[MDOsprey] December Big Day Run (4 Dec 1999)
Miliff@aol.com
Tue, 14 Dec 1999 18:56:55 EST
Hello MDOSprey,
Here, after 1.2 weeks, are the results from the 4 December Big Day run by
Greg Miller, George Jett and myself. We did not go as crazy as we might of,
and elected to sleep in rather than bust our butts trying o get owls. The
3:00 meeting time at the west end of the Bay Bridge left little time to get
the easy ones (Screech, Barred were missed) and no time for the fun ones
(Long-ear, Saw-whet). I saw the Mute Swans in the Bay Bridge pond on the way
across but the others missed them and we had not officially started by Big
Day rules.
Mark Hoffman pointed out last January (in response to my needling him)
that tapes are allowed so in contrast to our tape-free January (135) and
March (136) big days, we played a bit of EASO (screech owl) tape. Did not
make up for the lack of scouting and we finished below both of those
attempts, though theoretically the earlier date should have helped in
competition with January, though the latter big day benefits from CBC intel.
The basic route was as follows: predawn stop at Dividing Creek (Barred
Owl), Irish Grove for dawn and 1 hour thereafter, Vessey Orchard (missed
Vesper Sparrow, got Palm Warbler), Pocomoke City, Hickory Pt., OC Inlet,
Skimmer Island, West Ocean City Pond, West Ocean City (Hooper's=Skimmer
Island), Eagle's Nest Campground mudflats, Evans Rd., Ironshire Rd., Berlin
Ross's Goose spot, Furnacetown (by which point we were terribly behind
schedule - time was 4:00), Chance, Deal Island (late arrival was costly),
QUITTING TIME.
The attempt was a great success in my eyes, despite some ridiculous
misses (Peregrine, HOLA). Started the day with Le Conte's Sparrow (and both
sharp-tails AND Seaside), having PERFECT weather throughout, had a calling
Short-ear cruising around on a warm, still evening at Deal, and ended with my
best scope views of my life of Jupiter and Saturn (thanks to George's Leica
scope). All that may have biased my opinion of the day...
Best,
Marshall Iliff
miliff@aol.com
PS - At the conclusion of the year my Big Day attempts went as follows:
January 10, 1999 - w/ Jett and Stasz - 135 species
March 31, 1999 - w/ Miller and Jett - 136 species
May 26, 1999 - w/ Andy Farnsworth (SC, formerly OH) - 194 species
July 17, 1999 - w/ Miller, Todd Day - 173 species
December 4, 1999 - w/ Miller, Jett - 130 species
more to come next year :-) -- Feb, Apr, Jun, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov for starters!
============
Marshall J. Iliff
Annapolis, MD
miliff@aol.com
=============
Species List -- December Big Day -- 4 Dec 1999 -- total 130 species
Misses (species with a # were gotten in January 1999 attempt): Brown Pelican
(seen week prior in two locations by Stasz), AMERICAN BITTERN (would have
been reasonable had we not been late getting to Deal, 2 seen next day), Snowy
Egret or Little Blue Heron (both would be rare lingerers), #Glossy Ibis
(ditto), Mute Swan (staked out two days prior on West Ocean City Pond),
Greater White-fronted Goose or #Eurasian Wigeon (neither reliable yet this
winter, E. Wigeon should have been at Deal but light was going fast), #Common
Eider, King Eider, #Harlequin Duck (no jetty ducks yet, apparently),
WHTE-WINGED SCOTER (nemesis, missed Jan 1999 also), #COMMON GOLDENEYE (early
yet for good numbers, but first arrivals should be in), Common Merganser
(very hard in region covered), Osprey (would be lucky this late), Golden
Eagle (need even more luck), Merlin (one seen next day at Vessey Orchard),
#PEREGRINE FALCON (silly miss), #Northern Bobwhite (hard to find in winter!),
King Rail (probably heard at Irish Grove), Semipalmated Plover (still present
in NJ...), Willet (have been present 2 winters now...), Long-billed
Dowitcher, #AMERICAN WOODCOCK (common at Deal Island next day, silly miss),
#LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL (landfill had to be cut due to time), Barn Owl,
#EASTERN SCREECH-OWL (essentially no effort made), #BARRED OWL (very little
effort made -- 1 stakeout unsuccessful), Northern Saw-whet Owl (should be
gettable in any serious attempt), Red-headed Woodpecker (hard in winter),
#HORNED LARK (sillliest of silly misses, for that reason not a problem I had
expected...), #TREE SWALLOW, PINE WARBLER (nemesis #2 - missed also in Jan
1999), #Vesper Sparrow (staked out at Vessey Orchard, 5 there next day),
Lincoln's Sparrow (downright hard), #Lapland Longspur (ditto)
Species with a star (*) were missed in January 1999 attempt (see MDOsprey
archives or write me for details of that Big Day).
