Save the Junin Grebe: A Delmarva Photo Big Year

End of the Year -- End of the Fundraiser

2008-01-05T20:56:00.000-05:00

2007 is over as is my Photo Big Year fundraiser to help the American Bird Conservancy's Junin Grebe Project. With almost 400 photos taken, I raised almost 1200 dollars and had a really great time. Unfortunately, one thing I learned is that I am not a blogger! So this will probably be the last entry I ever make in the blogger universe. The year was amazing. My friends and myself while trying to get photos for the fundraiser found two new Maryland state records for Furtive Forktail and Duckweed Firetail, both damselflies. Rare butterflies and ten species of hairstreaks were also captured with photos. The rarest being King's Hairstreak, a butterfly that has only been found in one small area in Maryland. Mammals and herps were disapointing. I expected to do better with them. Spotted Turtles never materialized, nor did Chorus Frogs or Spotted Newts. I also missed both Muskrat and Nutria and failed to get photos of any bats. On the positive side I did get photos of Harbor Seal and my first Chipmunk on Delmarva. I think I did very well with Birds. Highlights included the hundred Marbled Godwits last winter at Willston Warf in Virginia and the Common Eider at Ocean City Inlet. I want to thank my girlfriend Colleen who gave up a lot of free time to travel around the peninsula in the heat and cold taking pictures of insects and birds. Jim Stasz, Hans Holbrook, Bill Hubick, Matt Hafner, Ed Boyd, Tom Field and many others who helped me immensly throughout the year with hotel rooms, logistics, boat rides, and friendship. Without their help I would not have done as well as I did and the year would not have been anywhere near as fun. Thanks guys.

Worcester and Somerset Counties 8/11 - 8/12

2007-08-16T17:53:00.000-05:00

Photos: Palamedes Swallowtail, Willet, Royal Tern, Tern Flock, Abandoned House on Assateague Island.

Last Saturday I was supposed to go out on a pelagic trip out of Lewes, Delaware. Unfortunately the seas were running too high and the leaders decided to cancel the trip. So a group of Maryland birders and myself headed to Assateague Island to see what we could find. We started at the Bayside Campground parking lot. This is one of the premier sites in Maryland to witness Fall bird migration. It was a little early for migrants but we did see a few Yellow Warblers and a Baltimore Oriole. We then loaded into two vehicals and headed to the ORV Zone. Along the beach Sanderlings were by far the most numerous shorebirds. Also seen were Whimbrel, Western Willets, Ruddy Turnstones, Black-bellied Plovers, Semipalmated Plovers, Piping Plovers, and Oystercatchers. At Foxhill Flats on the bay side of the island we added Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers along with both Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs and Short-billed Dowitchers. There was a gull/tern flock that included Sandwich, Royal, and Caspian Terns. A Pintail flew over while we were scoping the shorebirds. While walking out to get better views of the terns I noticed a Salt Marsh Skipper. I was afraid I might have missed this butterfly so getting this photo was a major relief. Back out on the beach I managed photos of Common Tern, Sandwich Tern, and Caspian Tern, all new for the year. Also resting on the beach were many Lesser Black-backed Gulls of various ages. At the state line I photographed a young Brown Pelican sitting on a piling. Add another tick! From Assateague we moved south to check out the pond at E.A. Vaughn (north) WMA. There are usually shorebirds and waders present and if we were going to find a rare wader like a White or White-faced Ibis it would probably be here. When we arrived at the pond it was apparent that the were no unusual waders but Jim Stasz spotted a Long-billed Dowitcher. Another shorebird tick that could have been tricky. We then went to Deal Island WMA in Somerset County. Jim spotted a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron flying over which was a county bird for me. Yellow-crowns are really rare on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. They only nest on the bay islands and are very difficult to find. This was only the second Yellow-crowned Night-Heron I have ever seen on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
On Sunday Tom Field, Jim Stasz, Ed Boyd, and myself went to Hickory Point in Worcester County to try to photograph Palamedes Swallowtails. Palamedes are rare in Maryland and Hickory Point in August is the best place to find them. While waiting for the swallowtails I photgraphed a beat up Great Blue Skimmer and a Seaside Dragonlet. Ed finally caught a Palamedes and carefully took it out of the net so we could get photographs. From Hickory Point we went to some ponds around Pocomoke City where we observed some really cool dragons and damsels. Since it is getting late in the season for damsels we were delighted to see Southern Sprites and Swamp Spreadwings still flying. Ed caught a Banded Pennent which was another bug I was afraid I might miss since it was getting late in the season. Then came a huge miss. Jim Stasz calls out he just saw a Martha's Pennent fly by. I have never seen a Martha's Pennent and while I know that they are rare breeders in Maryland never thought that they were even possible for the big year. With nets primed we waited for the bug to fly past again so we could capture it for photos. The pennent flew by one more time but too far out for our nets and was never seen again. So I probably missed my Martha's chance but that is OK because it was a great weekend with a lot of major photos taken so there are not any long faces.

