407 SEASIDE SPARROWS in DORCHESTER COUNTY SOUTH & FERRY NECK, May 15-17, 2010.
SOUTHERN DORCHESTER COUNTY, Seaside Sparrow quest, 4:45 A.M. – 9:00 P.M. SUNDAY, May 16. 159 miles by car. Focus is almost exclusively on seeing and hearing as many SESP as possible, to the exclusion of most everything else, yet this did yield 92 other species.
407 Seaside Sparrows located at these localities:
Shorter’s Wharf Road marsh north of Shorter’s Wharf bridge 118 (the farther south on the road one goes the more SESPs there are). Willeys Neck Road 0 (doesn’t get far enough out into the saltmarsh unless one trespasses past the barrier). Cedar Creek Road 53. Hart Hayward Bridge general area 5. Farm Creek Road 14. Toddville towards the south (southeast, actually) end 10. Bishops Head Road 3. Goose Creek Road 2. Tedious Creek Road 6. West Tedious Creek Road 2.
Crocheron area 5. Phillips Gunning Club Road (road in to the Karen Noonan Education Center of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation at Bishops Head Point) 34. Asquith Island Road 2. Parks Neck Road 0. Wingate to Golden Hill (Lakesville/Crapo Road and Route 336) 4. Great Marsh Creek area, Route 335 8. Meekins Neck 0. Swan Harbor Road 1. Middle Hooper Island 4. Hip Roof Road 0. Bestpitch Ferry Bridge-Transquaking River 10. Elliott Island Road 126.
There may very well be some SESPs north of Hip Roof Road. However, Lynn Davidson and Hal Wierenga spent 16 hours in the Taylor’s Island area, including Slaughter and Parsons creeks, on May 8, and although they found other marsh species (2 Willets, 3 Virginia Rails, 1 Marsh Wren) as well as 102 species overall, they did not find any SESPs. Just south of there, mostly to the west of Smithville Road, is a long expanse of saltmarsh that may harbor a few. In the paragraph above areas indicated with no SESPs … this does not necessarily mean there are none there, just that I didn’t detect any.
SESPs seem to be especially energized in the period before sunrise until a couple of hours afterwards, and perhaps even more so from just before sunset until half an hour afterwards, when they sing like crazy, appear perched on the edge of Juncus roemerianus expanses, and make short (horizontal, not the aerial displays accompanied by singing) flights. However, I did hear and see many even in the heat of midday.
I never said Seaside Sparrow will win the next Easter parade. They are dingy and dull. Pete Dunne refers to them as a “sparrow dressed for a funeral.” And their song will not win the Pavarotti contest. But I love ‘em. They’re the court jesters of the saltmarsh and dominate their favored domain.
Also of interest: 1 Least Bittern from Farm Creek Road, well-seen. A group of 19 Snowy Egrets from Toddville Road (40 overall today). 2 Glossy Ibis + 14 Snowy Egrets Cedar Creek Road. A pair of Canada Geese with 5 goslings fromTodville Road. 2 Mute Swans from Shorter’s Wharf Road & 7 more from Toddville Road. A Mallard with 5 young at Wingate. A male Blue-winged Teal from Elliott I. Road. 36 Bald Eagles. A male Northern Harrier, Willey Neck Road.
2 Clapper, 3 King and 4 Virginia Rails plus 2 Chuck-will’s-widows, a screech-owl, and a horned owl at various places at night. 2 Black-necked Stilts, Elliott I. Rd. (I’ve found them hard to find there this spring; seen them every time but had to work for them). 1 Ruddy Turnstone and 135 Dunlin at the experimental jetties, Middle Hooper’s Island. 4 Royal Terns, Toddville. 3 Horned Larks, Egypt Road. 30 Marsh Wrens. 30 House Wrens, seem to be in every substantial wooded marsh hammock. 2 Yellow Warblers, Phillips Gunning Club Road. 45 yellowthroats. 30 Boat-tailed Grackles, raucous and loud.
MAMMALS: 6 Sika and 2 White-tailed deer, 1 bat, 2 Muskrats, 4 Eastern Cottontails, 1 Red Fox, and a large vole, so dark it looked black, scurrying across Phillips Gunning Club Road. A Raccoon at 4:47 A.M. on Egypt Road. A Virginia Opossum at 3:20 A.M. in Easton.
REPTILES. A d.o.r. Black Racer, upper end Phillips Gunning Club Road. 1 d.o.r. Black Rat Snake at the “Big Bend” ( intersection of Route 336 and Edgar Road). 8 Diamondback Terrapin in the “harbor” where the workboats are at McCready’s Creek. 1 Painted Turtle hauling across Route 335 in Gum Swamp. Almost a reptile, Green Frogs calling in the pre-dawn at the Egypt Road prothonotary place. A poor day for batrachians.
