Hi again,

When I was entering my eBird lists from this afternoon, I noticed that Romancoke is right across Eastern Bay from Claiborne, a known location for seeing Brown Pelicans in Talbot County.  So maybe we weren't as lucky as I'd originally thought.

Then I got to thinking that maybe Brown Pelicans are more common in Queen Anne's County than I'd realized, so I checked the eBird records for the county.  See:

http://ebird.org/ebird/map/brnpel?neg=true&env.minX=&env.minY=&env.maxX=&env.maxY=&zh=false&gp=false&mr=1-12&bmo=1&emo=12&yr=1900-2011&byr=1900&eyr=2011

In eBird, Brown Pelicans have been reported from only six locations in QA, but some locations have multiple reports.  Most reports are from the summer, but there is a 30 Dec 2009 report of a single bird from the Chesapeake Bay.  Bob Ringler had 20 Brown Pelicans at Romancoke on 25 June 2000, and I was most interested to see Jim Stasz and Marshall Iliff's report of 215 Brown Pelicans on Bodkin Island on 23 June 1999.  I'd never even heard of Bodkin Island, so I did some googling and found this great article by Melanie Lynch about pelicans in the Bay:

http://www.chesapeakeboating.net/Media/Feature-Stories/Enter-the-Brown-Pelican.aspx

In the article, Harry Armistead mentions Bodkin to Lynch:

"The northernmost pelican nesting grounds he [Armistead] has seen were on Bodkin Island, a tiny dot of land below Kent Island, at the mouth of Crab Alley Bay--though the birds there didn't 'follow through,' he says. Unlike the intermingled cormorants, which can tolerate cooler temperatures and have nesting grounds as far north as Lake Champlain, the pelicans have a fairly limited range; they want access to plenty of menhaden and a warm spring for brooding--both of which they find easily in the middle and lower Chesapeake. Pelicans are frequently spotted flying throughout the Upper Bay and are occasionally reported as far north as Cape May, although not in significant numbers."

Thanks everyone for your great efforts entering observations into eBird.  Not only are you contributing to bird science and conservation--and having fun with the top 100 of course--you're also helping with my MD bird education.  And I really appreciate that!  :)

Have fun,

Ron Gutberlet
Salisbury, MD


________________________________________
From: Maryland Birds & Birding [] On Behalf Of Ronald Gutberlet []
Sent: Friday, December 23, 2011 9:13 PM
To: 
Subject: [MDOSPREY] Brown Pelicans and other waterfowl in QA County--12/23/2011

Hi Everyone,

Carol and I checked a few water spots in Queen Anne's County this afternoon (23 Dec 2011).

At the Romancoke Pier (south end of Rt 8 on Kent Island), we had a nice variety of diving birds:

Long-tailed Duck--12
Common Goldeneye--3
Bufflehead--30
Surf Scoter--1
Red-throated Loon--5
Common Loon--2
Horned Grebe--2

As we were getting ready to leave Romancoke, I noticed a very large brown and white bird flying over the water.  I assumed it would be an immature Bald Eagle, but when I got the scope on it, I was surpised to see a huge bill--BROWN PELICAN!  Carol saw it in flight through the scope also; but when I returned to the scope, I couldn't see the bird.  As I scanned for it, I came across 3 Brown Pelicans together on the water.  I couldn't find them again a few minutes later, but maybe they're still hanging around that area.

Three immature Black-crowned Night-Herons were at the pond at Kent Narrows.

At CBEC, among other birds, were:

Gadwall--1
American Wigeon--9
Canvasback--3
Redhead--14
Ring-necked Duck--10
American Coot--120

The Rt 309 Pond closest to Rt 213 had a huge flock of Canada Geese with one Snow Goose, hundreds of Ring-billed Gulls, and:

American Black Duck--2
Mallard--3
Northern Shoveler--1 female
Green-winged Teal--4
Ring-necked Duck--18
Hooded Merganser--15
Pied-billed Grebe--1
American Coot--3

Happy CBC Season!  Have fun,

Ron Gutberlet
Salisbury, MD

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