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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