89th DORCHESTER COUNTY MAY BIRD COUNT (in part) & FERRY NECK, MAY 3-7, 2012: terrapin, Red Admirals, Sika Deer, pelicans & 7 rallids.
Abbreviations: BNWR, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. EI, Elliott Island Road. HI, Hooper’s Island. I.S.S., in sight simultaneously. SH, Swan Harbor.
MAY 3, THURSDAY. A scant 23 Turkey Vultures seen on the way down from PA. Across from Graul’s in St. Michaels a streaking Cooper’s Hawk causes mayhem among the Common Grackles. A d.o.r. Gray Squirrel near the old church, “Anno Domini 1854.”
Arrive at 3:45 P.M. A d.o.r. Painted Turtle between Woods 3 & Woods 4. 107 Diamondback Terrapin I.S.S. at the mouth of the cove. 12 Red Admirals, a fraction of the northbound butterflies seen today. 1 Common Loon. A Chuck-will’s-widow calling at dusk along with a single Green Tree Frog. 1 Greater Yellowlegs. 1 Eastern Kingbird.
Fair, calm, 68-70°F., high tide but falling.
MAY 4, FRIDAY. Overcast becoming fair, winds light & variable, 60-82°F.
Many 100s of butterflies today, e.g., I count 111 going N between 5:45 and 6:30 P.M., mostly red Admirals, and it has been going on all day long. Also: 30 Question Marks, an Orange Sulphur, a Silver-spotted Skipper, 2 Red-spotted Purples, and 2 American Ladies. 111 is also the top count of Diamondback Terrapin I.S.S. at the mouth of Poplar Cove at 6 P.M.
Liz sees a Spotted Turtle inside the driveway turning circle - unusual to see them away from our mature woodlands. 10 Cedar Waxwings. Great Crested Flycatcher. Fireflies at dusk, very early in the year for them, and a chorus of Green Tree Frogs. 1 Muskrat. Gray Squirrel. Along Route 329 E of Royal Oak a possum.
MAY 5, SATURDAY, 89th DORCHESTER COUNTY MAY BIRD COUNT (in part). 11:15 P.M., Friday, until 8:30 P.M., Saturday (21.25 hours). 183.1 birding miles by car, 1 on foot. Below is only my own list. Several other observers are afield today. I will report our combined results later, but perhaps not for 2 weeks or more.
127 species, not very good.
Beautiful full moon to keep me company through the wee small hours. Mostly overcast, occasionally clear, and overcast from 3:30 P.M. on with wind, virga, and then rain (mostly heavy) 3:30-4:15 P.M. (and yet none at Rigby’s Folly), winds calm mostly but NW 15 at 3 P.M., 15 from the NE 3:30-8:30 P.M. Temperatures 70°F. at start, dropping only to 63°F. by 5 A.M., them up to 79 by 11 A.M.-noon, dropping to 62°F. by 8:30 P.M., so … cool, breezy, and overcast for the last few hours, essentially shutting down bird activity along EIR 5:15-8:30 P.M., but a warm, calm, moonlight-flooded night at the start.
Tides impacting areas I am in: At the end of Elliott Island Road high at 1:39 A.M., low at 8:33 P.M. At Barren Island high at 1:55 P.M. Shorter’s Wharf Road has a good new surface that is higher than the old one, so there is little tidal water over it - a welcome change. At Elliott Island Road, in spite of the full moon, there was little tidal water on the road.
Lightning far to the S 1-2 A.M. and then far to the N c. 3 A.M.
COMPLETE LIST: common loon 1 (EIR, McCready’s Creek). American white pelican 1 (BNWR; the flightless bird continues into its 3rd year here). brown pelican 56 (55 seen from HI at Opossum Island, where perhaps they may be considering nesting; 1 seen from McCready’s Creek). double-crested cormorant 95.