Upland Sandpipers 8/2/07

2007-08-08T20:39:00.000-05:00

Photo: Upland Sandpiper

Last Wednesday I received a phone call from Norm and Fran Sanders and they told me they had just spotted a small flock of Upland Sandpipers at the Cambridge Airport. This was exciting news. Upland Sandpipers are rare breeders on Delmarva but can be regular during Fall migration in large grassy areas but they can be very difficult to observe because of the inaccessible habitat. I arrived at the airport around 5:00pm and found two Uppies about 200 feet off the road. I tried to get close for better photos but the birds spooked and flew off. I was able to get a few distant flight shots. I drove side roads towards Vienna stopping along the roadside checking the flowering Dogbane for butterflies. I was lucky to find a pair of Clouded Sulphers. Unfortunately they would not sit still so I had to settle for a poor flight shot. Common Checkered Skippers are late season fliers and I found my first of the year nectering on clover. Because of the drought Higgin's Mill Pond just south of Linkwood has some expansive flats that held quite a few species of shorebirds. Right when I was getting out of my car a Bald Eagle swooped down out of a tree and tried to take a Mallard off the pond. The eagle spooked all the shorebirds out of camera range but I was able to get my Pectoral Sandpiper shot for the year.

The Summer months have been great!

2007-08-04T20:10:00.001-05:00

Photos: King's Hairstreak, Pickerel Frog, Duckweed Firetail, Hognosed Snake

Hello everyone,

After a slight two month reprieve, the Delmarva Photo Big Year Blog is back up and running full speed. The summer has blown by amazingly fast with many great finds and photos taken. After the discovery of the first Maryland state record of Furtive Forktail in Worcester and Wicomico Counties I thought the state records were over for the year, but I was wrong. Hans Holbrook, Jim Stasz, and myself found Duckweed Firetails in Worcester County a few weeks later. Duckweed Firetails are beautiful bright red damselflies that live in shaded swamps. What is unbelievable is that the area where we found the firetails the most numerous odonates fying were Furtive Forktails and Attenuated Bluets! We also found a population of Atlantic Bluets in the same area as the firetails. Other than one record from last year on Hart-Miller Island (a spill island located in the Chesapeake Bay off of Baltimore), Atlantic Bluets had not been observed in Maryland for over 100 years! We found a pond that holds a very healthy population of Atlantic Bluets.

Damselflies are not the only exciting discoveries of the past couple months. In northern Worcester County, Maryland my friends and I located Marylands only breeding population of King's Hairstreak. King's Hairstreaks are rare over their entire range and haven't been seen in Maryland for years. Finding this rare butterfly was a real highpoint of the year. Also seen on the same day was a striking Striped Hairstreak, another rare butterfly on Delmarva. Between April and August I have photographed ten species of hairstreaks on Delmarva. If I hadn't missed Frosted Elfin I would have swept the hairstreaks. Sleepy Orange's occur regulary on Delmarva during post breeding dispersal. I was able to photograph one in Worcester County. Oranges and Sulphers are very difficult to photograph because they rarely sit still. Most of the time when you see a Sleepy Orange you see a small brilliant orange sulpher fly by which is usually enough for identification. I was lucky enough to have one land and get an exceptable photo.

Reptiles and amphibians have been slow. Unfortunately, I haven't had any great finds. Corn Snakes and Milksnakes have been eluding me but I haven't given up hope. I have tried a couple times for Carpenter Frogs in lower Dorchester and have come up empty. One amphibian highlight was photographing Pickerel Frogs in Caroline County. Supposedly Pickerel Frogs are present in all of the Delmarva counties but I have never seen one on Delmarva until this summer.