Red-throated Loon 150+ large flight occurring at Ocean City
Common Loon 50+ some involved in Red-throated Loon flight at Ocean City
Pied-billed Grebe + first birds at pond nr Pcomoke City
Horned Grebe 1 Eagle's Nest
*Northern Gannet 15 Ocean City Inlet
Double-crested Cormorant 150 75 at Skimme rI., 75 at Deal Island
Great Cormorant 2 im. one each at end of Rumbly Pt. Rd., and Ocean City
Inlet
Great Blue Heron + many locations
Tricolored Heron 3 West Ocean City
Black-crowned Night-Heron 17 West Ocean City Pond (15), Deal Island (2)
Black Vulture + many locations
Turkey Vulture + many locations
Snow Goose **** Snow Hill field
*Ross's Goose 1 ad white Snow Hill field
Canada Goose + many locations
Tundra Swan 25 West Ocean City Pond
*Wood Duck 2 pair West Ocean City Pond
Gadwall + Irish Grove (2), West Ocean City Pond, Ocean Pines Pond
American Wigeon + West Ocean City Pond (2), Ocean Pines Pond (40)
American Black Duck + many locations
Mallard + many locations
Northern Shoveler 30 Berlin Sewage Ponds (10), West Ocean City Pond
Northern Pintail 20 Irisg Grove (2), West Ocean City Pond (15)
Green-winged Teal + first at Irish Grove (60)
Canvasback 300 West Ocean City Pond
Ring-necked Duck 40 Pocomoke City Pond (20), West Ocean City Pond (20)
*Greater Scaup 3 West Ocean City Pond
Lesser Scaup 100 West Ocean City Pond
Surf Scoter 20 Rumbly Pt., others at Ocean CIty
Black Scoter 10 females mostly, Ocean City Inlet
Oldsquaw 200+ heard only, ChanceBufflehead 400 Rumbly Pt
(1), West Ocean City Pond (1), Chance (400)
Hooded Merganser 10 West Ocean City Pond
Red-breasted Merganser 20 flybys at Ocean CIty Inlet & West Ocean City,
Hooper's
Ruddy Duck + many locations
Bald Eagle + 20+ at Vessey Orchard
Northern Harrier + many locations
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 ad nr Irish Grove
Cooper's Hawk 1 ad Hickory Pt. (Miller and Jett only)
Red-shouldered Hawk 1 M. Iliff only - Rehobeth
Red-tailed Hawk + many locations
*Rough-legged Hawk 1 juv light Deal Island
American Kestrel + many locations
*Wild Turkey 10 in field near Snow Hill, spotted by Greg Miller
Clapper Rail 2 Irish Grove
Virginia Rail 5 Irish Grove
American Coot + Pocomoke City Pond, West Ocean City Pond
Black-bellied Plover 40 Skimmer Island (2), Eagle's Nest
Killdeer + many locations
American Oystercatcher + Ocean City Inlet
Greater Yellowlegs 10 Irish Grove (6), West Ocean City, Hooper's (2),
Deal Island (2)
Lesser Yellowlegs 1 Irish Grove
Ruddy Turnstone 30 Ocean City Inlet
Sanderling 30 Ocean City Inlet, Eagle's Nest
Western Sandpiper 3 Irish Grove
Least Sandpiper 20 Irish Grove
Purple Sandpiper 20 Ocean City Inlet
Dunlin 2000+ mostly at Eagle's Nest, also Irish Grove
*Laughing Gull 3 2 at Ocean City Inlet, 1 at Deal Island
Bonaparte's Gull 20 Ocean City Inlet, flying high overhead
Ring-billed Gull + many locations