HERON TYPES: least bittern (EIR). great blue heron 55. great egret 60. snowy egret 12. green heron 2. glossy ibis 1 (Egypt Road).
black vulture 4. turkey vulture 70. Canada goose 30. wood duck 6. American black duck 12 (mostly at EIR). mallard 90. blue-winged teal 4 (BNWR, Pool 1). northern shoveler 1♂ (BNWR, Pool 1). green-winged teal 10.
osprey 50. bald eagle 30. northern harrier 2 (EIR). red-shouldered hawk 1 adult (near Andrews where there may be 1 or 2 pairs breeding, atypically, in wet Loblolly Pine forest). red-tailed hawk 2 (BNWR). wild turkey 2 (Griffith Neck Road). northern bobwhite 4 (calling birds all S of Shorter’s Wharf; they seem to persist in areas of Dorchester County where there is marginal, damp, brushy farmland).
RALLIDS: black rail 1. clapper rail 11 (EIR). king rail 1. Virginia rail 46. sora 2 (EIR). common gallinule 3 (EIR). American coot 1 (Shorter’s Marsh).
SHOREBIRDS: black-bellied plover 8 (SH). semipalmated plover 70. killdeer 3. American oystercatcher 1 (SH). black-necked stilt 2 (BNWR, Pool 5A). greater yellowlegs 14. lesser yellowlegs 65. solitary sandpiper 3. willet 6 (Shorter’s Wharf Rd., SH & EIR). ruddy turnstone 1 (SH). sanderling 16 (SH). semipalmated sandpiper 11. least sandpiper 95. dunlin 800 (widespread). short-billed dowitcher (BNWR, Pool 1).
LARIDS: laughing gull 1280. ring-billed gull 30. herring gull 125. great black-backed gull 15 (SH). royal tern 6 (SH& McCready’s Creek). common tern 2 (HI). Forster’s tern 20. least tern 7 (BNWR & SH).
rock pigeon 24. mourning dove 18. yellow-billed cuckoo 3. barn owl 2 (EIR). eastern screech-owl 1 (EIR). great horned owl 3. barred owl 1. chuck-will’s-widow 16. chimney swift 7.
red-headed woodpecker 4 (BNWR & Robbins). red-bellied woodpecker 5. downy woodpecker 3. northern flicker 4. pileated woodpecker 1 (Robbins). eastern wood-pewee 7. Acadian flycatcher 2 (Old Field Road & BNWR). great crested flycatcher 40. eastern kingbird 7. white-eyed vireo 1. red-eyed vireo 6.
blue jay 1 (jays have been very scarce here the last several years; West Nile Virus victims?). American crow 35. fish crow 7. horned lark 2. purple martin 40. tree swallow 75. bank swallow 1. barn swallow 200. Carolina chickadee 3. tufted titmouse 20.. brown-headed nuthatch 3. Carolina wren 10. house wren 10. marsh wren 50. blue-gray gnatcatcher 1.
eastern bluebird 12. wood thrush 1 (BNWR). American robin 55. gray catbird 1 (Old Field Road). northern mockingbird 12. European starling 45. cedar waxwing 1.
WARBLERS (terrible): pine warbler 16. prairie warbler 1 (Robbins). prothonotary warbler 1 (Egypt Road). worm-eating warbler 1 (Old Field Road). ovenbird 7. common yellowthroat 58 (exact count; used the clicker). yellow-breasted chat 5.
summer tanager 4. scarlet tanager 2. eastern towhee 5. chipping sparrow 30. Savannah sparrow 1 (Robbins). grasshopper sparrow 1 (Egypt Road). saltmarsh sparrow (Shorter’s Wharf Road). seaside sparrow 50. song sparrow 1 (EIR). swamp sparrow 3 (EIR). dickcissel 2 (a pair; Egypt Road).
northern cardinal 30. blue grosbeak 20. indigo bunting 8. red-winged blackbird 350. eastern meadowlark 1. common grackle 300. boat-tailed grackle 5 (EIR – McCready’s Creek). brown-headed cowbird 40. orchard oriole 40. American goldfinch 4. house sparrow 20.
Complete night list: 11:15 P.M. – 5 A.M., 27 species (above average): least bittern 1, great blue heron 1, great egret 45 (roost at Bucktown), snowy egret 3, Canada goose 2, American black duck 1, osprey 1, bald eagle 1, black rail 1, clapper rail 11, Virginia rail 42, sora 2, common gallinule 3, greater yellowlegs 1, barn owl 2, eastern screech-owl 1, great horned owl 3, barred owl 1, chuck-will’s-widow 13, horned lark 1, purple martin 3, barn swallow 8, marsh wren 34, northern mockingbird 3, common yellowthroat 1, seaside sparrow 3, swamp sparrow 3.