Bugs have taken priority over the past couple months but now that migration has started birds are now the priority. Unfortunately by focusing on Odes and Leps over the summer I might have missed a few of the breeders. I am running out of time for Kentucky and Worm-eating Warblers. I am going to need a little luck to get these birds. For the past couple weeks and for most of August I will be concentrating on shorebirds. I have recently photographed both Western Sandpipers and American Avocets at Bombay Hook. Stilt Sandpipers at E.A. Vaughn WMA in Worcester County were a great score and a photograph that I am very relieved to have. I mopped up a few other birds like Indigo Bunting, Chimney Swift, and Cliff Swallow -- all difficult to photograph.

The rest of the year is going to be very exciting so pull up a seat and hang on!

Memorial Day Weekend 5/27/07

2007-06-06T20:51:00.000-05:00

Variable Dancer female -- Idylewilde WMA. Orange Bluet -- Marshy Hope River, Caroline County. Stream Cruiser -- Marshy Hope River, Caroline County.

Bill Hubick, Tom Feild, Matt Tillet, Steve Collins, and myself spent the day birding the mid-shore of Maryland. We started the day at Terrapin Park on Kent Island. Terrapin is a great spot for migrants but unfortunately there wasn't much activity until Steve spotted a recently fledged grey phase Screech Owl sitting eye level on a fallen tree along the trail. Getting a Screech Owl photo this easy was a major relief. Hours of spot lighting at night was saved by Steve's good eyes. From Terrapin we headed to Wye Island WMA in Queen Anne County, Maryland. There is a large impoundment covered in cattails with a few mudflats that we were hoping would be holding shorebirds. As soon as we climed up the impoundment we heard the kekking of a King Rail. I was lucky enough to catch a brief glimpse of the bird but couldn't get my camera up in time. King Rails are becoming increasingly rare on Delmarva due to lose of habitat. While waiting for the King Rail to show himself again we saw a Dun Skipper feeding on the dike along with a female Hobomok Skipper. Then a Least Bittern started calling. The bittern and the rail both refused to show so we headed to Pickering Creek Audubon Sanctuary outside of Easton, Maryland. We walked the dikes between the impoundments and observed two American Coots, Common Moorhen, Pied-billed Grebes, and Blue-winged Teal. I saw my first Swarthy Skipper of the year feeding in the grasses along the dike. After Pickering Creek we headed towards Caroline County. Our first stop was along Laurel Grove Road. This area was where I observed the first Eastern Shore record of Arrowhead Spiketail last year. We were interested to see if we could refind the spiketail. The spiketail was a no show but amazingly Steve netted Maryland's third ever Furtive Forktail. We were all speechless. Entomogists have been searching for decades on Delmarva for this damselfly and my friends and myself had seen the bug in three different locations in two weeks! After the excitement of the Furtive Forktail we headed towards the Marshy Hope River north of Federalsburg. Walking into the swamp along the river we found Sparkling Jewelwings, Orange Bluets, Cyrano Darner, Stream Cruiser, and Common Baskettails. The Little Philadelphia section of Idylewilde WMA was right around the corner so we took a long walk amoungst the ponds and swamp. Steve spotted Lilypad Forktails resting on lilypads at one pond and an Attenuated Bluet, both life odes for me. Also seen were Sphagnum Sprites, Variable and Blue-tipped Dancers and Turquoise Bluets. It was an incredible day for dragonflies and damselflies.

