Last Sunday morning, with warm temperatures, little wind and the moon just
past full, was a good one for Whips and Chucks in southern Charles County.
I heard the first Whip-poor-will at 4:45 on Durham Church Road, tallied 4
more on Maryland Point Road, and another 2 after turning west on Smith Point
Road. About halfway along Smith Point Road I finally picked up the first
Chuck-will's-widow followed by 2 more near a large field as it was getting
light. Had I allowed more time for night birding I'm sure the totals could
have been pretty impressive.
After daybreak I spent the rest of the morning birding some of the many
quiet back roads of the Nanjemoy area, a region I'd never before visited. It
was very pleasant, birding such a wild and beautiful area without the
constant din of traffic. I spent over an hour on Rt. 224, a very birdy road which
I expected to be heavily travelled, and in that time exactly 2 cars went
by. There were good numbers of many of the breeding species, but others that
should have been easy such as House Wren and Baltimore Oriole were missed
completely. Some highlights from the morning:
Wood Duck - 4 (Rt 224 at Thorne Gut)
HOODED MERGANSER - 1 female darted past at Thorne Gut
Wild Turkey - 2 (Smith Point Rd, Hancock Run Rd)
Yellow-billed Cuckoo - 4 (Rt. 224, Hancock Run Rd)
CHUCK-WILL'S-WIDOW - 3, Smith Point Rd.
WHIP-POOR-WILL - 7 (Durham Church, Maryland Point, Smith Point Roads)
Eastern Wood-Pewee - 24, many locations
Acadian Flycatcher - 16, many locations
Great Crested Flycatcher - 6 (Adams Willett Rd, Hancock Run Rd, Rt. 224)
YELLOW-THROATED VIREO - 4 (Thorne Gut, Liverpool Point Rd)
Northern Parula - 16, many locations, probably undercounted
Pine Warbler - 7 (Rt. 224, Smith Point, Adams Willet Rds)
Prairie Warbler - 2 (Smith Point Rd, Adams Willett Rd)
Black-and-white Warbler - 6, various locations
American Redstart - 7 (Maryland Point Rd, Smith Point Rd)
PROTHONOTARY WARBLER - 3 (Thorne Gut)
WORM-EATING WARBLER - 2 (Smith Point Rd)
Ovenbird - 21, many locations
Louisiana Waterthrush - 2 (Rt. 224)
KENTUCKY WARBLER - 1 (Thorne Gut)
Common Yellowthroat - 5 (Rt. 224, Friendship Landing Park)
HOODED WARBLER - 5 (Rt. 224, Hancock Run Rd., Liverpool Point Road)
SUMMER TANAGER - 1 (Baptist Church Rd)
GRASSHOPPER SPARROW - 1 (Hancock Run Rd)
Blue Grosbeak - 3 (Adams Willet Rd, Baptist Church Rd, Friendship Landing
Park)
Eastern Meadowlark - 1 (Hancock Run Rd)
House Finch - 7 (Liverpool Point Rd., Friendship Landing Park)
Joel Martin
Catonsville, MD |