SUNDAY, MAY 11.  2 Wild Turkeys in John Swaine's field. 

Rt. 481 wet area: just 2 Great Blue Herons and 1 Lesser Yellowlegs today. 

82nd DORCHESTER COUNTY MAY BIRD COUNT, Saturday, May 10, 2008.

Herewith is the report of, only, my own day.  There are 4 other parties
with participants Bob Abrams, Joan Boudreau, Diane Cole, Dave Curson, and
Jared Sparks.  As soon as their totals come in I'll do an overarching
report on all of our efforts, with a complete list of all species.

3:30 A.M. - 10 P.M.  186.3 miles by car.  2 on foot.

131 species, 101 of them by noon, very poor.

WEATHER:  highly variable.  Crystal clear starlight with no wind 3:30-4:30
A.M.  Light rain and little wind most of the morning, oppressive and
totally overcast with some fog and much mist.  Low ceiling but lifts, a
lot, after noon.  Fair becoming clear in the afternoon with (mostly) NW
winds ranging from <5 to >25 m.p.h., diminishing late.  Clear and calm
after sunset.  Cool, with temps from 50-62 degrees F.  Water levels
disadvantageous, above normal tides and water in impounded areas high.

In "Beautiful swimmers" William W. Warner writes of rising at 1:30 A.M. to
go out on a crabber's boat, saying this is less like getting up this
morning, more like last night.  I'd agree.  Today I rise at 1:50 A.M.  Bob
Ringler spends last night at Rigby, rises early to help out in
birder-starved Somerset County.

Run into Bob Abrams and Joan Boudreau - the rascals are poaching - at 4:30
P.M.  They join me for the rest of the day.  Bob does the most astounding
imitations.  They are SOMETHING.  Virginia Rails answer his utterances as
readily as they do my CDs.  He also does a remarkable Sora.

MY ROUTE:  Sewards and central BNWR area plus Tranquaking River, all in the
pre-dawn.  Greater central BNWR area including Shorter's Wharf Road and
Robbins.  Cambridge.  Moneystump Swamp.  Hooper's Island.  Elliott Island
Road.

ABBREVIATIONS:  BNWR, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge.  EI, Elliott
Island Road.  HI, Hooper's Island.  SH, Swan Harbor.

OF (some) INTEREST:  

2 Blue-winged & 7 Green-winged teal.  7 Northern Bobwhite.  1 Horned Grebe
at Sailwinds Visitor Center in Cambridge.  4 Brown Pelicans (HI).  1 Cattle
Egret (BNWR).  4 Glossy Ibis (EI).  40 Bald Eagles.  5 harriers.  1
Red-shouldered Hawk (Old Field Road, a lot of calling, and at close range -
nice).  

RAILS:  1 BLACK (calling, unsolicited), 1 Clapper, 1 King & 26 Virginias
plus 2 Common Moorhens.

SHOREBIRDS.  15 species, incl. 1 oystercatcher (HI), only 6 Willets, 275
Dunlin & 3 American Woodcock (EI).  Due to the high waters, rain and tide,
shorebirds are hard to find today.  5 Black-necked Stilts (2 BNWR, 3 EI). 

Bonaparte's Gull 1 (SH).  5 TERNS: 1 Caspian (BNWR), 8 Leasts (Best Value
Inn rooftop), 18 Royals, 2 Commons & only 18 Forster's.  

OWLS:  1 Barn, 1 screech, 1 Barred & 3 horneds.

14 Chuck-will's-widows, coming on strong in the calm, clear dusk.  4
hummers.  2 Red-headed Woodpeckers (Robbins & Moneystump Swamp).  1 ea. of
wood pewee & Acadian Flycatcher.  20 Bank Swallows (BNWR).  5 Brown-headed
nuts.  8 Ovenbirds.  6 Yellow-breasted Chats.  1 Scarlet Tanager.  