INSECTS. Lots of air born fireflies in the early morning darkness. A lot of butterflies on the move, many of them Red Admirals plus several d.o.r. Red Admirals. 1 Tiger Swallowtail. Some Cabbage Whites. 6 Red-spotted Purples. An Orange Sulphur. 100s of Seaside Dragonlets.
WEATHER, May 16. 59-78, calm – NE10-15, changing to NW 0-5, some light rain in A.M. and 2 flashes of distant lighting to the south illuminating the clouds there. overcast becoming fair. Tide very low becoming slightly above normal c. 3 P.M. 76 degrees F. at 7:45 P.M. at McCready’s Creek.
MAGNOLIA GRANDIFLORA. Continuing the early spring symptoms many MAGRs are in bloom. I’m used to seeing that in June.
STORM. There was a violent storm on Friday, May 14, with 60 m.p.h. winds, lightning, and hail. A chair we keep out at Lucy Point was blown over 100 yards into the middle of the Big Field. Most curiously, the chair right next to it wasn’t even turned over. Coming up our driveway last Saturday I spend 2.75 hours clearing limbs from a large dead Elm and a big Hawthorn that had blown over.
On the Warbler Trail a huge Loblolly Pine limb >15” in diameter had been struck by lightning which had propelled it, probably well in excess of 1,000 lbs., over 20 feet from the tree’s base. The Choptank River trail is blocked by a fallen Black Locust and a Honey Locust. A large dead limb from a Red Maple has blown down next to the garage.
Rigby’s Folly. MAY 15, SATURDAY.
On the way down: a Sharp-shinned Hawk flying over Route 1 n. of the Delaware-Chesapeake Canal. In the 40+ Big Days I’ve done in Delaware we never saw a SSHA! A Greater Yellowlegs the sole creature in view at the routes 481 X 309 pond.
At R.F.: a Wild Turkey, 1 Great Egret, 1 Red-tailed Hawk, and a deer. After dealing with some of the storm’s aftereffects, I discover a neat Carolina Wren nest with 4-eggs in the back of my boat in the well forward of the outboard motor and carefully relocate it into a planter nearby. The adult flushes out of the nest and nearly brushes against my hand. In such situations the nest almost always fails. From my bed I hear distant Green Tree Frogs and two Great Horned Owls engaged in a duet at 8:20 P.M. Huge range between the low-pitched owl and the high one. Quality bed time.
Clear, NW 10-5, 80-75. Present only from 3:45 P.M. onwards. It has continued to dry out but rain is forecast soon.
MAY 17, MONDAY. 3 Gray Squirrels. 1 Wild Turkey. Happen upon Jimmy Tyler, Jr., who is working on our shoreline replenishment. He volunteers to move the heavy storm blowovers that I can’t deal with, since I don’t own a front-end loader. Such is the serendipity of the Eastern Shore. If you get along with people and treat them with respect they will help you when you are in need.
MAP OF RIGBY’S FOLLY. I’ve prepared a map of our place if anyone would like it (via surface mail). That way anyone who is just dying to know where, for example, Field 4, Woods 5, the Olszewski Trails, etc., are can now easily find out.
ADDENDA, MAY 8 bird count. This is mostly from Bill Hubick’s very complete, detailed notes (and I thought I wrote down a lot; Bill made 18 separate locality lists on May 8!). Another species everyone missed but which is around is Brown Pelican. I was very pleased to hear Bill say, a couple of times during the course of the day, that this area is worthy of National Park status, a sentiment I have felt for decades.
Robbins-Lower Shorter’s Wharf Road. The Trumpeter Swan of “suspicious provenance” is still here. It is fun, every once in a while, to HEAR it. Blackwater refuge: a pair of Canada Geese with 3 small goslings. Also here, a strikingly marked, mostly white, Rock Pigeon hanging out in Pool 1 with the shorebirds. At first glance when I saw it in flight I called it an avocet!
House Sparrows have taken over 2 Barn Swallow nests at the entrance to the Visitor Center. It has been my experience that there IS ONE THING House Sparrows can’t seem to dominate – a well-placed, tight pattern of no. 6 shot from a Parker 12-gauge side-by-side.
In Cambridge a Canada Goose on its nest right next to the grotesque (at least to my eyes) Sailwinds tourist center. A few Least Terns over the Egypt Road school might indicate they are nesting again on the roof there, the way they used to. At McCready’s Creek “marina,” Elliott village Bill counts exactly 254 Dunlin on the bulkheading.
Best to all. – Harry Armistead, Philadelphia, where the dead rise up to vote, early and often.
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