90th DORCHESTER COUNTY MAY BIRD COUNT, May 12, 2012 (in full).
[89th count results, May 5, 2012, to follow soon]
KEY. EXAMPLES: snowy egret 6 (1) = 6 seen by only 1 party. grasshopper sparrow 68 (6: 1-41) = seen by 6 of the 7 parties, party totals ranging from 1 to 41. white-throated sparrow 1 = only 1 seen and that by 1 party; if the grand total for a species is 1 it is “understood” that it was found by only 1 party.
Indicating the # of parties that found species and the range of numbers seen helps, I hope, to show the relative abundance and “widespreadidness” of the birds.
158 species. Individual numbers not totaled yet. There was no flight of passerines, neotrops. But we did well with resident species, breeders.
EFFORT: 14 observers in 7 parties, midnight to midnight. Party miles: 553 by car, 16 on foot, 78 in hours of darkness. Party hours: 23 by car, 66 on foot (much, as usual, spent standing next to or near cars after the hundreds of stops), 10 in hours of darkness.
common loon 5 (2: 1-4). brown pelican 4 (1). American white pelican 1. double-crested cormorant 310 (5: 1-275). least bittern 1. great blue heron 99 (7: 2-60). great egret 82 (4: 1-45). snowy egret 6 (1). little blue heron 1. green heron 7 (3: 2-3).
WATERFOWL: Canada goose 292 (7: 9-40). mute swan 2 (2: 1-1). wood duck 61 (7: 1-28). gadwall 1. American black duck 36 (5: 1-19). mallard 428 (7: 1-145). blue-winged teal 6 (1). green-winged teal 2 (1). scoter unID’d 7 (1). ruddy duck 54 (2: 1-53).
RAPTORS: black vulture 13 (4: 1-6). turkey vulture 292 (7: 7-141). osprey 152 (7: 2-60). bald eagle 87 (7: 1-72). northern harrier 2 (1). sharp-shinned hawk 1. red-shouldered hawk 1. red-tailed hawk 7 (4: 1-3).
RALLIDS & GALLINACEOUS SPECIES: wild turkey 31 (7: 1-10). northern bobwhite 7 (4: 1-3). black rail 1. clapper rail 18 (3: 2-10). king rail 2 (2: 1-1). Virginia rail 33 (1). sora 1. common gallinule 10 (1). American coot 1.
SHOREBIRDS: black-bellied plover 2 (1). semipalmated plover 117 (4: 1-52). killdeer 37 (7: 2-13). American oystercatcher 1. black-necked stilt 2 (1). greater yellowlegs 53 (4: 3-35). lesser yellowlegs 52 (4: 1-40). yellowlegs unID’d 3 (1). solitary sandpiper 7 (4: 1-3). willet 11 (3: 2-7). spotted sandpiper 14 (4: 1-5). semipalmated sandpiper 35 (4: 1-17). least sandpiper 565 (3: 71-254). pectoral sandpiper 1. dunlin 115 (1). Wilson’s snipe 1. sandpiper unID’d 22.
LARIDS: laughing gull 1702 (7: 10-888). Bonaparte’s gull 1. ring-billed gull 42 (4: 2-26). herring gull 51 (5: 1-45). great black-backed gull 4 (1). common tern 3 (1). Forster’s tern 35 (3: 1-30). least tern 7 (2: 6-7).
rock pigeon 27 (3: 3-20). mourning dove 93 (7: 4-22). yellow-billed cuckoo 7 (4: 1-2). eastern screech-owl 1. great horned owl 2 (2: 1-1). barred owl 6 (4: 1-3). chuck-will’s-widow 43 (5: 1-19). whip-poor-will 15 (1).
chimney swift 37 (5: 1-15). ruby-throated hummingbird 13 (4: 1-5). red-headed woodpecker 9 (4: 1-6). red-bellied woodpecker 34 (7: 1-13). downy woodpecker 28 (6: 2-11). hairy woodpecker 4 (3: 1-2). northern flicker 9 (4: 1-3). pileated woodpecker 4: 1-5).