Memorial Day Weekend 5/26/07

2007-06-06T20:23:00.000-05:00

The Saturday of Memorial Day weekend Colleen and I drove to the Delaware Bay shore to try to photograph Red Knots and other shorebirds along Port Mahon Road. We arrived around 2pm and were fortunate that the tide was high pushing most of the birds close to the road. Semipalmated Sandpipers and Ruddy Turnstones were the most numerous shorebirds. Red Knots, Sanderlings, and Willets were also present. Shorebird migration along Port Mahon Road is an awesome spectacle. There were thousands of birds present and they were not a hundred yards away on a mudflat, they were within twenty feet of the car! Shorebirds congregate along the Delaware Bay during Spring migration to feed on horseshoe crab eggs. It is a massive staging area where the birds gorge on the eggs to prepare themselves for their next push north. This staging ground is one of the best places to observe Red Knots. Red Knots migrate up from Argentina in the Spring and breed in the far north. Unforunately the Red Knot population has plummeted and they have become very threatened. One of the main reasons for their population crash is the over harvesting of Horseshoe Crabs. Thanks to enviromental groups like The American Bird Conservancy both Delaware and New Jersey have passed moratoriums on the harvesting of the crabs. Hopefully the Red Knot population will increase. After Port Mahon we traveled up to Bombay Hook and I ticked Black-bellied Plover off my photo needed list. Bad lighting and extensive mudflats made photography difficult so we headed back home making one more stop along the Tuckahoe River in Talbot County, Maryland where I added Eastern Forktail.

Catching up in May

2007-05-22T20:27:00.000-05:00

To be honest keeping a blog up to date is more of a challange than I anticipated. I have fallen way behind in my posts so I will try to catch up on what has been going on in May. The month started with Jim Stasz and I doing an early Dorchester County May count on Taylor's Island. Harry Armistead has been conducting bird counts on the first and second weekend of every May for a very long time. For the past couple years I have been helping out on the count by canvasing Taylor's Island. Taylor's is located right on the Chesapeake Bay and is normally a great trap for migrant birds. But not this year. Jim and I only counted 95 species with only one migrant -- a Parula Warbler. Last year we had almost 120 species of birds. Fortunately I scored some major photos. The best being a Red-headed Woodpecker. Red-headed Woodpeckers are residents on the Eastern Shore but very uncommon and to see one is always exciting. Another exciting find was a Juniper Hairstreak. I have only seem one other Juniper Hairstreak so this was a great find. Unfortunately the pic isn't that great but it is identifiable. The next weekend I took a break from saving the grebe and participated in my third World Series of Birding in Cape May, New Jersey. The Maryland Ornithological Society sponsered our team the MOS Yellowthroats. We participate in the Cape May County only class and try to identify as many birds as possible in a 24 hour period from midnight Friday to midnight Saturday. We won our class this year with 184 species. It is an awesome feeling to stand in front of many of the top birders in the country and receive the trophy. After the hectic five days of the series it was nice to just go back to work and watch TV in the evening, but last weekend it all started again. Jim Stasz, Tom Field, Hans Holbrook, and myself hit the Nassawango and Nanticoke River areas hard in search of birds and bugs. Dragonflies and Damselflies were the stars of the weekend with the best being a male and female Furtive Forktail seen in Worcester and Wicomico Counties. These were the first documented sightings for Maryland constituting a new state record! Harlequin Darners, Cyrano Darners, Eastern Red Damsels, and Spaghnum Sprites were all documented for the big year. Another highlight from the weekend was a Bicknell's Thrush seen at Pusey's Bridge in Worcester County. Bicknell's Thrush are very difficult to identify if you don't hear their song. They are very similar in appearence to Gray-cheeked Thrush and only slight differences in plumage color and size separate the two species. We were able to study the thrush very well. It was a new state bird for me and a big plus for the photo big year. So we are now up to date. Now that things have settled down hopefully I will be a little more punctual with my posts.

Chincoteague, Virginia and Eastern Worcester County, Maryland4/28/07

2007-05-07T18:48:00.000-05:00

Photos: Chincoteague Fishing Shack. Common Yellowthroat -- E.A. Vaughn WMA. Black Swallowtail -- E.A. Vaughn WMA.

