[MDOsprey] St. Michaels CBC results for Broad Creek Sector

Leslie Roslund (Lroslund@bluecrab.org)
Tue, 21 Dec 1999 21:40:07 -0500 

Ospreyers -
	The St. Michaels CBC was held on Dec 19th - not as pretty a day as the
18th, but nice enough to yield some fine results.
	Unquestioned highlight was that several sectors reported unprecedented
numbers and great views of Northern Gannets.  The total for the count was
372!!  That was a conservative number, for Jan Reese,  viewing off Tilghman
Island,  stopped counting them after reaching about 110, but said they just
seemed to be flowing in a continuous stream off the bay and into the
Choptank River.  My sector included the Jean Shehan Audubon Sanctuary near
the village of Neavitt.  From its eastern extremity, looking over Broad
Creek,  our group had great 'naked eye views' of the beautiful Gannets
soaring in the sky and then plummeting into the waters with splendid
splash!  We had 88 of the total that were reported.
	Harry Armistead reported 57 from his sector, and again they gave the
viewers an unprecedented treat.  Harry noted that though he sees Gannets
from his property nearly every spring, this was the first time he has ever
recorded Northern Gannets viewed from his property in fall or winter.  (His
property records go back some 50 or 60 years!)

	A second very special sighting was of a Black-crowned Night Heron on
Tilghman Island (Jan Reese again).  That species has not been seen in the
St. Michaels CBCs for many years.

	For the Broad Creek Sector, (one of a total of nine sectors in this count)
the following birds were reported:

Common Loon			3
Horned Grebe		  	3
Northern Gannet			88
Gt Blue Heron			7
Tundra Swan			385
Mute Swan			267
Snow Goose			2
Canada Goose			15,950  (our sector was loaded with them!)
Black Duck			42
Mallard				136
Scaup sp.			6
Oldsquaw			1
Scoter sp.			7
Common Goldeneye		63
Bufflehead			117
Red-br Merganser		7
Ruddy Duck			2

Black Vulture			2
Turkey Vulture			28
Bald Eagle			3
Northern Harrier			1
Sharp-shinned Hawk		3
Red-tailed Hawk			7
Amer Kestrel			3
Wild Turkey			45
Northern Bobwhite		1

Ring-billed Gull			707
Herring Gull			16
Great Black-backed Gull		2
Mourning Dove			129
Gt Horned Owl			2
Belted Kingfisher		5
Red-bellied Woodpecker		38
Downy Wdpkr			5
Hairy Wdpkr			8
Northern Flicker			36
Pileated Wdpkr			1

Blue Jay			41
American Crow			171
Carolina Chickadee		102
Tufted Titmouse			12
Red-br Nuthatch			24
White-br Nuthatch		14
Brown-headed Nuthatch		20
Brown Creeper			4
Carolina Wren			71
Winter Wren			4
Golden-cr Kinglet		9
Ruby-cr Kinglet			3

Eastern Bluebird		72
Hermit Thrush			6
American Robin			57
Gray Catbird			2
Northern Mockingbird		20
Cedar Waxwing			32
Eur Starling			290
Yellow-rumped Warbler		99
Northern Cardinal		54
Towhee				3

Field Sparrow			11
Savannah Sparrow		9
Fox Sparrow			8
Song Sparrow			28
Swamp Sparrow			1
White-throated Sparrow		152
Dark-eyed Junco		164
Red-winged Blackbird		800
Eastern Meadowlark		17
Common Grackle		3
House Finch			93
Amer Goldfinch			23
House Sparrow			29

	Total number of birds for the St.Michaels Count was over 75,000 compared
to approx 64,000 in 1998 and 65,000 in 1997.  Abundance of Canada Geese
this year was the major contributor to the larger numbers.

	During a pre-count visit to the grounds of the Jean Shehan Audubon
Sanctuary on Dec 15 (a foggy and difficult birding day down here) I found a
beautiful Red-headed Woodpecker, four Fox Sparrows, and eleven Swamp
Sparrows - but none of these birds could be relocated during the 12/19
official count visit.

Les Roslund
Lroslund@bluecrab.org
Easton, MD