FLYCATCHERS: eastern wood pewee 58 (5: 3-28). Acadian flycatcher 9 (2: 2-7). least flycatcher 1. eastern phoebe 5 (1). great crested flycatcher 210 (7: 1-60). eastern kingbird 89 (7: 2-31).
white-eyed vireo 38 (4: 2-23). yellow-throated vireo 1. red-eyed vireo 76 (7: 2-30). blue jay 53 (7: 3-18). American crow 152 (7: 2-43). fish crow 25 (6: 1-8). crow unID’d 22 (2: 3-19). horned lark 26 (5: 1-9).
SWALLOWS: cliffies, banks, and roughies only nest N of Route 50, where the Harrises and Janet Shields found them this year. purple martin 266 (6: 13-94). tree swallow 124 (7: 1-60). northern rough-winged swallow 11 (1). bank swallow 2 (1). savings and loan swallow $1,235,987 (0: 0-0). cliff swallow 8 (1). barn swallow 328 (7: 11-130).
LI’L SPRITES: Carolina chickadee 84 (6: 2-35). tufted titmouse 160 (7: 3-64). white-breasted nuthatch 1. brown-headed nuthatch 24 (3: 1-18). Carolina wren 101 (7: 1-48). house wren 17 (3: 2-12). marsh wren 50 (3: 2-45). blue-gray gnatcatcher 30 (3: 3-22).
eastern bluebird 67 (7: 2-18). wood thrush 29 (4: 1-17). American robin 374 (7: 12-95). gray catbird 17 (4: 2-6). northern mockingbird 121 (7: 6-41). brown thrasher 12 (5: 1-4). European (would that it was) starling 573 (7: 5-223). cedar waxwing 46 (5: 2-31; widespread this spring, seen much more often than usual).
WARBLERS: (Dorchester County seldom has good warbler flights in spring, certainly the case today). northern parula 19 (4: 2-10). yellow warbler 14 (3: 1-11). magnolia warbler 1. black-throated blue warbler 3 (2: 1-2). yellow-rumped (myrtle) warbler 3 (2: 1-2). black-throated green warbler 5 (2: 2-3). Blackburnian warbler 1. yellow-throated warbler 7 (1). pine warbler 68 (5: 2-28). prairie warbler 44 (5: 1-31). palm warbler 1. black-and-white warbler 19 (4: 1-16). American redstart 19 (3: 1-10). prothonotary warbler 23 (4: 1-12). worm-eating warbler 33 (4: 1-27). ovenbird 70 (6: 1-47). Louisiana waterthrush 4 (1). Kentucky warbler 1 (1). common yellowthroat 161 (7: 4-70). yellow-breasted chat 11 (4: 1-5).
summer tanager 33 (4: 1-19). scarlet tanager 26 (4: 1-22). eastern towhee 42 (4: 3-29).
SPARROWS: chipping sparrow 202 (7: 7-64). field sparrow 7 (3: 1-3). Savannah sparrow 3 (2: 1-2). grasshopper sparrow 68 (6: 1-41). saltmarsh sparrow 2 (2: 1-1). seaside sparrow 133 (2: 18-115). song sparrow 4 (2: 1-3). swamp sparrow 6 (1). white-throated sparrow 1.
northern cardinal 191 (7: 5-78). blue grosbeak 80 (7: 1-32). indigo bunting 197 (6: 6-73). DICKCISSEL 3 (2: 1-2).
BLACKBIRDS: bobolink 2 (1). red-winged blackbird 945 (7: 39-500). eastern meadowlark 17 (5: 1-7). common grackle 927 (7: 27-400). boat-tailed grackle 8 (1). brown-headed cowbird 149 (7: 1-63). orchard oriole 68 (5: 2-39). Baltimore oriole 5 (1).
house finch 32 (4: 2-16). American goldfinch 63 (6: 2-25). house sparrow 78 (7: 1-23).