SPARROWS.  8 species:  1 Savannah, 20 chippies, 4 Fields, 1 Grasshopper, 8
Saltmarsh Sharp-taileds, 50 Seasides, 3 Songs, and a Swamp.     

5 Boat-tailed Grackles, 1 a male at the junction of Andrews Road X Rt. 336,
an unusual location for the species.  9 meadowlarks (Egypt Road remains a
good place for them, in spite of all the cultivation there).   

THANKS TO the staff of Blackwater N.W.R. for permitting access to
Moneystump Swamp, where I found first-of-the-day: Scarlet Tanager, Acadian
Flycatcher, Eastern Wood Pewee, and catbird.  Thanks to Neil and Kate
Birchmeier for letting me scope Tar & Chesapeake bays from their nifty
dock, resulting in first-of-the-day Sanderling, Ruddy Turnstone, Brown
Pelican, Royal Tern, Bonaparte's & Great Black-backed gulls.

DIMINUENDO:  It used to be on these counts that the following species were
a given:  Whip-poor-will, Common Nighthawk, Black Rail, Henslow's Sparrow,
Sedge Wren, Yellow Warbler (of all species!), Sora, King Rail, and
woodcock.  Nowadays almost all of these are missed, almost every time.  I
made about a dozen stops at traditional whip places at dusk, to no avail.  

AU CONTRAIRE:  some birds seem (or actually are) commoner:  Bald Eagle and
bluebird (especially), Swamp Sparrow, Clapper Rail, Common Moorhen, House
Finch, and Mute Swan (formerly absent, although lately has been for the
most part deliberately extirpated; used to see hundreds, now only a few). 

THE MISSING:  Somewhat strange, on both of these counts, to have missed:
Yellow-billed Cuckoo (especially), Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, White-throated
Sparrow, and Baltimore Oriole.

PRESUMED FATAL IMPACT.  At 4 A.M. as I rolled gently across the causeway at
Seward's at c. 20 m.p.h. a shorebird thumped into the windshield.  I
stopped and found the bird behind the car, a Spotted Sadnpiper, bopping up
and down as they do, on the pavement.  I took that as a sign it was O.K,
captured it with my left hand, raised and released it into the air, because
stunned birds when suddenly airborne often "find" themselves.  It flew,
pretty well, but then, unfortunately, landed in the Little Blackwater
River.

AMPHIBIANS.  Too cold for their tastes, but did hear Southern Leopard Frogs
at 7 spots, 2 Carpenter Frogs at one place (EI north of Savanna Lake), and
2 Fowler's Toads.  REPTILES.  A couple of Mud Turtles on the roads, a few
Painted Turtles on the pond's edges, and, that's it.

MAMMALS.  9 species, more than usual:  5 Red Foxes (2 of them kits), 2 Gray
Squirrels, 1 Eastern Skunk, 1 Raccoon, 1 Virginia Opossum, 15 Sika Elk, 4
White-tailed Deer, 1 Eastern Cottontail, and 2 Woodchucks.  Missed Muskrat,
Fox Squirrel, bat, mouse, which would have put me well into double digits. 
I have not seen or heard a Nutria in several years, their extermination
program probably more successful than that directed at Mute Swans (Sky
Carp).   

BUTTERFLIES.  Almost non-existent.  See several that looked liked ladies,
Painted or American?

Best to all.-Henry ("Harry") T. Armistead, 523 E. Durham St., Philadelphia,
PA 19119-1225.  215-248-4120.  Please, any off-list replies to: 
harryarmistead at hotmail dot com  (never, please, to 74077.3176 ....)


GRASSHOPPERS.  A recently-received catalog from Princeton University Press
lists a guide to grasshoppers, katydids, and their ilk.  I can't find it
now but one review excerpt says - I think I remember this verbatim - that
some grasshoppers are "as richly panoplied as a medieval knight," a
splendid way of describing their appearance.  The accompanying color
painting certainly bears this out, showing a grasshopper of many colors
with its sporty antennae and heavily-plated thorax and head.