I forgot to copy in the full list.
Matt Hafner
Forest Hill, MD
Tydings Memorial Park, Havre de Grace, Harford, US-MD
Aug 28, 2011 8:20 AM - 11:50 AM
Protocol: Stationary
Comments: Hurricane Irene birding. Excellent shorebird and Black Tern numbers, but nothing tropical for us. Started out by myself, but then joined by Jim Stasz, Mike Burchett, Betsy Bangert, Ed Boyd, and John Hubbell.
48 species (+1 other taxa)
Canada Goose 45
Mallard 65
Blue-winged Teal 5
Northern Shoveler 2 With BWTE, typical late August arrival date
Green-winged Teal 2
Pied-billed Grebe 2
Double-crested Cormorant 17
Great Blue Heron 16
Great Egret 6 Not a high count for this area
Turkey Vulture 2
Osprey 2
Bald Eagle 7 Not a high count for this area
Black-bellied Plover 4 ***RARE*** 3 adults in full breeding plumage sitting on the flats, large chunky shorebirds with all black undersides except for undertail coverts, gray on the back, white supercilium running down to side of belly, fourth bird was a flyover calling, long drawn out "Chu-weeee"
Semipalmated Plover 6 Decent count, indicative of the excellent shorebirding that was had in the wake of Hurricane Irene
Greater Yellowlegs 2
Lesser Yellowlegs 17
Ruddy Turnstone 4 ***RARE*** Suprisingly regular at this location, I've seen them many years in August, larger than nearby peeps, distinctive face and breast pattern obvious when sitting, seen flying several times and back/wing pattern showing distinctive white markings.
Red Knot 6 ***RARE*** Only about the 4th county record and certainly the high count. Seen in flight once the flats were underwater, seemingly looking for them. Rather sizeable pale gray shorebirds, with paler rumps and tails, thin white wing stripe, short bills for body size, presumed juvenile by pale buff/peach color on underside when they banked
Sanderling 3 ***RARE*** My 4th record for Harford and personal high count, all juveniles, very pale and scaly with dark shoulder mark when sitting, slightly larger than nearby peeps and SEPL.
Semipalmated Sandpiper 45 Decent count, indicative of the excellent shorebirding that was had in the wake of Hurricane Irene
White-rumped Sandpiper 2 ***UNCOMMON*** Only identified in flight, but white band on rump clearly seen on at least 2 peeps.
Pectoral Sandpiper 22 Decent count, indicative of the excellent shorebirding that was had in the wake of Hurricane Irene
Stilt Sandpiper 3 ***UNCOMMON*** 1 seen on flats, 2 seen flying with yellowlegs, slightly smaller than LEYE, long slightly decurved bill, white rumps, feet sticking out just beyond tail
Short-billed Dowitcher 4 ***UNCOMMON*** Large round shorebirds with long bills probing in a sewing machine motion. None looked like good candidates for LBDO
Red-necked Phalarope 2 ***RARE*** 2nd county record, small phalaropes, appeared mostly white, with very dark backs, black around the eye, not much on head or nape, short thin bills, seen sitting and flying around the flats
Laughing Gull 8
Ring-billed Gull 331
Great Black-backed Gull 4
Caspian Tern 49 Not a high count for this area
Black Tern 30 ***HIGH COUNT*** The most obvious Irene-affected species in MD, possibly high count for Harford, there were 20+ present the entire time we were there
Common Tern 4 Uncommon, 3 adults and 1 juvenile, likely brought in by Hurricane Irene
Forster's Tern 360 Good late Summer count here
Mourning Dove 2
Chimney Swift 1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1
Eastern Kingbird 4
Fish Crow 8
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 1
Purple Martin 50 Not a high count for this area
Tree Swallow 6
Bank Swallow 10
Barn Swallow 20
swallow sp. 50
Carolina Wren 1
Northern Cardinal 2
Bobolink 1
Red-winged Blackbird 1
American Goldfinch 2
House Sparrow 2
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2 (http://ebird.org)
-----Original Message-----
From: Matt Hafner <>
To: ;
Sent: Mon, Aug 29, 2011 9:16 am
Subject: Harford Irene Birding
Sorry for the late post, but after I got home from birding yesterday, I didn't have access to the internet due to a variety of reasons.
I went to Havre de Grace and had an excellent time even though nothing tropical made it up this far yesterday. The shorebird variety and numbers were excellent as were the numbers of Black Terns. I started with a quick check of the flats at 7am after failing to reach Lapidum due to downed trees. The flats were the lowest I'd ever seen and had excellent numbers of birds, but I was antsy that a Sooty Tern would be coming down the Susquehanna, so I went over to the Lighthouse. I was able to hunker down out of the wind behind the lighthouse and watched a few birds flying in the river, mostly Ring-bills and Forster's Terns fighting the wind to head upriver. I did have singles of Black and Royal Tern flying down river, right past me and head over towards the flats. It was at that point, I realized that I should have just stayed at the flats. I drove back over there and over the course of the next 3.5 hours, was joined by Jim Stasz, Mike Burchett, Betsy Bangert, Ed Boyd, and John Hubbell. High tide was supposedly at 9:30am, but the flats rose continuously while we were there and were gone not long after 10am. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but I suspect the Susquehanna brought enough water to overcome the strong NW winds that made the flats so extensive in the early morning.
The shorebirds were fantastic, probably the best variety I've ever had in Harford County. The full list is below, but the highlights:
4 Black-bellied Plover
4 Ruddy Turnstone
6 Red Knot - single flock of presumed juveniles, about the 4th county record and the new high count
3 Sanderling - my personal high count for Harford, my 3 previous records were 1 bird each
2 White-rumped Sandpiper - one flew over my head from somewhere inland before circling and landing on the flats
3 Stilt Sandpiper
4 Short-billed Dowitcher
2 Red-necked Phalarope - 2nd county record and my first for Harford. First just one seen sitting on the flats, but then it flew a short distance and we realized there were 2. They either sat perfectly still or were flying in <10 minutes they were on the flats.
30 Black Terns - possibly a county high count, certainly beating my personal best of 14.
Hope everyone made it through the day okay. In the afternoon, my rode with my wife on a few equine emergency calls and there were downed trees everywhere including blocking some major roads even at 8pm last night.
Matt Hafner
Forest Hill, MD
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