MY OWN DAY. Usually I send a separate report with a complete list of birds I found. Too much to do this year. 172.6 mi. by car, 1 on foot, midnight – 8:45 P.M. But here’s some of the highlights among a disappointing 121 species:
1 American White & 4 Brown pelicans, 1 Least Bittern, 1 Mute Swan (Swan Harbor), 72 Bald Eagles, 6 Clapper & 33 Virginia rails, 1 Sora, 10 Common Gallinules, 2 Black-necked Stilts (Elliott I. Rd.), 15 Chuck-will’s-widows, 5 Red-headed Woodpeckers, 40 Great Crested Flycatchers, 4 Brown-headed Nuthatches, 45 Marsh Wrens, 26 Pine Warblers, 70 Common Yellowthroats, 7 Summer Tanagers, 115 Seaside Sparrows, 6 Swamp Sparrows, 24 Blue Grosbeaks, 14 Indigo Buntings, 2 Dickcissels, and 39 Orchard Orioles.
Night list (midnight – 5 A.M.): 22 species.
Midnight until 5 A.M. (Elliott I. Rd. & Griffith Neck Rd.): 51 Sika & 11 White-tailed Deer, 1 Eastern Cottontail, 2 Virginia Opossums, 2 Raccoons, 1 Red Fox kit, 2 Carpenter Frogs, 10 Southern Leopard Frogs, 2 Bull Frogs, 6 Green Frogs.
Blackwater N.W.R.: 1 Northern Watersnake, 1 Eastern Cottontail, 1 Muskrat, 2 Sika Deer, a Canada Goose pair with 6 downy young, 4 Redbelly Cooters, 7 Painted Turtles.
At Robbins: a chorus of Cricket Frogs.
Egypt Road: More Cricket Frogs.
Route 335, a Snapping Turtle d.o.r.
Elliott Island Road in late afternoon: 1 River Otter, a Sika Deer d.o.r., a pair of Canada Geese with 5 downy young. Nice dusk choruses of Green Tree Frogs.
Route 335 X Blackwater River: a pair of Canada Geese with 3 downy young.
Working in what might be called the east-central core of the county, Colin McAllister saw 3 Fox Squirrels (New Bridge Road area), 3 Gray Squirrels, 3 Sika & 5 White-tailed deer, a Red Fox kit, and one d.o.r. skunk, one d.o.r. opossum.
EARLY SPRING = EARLY DEPARTURE OF WINTERING SPECIES, hence the relative scarcity of White-throated Sparrow (1) and absence of Lesser Scaup (0).
MISSED SPECIES. Some birds are always just plain scarce here. There are few banks for kingfishers to excavate in, therefore few or none of these birds in the breeding season. None of these misses are that surprising: kestrel, kingfisher. Others are declining or are always scarce migrants: Rose-breasted Grosbeak, woodcock, Barn Owl. Black-crowned Night Heron and Royal Tern are truly surprising misses. Scarcer still are others, including these: Black-billed Cuckoo, Veery, Swainson’s Thrush, Blue-winged Warbler, Vesper Sparrow, Pied-billed Grebe, Warbling Vireo, Ruby-crowned Kinglet (late in the year for them here). You always miss some. On rare occasions there’s a good thrush flight here in spring.
GONE OR ALMOST SO. Some birds have dropped out of the picture, or nearly so, in our time here. Henslow’s Sparrow, Sedge Wren, Common Nighthawk, Black Rail, Whip-poor-will S of Route 50. Blue-winged Teal has become really scarce as a breeder. So has woodcock. Cattle Egret.
BY WAY OF EXPLANATION. The average data wonk, looking at some of these totals, may be bewildered. Some of the seeming disparities may be explained by variation in coverage intensity and duration. Some participants covered only a few small areas, and sometimes not for the entire daylight period. Others covered large, expansive ones. There’s also wide variation in bird abundance and distribution within this large county.
