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Subject:

Kent County Fall Count: 18 Sept 2011

From:

Nancy Martin

Reply-To:

Nancy Martin

Date:

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 19:00:49 -0400

Hi All,

Insofar as I know Nancy Martin, Meg Parry, and I were the sole party 
afield on 18 September conducting the annual Fall Count in Kent County. 
Indeed this count should probably be termed "The Eastern Neck Island 
with some Rock Hall" Fall Count as the island captured us in it's spell 
on Sunday for the vast majority of our time afield. Based on perusal of 
reports from the weekend Eastern Neck Island had a surprising number and 
diversity of migrants; more akin to Friday than Sunday at other localities.

We had 96 total species with 86 (counting Traill's Flycatcher and 
unidentified swallows) on Eastern Neck I. Of these species 18 were 
warblers. Migrants were not uniformly distributed but occurred in a few 
rich pockets, especially on Boxes Pt. Trail, Bogles Wharf Road (in the 
groundsel-bushes and wax myrtles), and in the trees at Ingleside Picnic 
Area. The most common warblers were 34 redstarts, 28 Northern Parulas, 
18 Magnolia Warblers, 15 Black-and-white Warblers, 13 Pine Warblers, and 
12 Black-thorated Green Warblers. Some of the less common warblers we 
found were Nashville (4), Cape May (4), Bay-breasted (4), Blackburnian 
(4), Yellow (2, late), Prairie (1), and a late Canada (1). We also had 
lots of Empidonax flycatchers in good variety including 5 Least, 2 
YELLOW-BELLIED, and 2 Alder/Willow (one a likely Willow the other 
looking a lot like an ALDER). Other highlights included 2 BLACK TERNS, 1 
Common Tern, 2 Great Egrets, 11 Brown-headed Nuthatches, 2 Rose-breasted 
Grosbeaks, a GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH, and an adult Common Loon on the 
Chester still in summer plumage.

Off the island our best sightings were a Snow Goose with some Canadas, 
24 Blue-winged Teal (on E. Neck itself), 3 kestrels, and a Northern 
Harrier. It appears that Canada Geese have not begun to arrive in any 
notable numbers yet, although we did see a flock of 50 at the end of the 
day in Rock Hall. I have attached a copy of our Eastern Neck NWR e-bird 
check-list for folks wanting more of the details of the day. Our last 
bird of the day came at 10:15 PM when I went out onto our deck and 
hooted until I got a distant answer from one of our resident backyard 
Barred Owls.

Good Birding,

Walter Ellison

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

List begins here:

Eastern Neck NWR, Kent, US-MD
Sep 18, 2011 7:30 AM - 6:15 PM
Protocol: Traveling
14.6 mile(s): 9.6 by car, 5 on foot.
Comments:     Other observers: Nancy Martin, Meg Parry. Overcast to mostly cloudy, partly cloudy by 5:00 PM, wind NNE to NE 2-10 mph, highest mid-morning, 55-68 deg F. Migrants widespread but in rather small pockets, including groundsel-trees and wax myrtle on Bogles Wharf Rd, in 2 spots along Boxes Pt Trail, and in hackberries and Siberian elms at Ingleside.
84 species (+4 other taxa)

Canada Goose  8
Mallard  18
Green-winged Teal (American)  100
Common Loon  1     Adult in alternate plumage on Chester R.
Double-crested Cormorant  185
Great Blue Heron  23
Great Egret  2
Black Vulture  3
Turkey Vulture  24
Osprey  12
Bald Eagle  17
Sharp-shinned Hawk  5
Cooper's Hawk  1
Red-tailed Hawk (Eastern)  1
Least Sandpiper  4
Laughing Gull  59
Ring-billed Gull  32
Herring Gull (American)  16
Great Black-backed Gull  1
Caspian Tern  10
Black Tern  2     Two foraging at a distance at edge of shallows between E. Neck Narrows and Chesapeake Bay. Small dark terns with dark gray upperparts and dark wings above and below. Showing characteristic flight behavior over water flying rather low over water with deep wingbeats and dips to the surface. Over very shallow water as evidenced by large feeding flock of teal and 4 Least Sandpipers wading at one very shallow spot.
Common Tern  1
Forster's Tern  84
Royal Tern  1
Mourning Dove  16
Chimney Swift  7
Ruby-throated Hummingbird  8
Belted Kingfisher  4
Red-bellied Woodpecker  16
Downy Woodpecker  9
Hairy Woodpecker  4
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)  7
Eastern Wood-Pewee  17
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher  2     Both in hackberries and ailanthus at Ingleside. Short-billed with pale lower mandible (orange-yellow), large eye-rings, very greenish upperparts and breast bands, and light yellow wash from the throat to the belly. Similar to Least Flycatchers but much greener with yellow on throat.
Alder/Willow Flycatcher (Traill's)  2     One was most likely a Willow based on pewee-like jizz (including point at rear of crown when alert), lack of an eye-ring, relatively long bill, and brownish gray upperparts. The second was most likely an Alder as it had the peak of the crown further forward, a narrow half eye-ring behind the eye, shorter bill,  and greener upperparts.
Least Flycatcher  5
Empidonax sp.  2
Great Crested Flycatcher  1
Red-eyed Vireo  4
Blue Jay  36
American Crow  9
Fish Crow  9
swallow sp.  20
Carolina Chickadee  15
Tufted Titmouse  5
Brown-headed Nuthatch  11     Several small groups, maximum four in a group, on Bogles Wharf Rd, Duck Inn Trail, on main refuge road, and Boxes Pt. Trail.
Carolina Wren  22
House Wren  11
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  15
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  1
Eastern Bluebird  18
Gray-cheeked Thrush  1
American Robin  1
Gray Catbird  14
Northern Mockingbird  10
Brown Thrasher  2
European Starling  125
Cedar Waxwing  1
Black-and-white Warbler  15
Nashville Warbler  4
Common Yellowthroat  10
American Redstart  34
Cape May Warbler  4
Northern Parula  28
Magnolia Warbler  18
Bay-breasted Warbler  4
Blackburnian Warbler  4
Yellow Warbler  2
Chestnut-sided Warbler  7
Blackpoll Warbler  3
Black-throated Blue Warbler  5
Palm Warbler (Western)  5
Pine Warbler  13
Prairie Warbler  1
Black-throated Green Warbler  12
Canada Warbler  1
warbler sp.  28
Eastern Towhee  6
Chipping Sparrow  3
Scarlet Tanager  2
Northern Cardinal  38     Young still giving begging calls in at least three places.
Rose-breasted Grosbeak  2
Blue Grosbeak  3
Indigo Bunting  2
Bobolink  1
Red-winged Blackbird  110
Brown-headed Cowbird  24
American Goldfinch  9



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