[MDOsprey] August Big Day
Greg Miller (hawk-owl@yahoo.com)
Mon, 23 Aug 1999 09:12:44 -0700 (PDT)
Howdy All!
Embarrassingly poor results on an August Big Day attempt...
Friday, August 20, 1999.
Weather: 70s, cool, overcast, light rain in a.m. 90, hot, humid, sunny
in afternoon.
Observers: George Jett, Greg Miller.
Hours: 0330 - 2030 (17 hours). Mileage: 408 miles. Total species:
115...<big ouch>
Route: George's back yard in Charles County, Lilypons, Oland Rd,
Hughes Hollow, Riley's Lock, Violet's Lock, Little Bennett St Pk,
Blackhills Regional Pk, Kent Narrows, Horsehead, Ridgely sewage ponds,
Tanyard, Hurlock, Skimmer Island, W Ocean City Pond, Deal Island.
Misses were legion, and most were just too embarrassing to enumerate
here (like House Finch). This day was ill-fated from the beginning
with a lack of planning, no scouting, and visiting areas that neither
of us had birded in several years. Both of us were hampered by lack of
sleep during the week and I was still sick with a cold. We decided to
cut out western Maryland, birding only the Piedmont and providing us
with a lighter schedule than the demanding 700+ mile, 24-hr July route.
We knew we'd end up with less birds, but neither of us expected to
have such a poor showing as this day was. Our biggest error was
birding areas where we had no scouting and little or no experience at
this time of year. Our time would have been better spent starting out
in areas we already knew well. Additionally, I think we could have
easily beat this number without leaving the Eastern shore--we probably
could have done better in *only* Worcester County... Oh, well. We
left lots of room for improvement.
Species list:
Brown Pelican Skimmer Island
Double-crested Cormorant Skimmer Island; Kent Narrows; Deal Island
Great Blue Heron Deal Island; Hughes Hollow
Great Egret Deal Island; Hughes Hollow
Snowy Egret Deal Island; Kent Narrows; W Ocean City pond
Little Blue Heron W Ocean City pond
Tricolored Heron W Ocean City pond; Deal Island
Cattle Egret Hooper's
Green Heron Hughes Hollow; W Ocean City pond; Deal Island
Black-crowned Night-Heron Deal Island; Skimmer Island
Glossy Ibis W Ocean City pond
Black Vulture Tanyard
Turkey Vulture
Snow Goose Hurlock
Canada Goose
Mute Swan Kent Narrows
Tundra Swan Hurlock
Wood Duck
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal W Ocean City pond
Green-winged Teal Ridgely
Ruddy Duck Hurlock
Osprey
Bald Eagle Tanyard
Northern Harrier Deal Island
Red-tailed Hawk
Peregrine Falcon Deal Island
Clapper Rail Deal Island
Virginia Rail Deal Island
Common Moorhen Tanyard
Black-bellied Plover Skimmer Island
Semipalmated Plover Ridgely
Piping Plover Skimmer Island(1)
Killdeer
American Oystercatcher Skimmer Island
Greater Yellowlegs Deal Island
Lesser Yellowlegs Ridgely
Solitary Sandpiper Ridgely
Spotted Sandpiper Ridgely
Ruddy Turnstone Skimmer Island
Red Knot Skimmer Island(2)
Sanderling Ridgely(1); Skimmer Island
Semipalmated Sandpiper Ridgely
Least Sandpiper Ridgely; Deal Island
Pectoral Sandpiper Ridgely
Stilt Sandpiper Ridgely; Skimmer Island
Short-billed Dowitcher Ridgely; Deal Island
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Royal Tern Skimmer Island
Common Tern Skimmer Island
Forster's Tern Ridgely; Skimmer Island
Least Tern Hurlock
Black Skimmer Skimmer Island
Rock Dove
Mourning Dove
Eastern Screech-Owl George's back yard
Barred Owl George's back yard
Chimney Swift
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker Hughes Hollow; Horsehead
Norther Flicker Montgomery Co (George only)
Eastern Wood-Pewee Hughes Hollow
Acadian Flycatcher Hughes Hollow
Eastern Phoebe Hughes Hollow
Eastern Kingbird Hughes Hollow
White-eyed Vireo Little Bennett
Red-eyed Vireo Little Bennett
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow Horsehead
Horned Lark Frederick Co
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow Hughes Hollow
N. Rough-winged Swallow Hughes Hollow
Bank Swallow Hurlock
Barn Swallow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch Hughes Hollow
Carolina Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Little Bennett
Eastern Bluebird Blackhills
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing Riley's Lock
Blue-winged Warbler Little Bennett
Northern Parula Little Bennett
Chestnut-sided Warbler Little Bennett; Hughes Hollow
Prairie Warbler Little Bennett
Black-and-white Warbler Little Bennett
Prothonotary Warbler Hughes Hollow
Common Yellowthroat Hughes Hollow
Scarlet Tanager Little Bennett (George only)
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow Ridgely
Seaside Sparrow Deal Island
Song Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Indigo Bunting Hughes Hollow
Bobolink Ridgely
Red-winged Blackbird 1st one at Tanyard at 3:30pm!!!
Eastern Meadowlark Caroline Co
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle Hooper's
Brown-headed Cowbird
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
-Greg Miller
Hollywood, MD
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