For the most part Scarlet Tanager, Whip-poor-will, Louisiana Waterthrush, 3 of the 6 swallow species, Yellow-throated Vireo, and some others only breed here north of Route 50, where it is also better for migrating warblers. For this reason the Harris-Shields party, working long hours, and making many stops, contributed 18 unique species not found by the other 7 parties. Likewise my 180-mile route concentrating on Elliott Island Road, Hooper’s Island, and Blackwater - with their vast marshlands - turned up a similar number of unique birds the others did not see. Most Song Sparrows and House Wrens breed either in extreme S Dorchester or in the N around towns, not in between.
PARTY AREAS. There were essentially 7 party areas. This requires some explanation, too. Terry Allen led a bird walk at Blackwater N.W.R., where I also worked, separately. I’ve combined our 2 lists. Jared Fisher worked Elliott Island Road after sunset. I’ve combined his totals with mine there. So there were, in fact, 9 parties, but these have in this manner been reduced to 7. 14 observers. That’s good coverage for this county, which has practically no resident birders.
Cambridge & extreme S county: Diane Cole.
N of Route 50: Karen & Bill Harris, Janet Shields.
Taylor’s Island, Smithville & White Marsh roads, Parsons & Slaughter creeks: John DeFoe, Rueith Ottiger..
Neck District (W of Cambridge): Carol & Lee McCollough.
Linkwood W.M.A. & areas to the immediate S S of Route 50: Levin & Diane Willey.
Elliott Island, Blackwater & Hooper’s Island: Harry Armistead (compiler), Terry Allen, Jared Fisher.
Parts of Dorchester N of Route 50 & Kraft Neck Road area: Colin McAllister.
WEATHER. 58°F. at midnight, falling to 51°F. at 5 A.M., rising to 80°F by 3 P.M., then down to 64°F. at 8:45 P.M. Winds variously calm, SW 5-10 m.p.h. Clear becoming increasingly overcast from 11 A.M. (10%) to c. 80% at sunset. Tides impacting the count: Fishing Point (end of Elliott I. Rd.), low at 2:16 A.M., high at 8:42 P.M.; Barren Island low at 2:53 P.M.
QUOTE OF THE DAY from one observer: “For me it was a pathetic count. Not only low #s, but many species not seen/heard at all … still, a beautiful location to visit and spend time, even if the number and variety of birds continue to decline.”
The TOP 10 tallies: Laughing Gull 1702, Red-winged Blackbird 945, Common Grackle 927, European Starling 573, Least Sandpiper 565, Mallard 428, American Robin 374, Barn Swallow 328, Double-crested Cormorant 310, Turley Vulture 292.
FAMILY GROUPS: 20 warblers (good considering there were none of what I call the scarcer spruce-northern-montane species: baybreast, Tennessee, Cape May, Blackpoll, Wilson’s, etc. 3 owls (par). 7 rallids (very good, everything but Yellow). 6 woodpeckers (good, all there are). 6 heron types (poor). 9 sparrows (O.K.). 3 vireos (par). 10 waterfowl (poor). 15 shorebirds (so-so). 3 terns (poor). 6 swallows (good, all there are). 6 flycatchers (good). 5 gulls (good, the Bonie is always a squeaker). 6 thrush types (poor).
“I MUST DOWN TO THE SEA AGAIN … and all I ask is a merry tale from a laughing fellow rover,/And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.” (John Masefield, ‘Sea-fever’). I can use a ripping yarn or two myself but stray from the collegiality and civility mandated for LISTSERVs by hereby objecting to the scheduling of pelagic trips at statewide or national bird count times. If it is said that a pelagic trip coincides with a statewide bird count, rather it conflicts and detracts from it, siphoning birders away from land counts that are held every year, that need consistency of coverage. Some time back I remember, with irritation, this happening for several years during the height of the Christmas Bird Count season. I must (go) down to the sea again, too, but hope for pelagic trips that are the day or week after the spring bird counts (or before them). In a sense pelagic trips are stunts. They are irregularly scheduled (this is unavoidable). Sure, it’s crucial to know what’s going on offshore - there’s a lot to learn - but not at the expense of counts with long precedence, which, every year, indicate what is going on on land.
Best to all. – Harry Armistead, Philadelphia.
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