Herring Gull + many locations
Great Black-backed Gull + many locations
Forster's Tern 320 20 in Pocomoke Sound, 300 at Ocean City
Rock Dove + many locations
Mourning Dove + many locations
Great Horned Owl 4 Dividing Creek, Marumsco
Short-eared Owl 2 singles at Irish Grove and Deal Island
Belted Kingfisher + many locations
Red-bellied Woodpecker + many locations
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1 male Furnacetown
Downy Woodpecker + many locations
Hairy Woodpecker 4 Hickory Pt. was first
Northern (Yellow-shafted) Flicker + many locations
Pileated Woodpecker* 1 Greg Miller only - Furnacetown
Eastern Phoebe 2 Vessey Orchard, Newark
Blue Jay + many locations
American Crow + many locations
Fish Crow + Vessey Orchard and Deal Island had lion's share
Carolina Chickadee + many locations
Tufted Titmouse + many locations
*Red-breasted Nuthatch 3 West Ocean City Pond
White-breasted Nuthatch 1 Nassawango Cr., Red House Rd.
Brown-headed Nuthatch 2 Irish Grove
Brown Creeper* 1 M. Iliff only - Irish Grove
Carolina Wren + many locations
House Wren 1 Evans Rd., nr Berlin
Winter Wren + 1st nr Irish Grove
Sedge Wren 2 Irish Grove
Marsh Wren 4 Irish Grove
Golden-crowned Kinglet 2 nr Rehobeth
Ruby-crowned Kinglet + 1st at Irish Grove
Eastern Bluebird + many locations
Hermit Thrush + most common at Hickory Pt. (10)
American Robin + many locations
Gray Catbird 3 one at Hickory Pt., 2 at Deal Island
Northern Mockingbird + many locations
Brown Thrasher 1 Deal Island
European Starling + many locations
American Pipit 20 Vessey Orchard
Cedar Waxwing 40 nr Ocean Pines
Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler + many locations
*Western Palm Warbler 1 Vessey Orchard
*Common Yellowthroat 1 male Furnacetown
Eastern Towhee 1 Newark
Field Sparrow 4 nr Rehobeth
Savannah Sparrow + many locations
*LE CONTE'S SPARROW 1 Irish Grove
*Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow 1 Irish Grove
*Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow 3 Irish Grove
*Seaside Sparrow* 1 Greg Miller only -Irish Grove
Fox Sparrow 8 Hickory Pt., and nr Newark
Song Sparrow + many locations
Swamp Sparrow + many locations
White-throated Sparrow + many locations
White-crowned Sparrow 5 Evans Rd.
Dark-eyed Junco + many locations
Snow Bunting 60 Assateague I., as seen from Eagle's Nest
Northern Cardinal + many locations
Red-winged Blackbird + many locations
Eastern Meadowlark + many locations, 1st at Irish Grove
Rusty Blackbird 3 Hickory Pt.
Common Grackle + many locations
Boat-tailed Grackle 8 Irish Grove (1), Eagle's Nest (2), Deal Island (5)
Brown-headed Cowbird + several locations
*Purple Finch 1 fem Hickory Pt.
House Finch + several locations (can be tough!)
*Pine Siskin 1 flyover Irish Grove (Iliff only)
American Goldfinch + many locations
House Sparrow + many locations