At Rigby’s Folly today Liz hears a Prairie Warbler and a Blue Grosbeak and sees a Five-lined Skink by the front porch.
Miscellaneous observations: At night 124 SIKA DEER (Griffith Neck Road, always a good location for them in the wee small hours, but this is my most ever), 11 White-tailed Deer, 2 Virginia Opossums, plus big choruses of Cope’s Gray Tree, Green Tree, Southern Leopard, Green, and Bull frogs and a few Fowler’s Toads (but no Carpenter Frogs, of which they’re usually a few calling around Savanna Lake).
Shorter’s Wharf Road: a d.o.r. Least Sandpiper, 1 Sika Deer, 1 Raccoon, 1 Mud Turtle, 1 Eastern Cottontail, and a live NUTRIA. The Nutria extermination program has been so successful that this is the 1st one I’ve seen or heard in several years.
Blackwater N.W.R.: 2 d..o.r. Red Foxes, 1 d.o.r. possum, an Eastern Cottontail, 2 Redbelly Cooters, 2 Painted Turtles, and a small chorus of Cricket Frogs.
Egypt Road: 29 Painted Turtles at the “Prothonotary place.” This little wooded stream shows up on Map 21, coordinates J6, on the ADC county atlas. During the “Perfect Storm,” which affected Chesapeake Bay, water was so high in the adjacent Little Blackwater River that this stream flowed backwards from the influx.
Cambridge. This area is Diane Cole’s, but, in the aftermath of an all-nighter, I crave hotdogs so I go to the Cambridge Wawa. 1 Woodchuck along Route 16, 13 Diamondback Terrapin by the Malkus Bridge.
Upper Hooper’s Island, from Creighton Road: 34 Diamondback Terrapin.
Bestpitch-Transquaking River. 1 Raccoon.
EIR: a pair of Canada Geese with 5 small goslings.
EIR-McCready’s Creek: 1 Diamondback Terrapin.
During the rather strong rain storm in the late afternoon Barn Swallows and butterflies (mostly Red Admirals) continue their flight. The butterfly flight is pronounced almost all day but I do not make an effort to quantify it.
In spite of the warmth today, the passerine flight is disappointing, abysmal, almost non-existent. And it is not just because I am 71, have poor hearing, and am not adept at spotting birds in the woods.
First weekend in May squeakers. These species are often hard to find on this 1st Saturday, but, evidence again of the early spring, not this year: 3 Yellow-billed Cuckoos, 7 Eastern Wood Pewees, and 8 Indigo Buntings. Acadian Flycatchers are always scarce here, but today’s 2 are further evidence of an early spring, as is the disappearance of White-throated Sparrows and the absence of any waterfowl on Fishing Bay.
Thanks to Matt Whitbeck of Blackwater refuge for arranging access to Moneystump Swamp. Unfortunately when the wind and rain came up in the afternoon this made it totally unpromising to visit there.
MAY 6, SUNDAY. 3 species not seen on yesterday’s marathon, always the way it goes: House Finch, Belted Kingfisher & Sharp-shinned Hawk (the latter late and seen twice). A new record for Diamondback Terrapin in the cove: 122 I.S.S., but, curiously, none seen from Lucy Point, one of their usual strongholds, although there is a Double-crested Cormorant out there, swallowing an eel, and a Common Loon.
The big butterfly flight continues, mostly Red Admirals, but also seen: Spring Azure, American Lady, Cabbage White, and Question Mark. 3 Bald Eagles, 3 Least Terns. Mostly overcast, winds light and variable but becoming predominantly east, 60-76°F., rather cool. 4 Cedar Waxwings.
MAY 7, MONDAY. 18 Cedar Waxwings. 9 Ospreys I.S.S. There are 7 Osprey nests in view from our shoreline,down from 9 in 2011. The Red Admiral flight continues. Fair, 62°F., winds East 5+ m.p.h., cool. 34 Turkey Vultures on the way home.
Best to all. – Harry Armistead, Philadelphia.
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