruby-crowned kinglet, veery, Swainson’s thrush, yellow-throated vireo, American redstart, vesper sparrow and white-throated sparrows. Most of these are not THAT surprising as misses. On May 7 two sedge wrens and 2 black rails were encountered; these were not found today.
TRUE MIGRANTS (other than shorebirds and a very few waterbirds) were almost non-existent, consisting only of: a Merlin, 1 Blue-headed Vireo, a Blue-winged Warbler, 2 Northern Parulas (possible breeders), 2 Yellow-rumped Warblers, a Canada Warbler, 4 Savannah and a Lincoln’s sparrow.
TIDE: In my previous posting (q.v.) there was commentary about the very high tides. I shudder to think what the tides must be today (May 17) with the full moon AND a big weather system coming off of the sea from the SE. I don’t see how marsh rodents, insects, and some wetland birds can survive such major weather events. The recent high tides have already adversely impacted the Royal Tern colony farther down the Bay at Clump I., VA. Shorebirds today were up against it with the tides and many of the few seen were in fields.
Some FAMILY SPECIES TOTALS: heron types 7 (poor), waterfowl 8 (poor; the record is 18), raptors 10, rallids 6, shorebirds 18 (merely O.K.), warblers 15 (poor; the record is 23; even on a good flight day here warbler numbers are meager compared to those in Maryland’s piedmont and mountain counties), sparrows 8.
4 ADVERSITIES: The high tides, wind from the wrong direction, that wind a mite too strong, and, finally, overcast skies.
158 SPECIES is all fine and well but 7 or 8 times in the past that total has been equaled by one party on this count, the highest ever being 168. The lack of weather for a good flight and the absence or scarcity of many formerly easy-to-find species are the culprits. In point of fact, this year it’s fair to say that we did find what was there to be found.
NON-AVIAN TAXA notes: LMD & HLW saw 3 Fox Squirrels in their area plus a snapping turtle “trying to lay eggs on the side of Harrisville Road … every millimeter of skin was covered by mosquitoes. They were even resting on her shell.” Matt Whitbeck saw 9 Sika Deer and a Red Fox in his Shorter’s Marsh area. In the Neck District Carol & Lee McCollough saw 3 Fox Squirrels. Colin McAllister also joined the exclusive coterie (of which I am a member, too) of those seeing 3 Fox Squirrels.
FOR FURTHER DETAILS on weather and other phenomena please refer to the report posted recently of my own day here on May 14.
MY GRATEFUL THANKS to all the participants for their efforts, success, and promptness in sending immaculate reports less than 3 days after the fact.
Best to all. Viva Dorchester. – Harry Armistead, Philadelphia, PA.
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