I decided to head to Chincoteague, Virginia last Saturday with the goal of photographing American Oystercatchers and Whimbrels. In Maryland it is difficult to get close to these two species of shorebirds without some luck but at Chincoteague there are a few oyster beds close to the road where Oystercatchers are regular and Whimbrels are often observed in the marshes close to the road in the refuge. I arrived at the oysterbeds around 7:30 in the morning and to my chagrin they were completely under water. Getting out of my car I did a quick scan along a small beach by the road and about twenty feet away was a single Oystercatcher! I took many photos and finally was able to get a pic of the Oystercatcher with an oyster in its beak. I then headed into the refuge where I drove straight to the marshes where I had seen Whimbrel on previous visits. Once again I was in luck, but the birds were farther away than I had hoped. Still I got one decent photo to use on the website. Whimbrels are the only curlews that are regular migrants along the east coast. They are very skittish birds, so I was glad to get this bird photographed. I took a walk through the low pine woods on one of the refuge trails where I ran into a flock of Myrtle Warblers and Blue-headed Vireos. Blue-headed Vireos are one of the early migrants songbirds on Delmarva. When I was almost back to the parking lot I noticed something move behind a big pine tree. It turned out to be a fat "Delmarva" Fox Squirrel. "Delmarva" Fox Squirrels are an endangered sub-species of Fox Squirrel that live only on the Delmarva Peninsula. Fox Squirrels need clear forests to live and with the destruction of this habitat across most of their range they have become rare. Blue Grosbeaks and Little Blue Herons were also added to the photo list. On the way out of the refuge I photographed a large Red-bellied Turtle basking on a log in the ditch alongside the road. From Chincoteague I traveled up into Maryland and hit E.A. Vaughn WMA in eastern Worcester County. E.A. Vaughn WMA is an area of marshes, pine woods, and mixed woodland that borders on the bay which separates the mainland from the barrier islands. Along a small pond I found a pair of Solitary Sandpipers that were very cooperative for my camera. I also was able to get photos of Common Yellowthroats and White-eyed Vireos. Yellowthroats are pretty little warblers that live in marsh habitats and White-eyed Vireos are commonly found in scrubby areas across Delmarva. A good find was a very fresh Black Swallowtail nectoring on a flowering bush. On the way back home from Worcester County I made a brief stop along the Nassawango where I was able to photograph a female American Redstart. April 28th was the best photo day I have had all year with 14 species added to my photo list.

Warblers, Elfins, and Shorebirds 4/22/07

2007-05-06T13:55:00.000-05:00

Flooded Field where the Ruff and many other shore birds were seen -- Covey's landing Road, Talbot County, Maryland. Eastern Fence Lizard -- Old Bradley Road, Wicomico County, Maryland. Brown Elfin -- Old Bradley Road, Wicomico County, Maryland.

After spending Saturday driving around the dry sandy upland areas of Caroline County, I decide to head back towards the swampy lowlands of the Nassawango to try to photograph Yellow-throated Warblers and other bird species that had arrived over the past week. Yellow-throated Warblers are one of the first neo-migrants to arrive on their breeding grounds on Delmarva. They breed in lowland and coastal pine forests and are easiest to locate in the early Spring because their calls are distinctive and are not drowned out by the songs of later migrants. The Nassawango area has one of the largest populations of Yellow-throated Warblers on Maryland's eastern shore. As soon as I arrived on Bear Swamp Rd in Wicomico County I heard the Yellow-throated Warblers calling in the pine trees. By using a screech owl tape I was able to get one bird to come down from the tree top and get a photo. Prairie Warblers unlike Yellow-throateds live in scrubby cut-over areas. They had arrived over the past week and were calling incessently. American Redstarts, White-eyed and Yellow-throated Vireos, Northern Parulas, and Ovenbirds had also migrated into the Nassawango. After the Nassawngo I headed to Old Bradley Rd. Old Bradley is a small sand road that parallels the Nanticoke River. The road is surrounded by sandy pine forest. There are trails where you can walk through the pines towards the river and eventually run into a white cedar/cypress swamp. I have always had good luck on these trails and today was no different. I saw four Brown Elfins! They were a new state butterfly for me and it was only the second time I had ever seen this species. I was super excited and got a couple great photographs. Eastern Fence Lizards are the most common lizard on Delmarva in sandy pine enviroments. These lizards are a mix of browns and grays on top but if you catch one and turn it upside down they have the most beautiful blue , black, and white undersides. The photo I took shows some of the blue underneath the lizards chin. While leaving Old Bradley Matt Hafner called me on my cell and told me that a Ruff had been spotted in a flooded field in northern Talbot County. This was exciting news. Ruffs are very rare in Maryland but annual along the Delaware coast and it was going to be new for my Talbot County bird list. In a field along Covey's Landing Road was a large depression that had filled with water from the rains earlier in the week. The depression was full of shorebirds and gulls. Pectoral and Least Sandpipers, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Wilson's Snipe, and Dunlin were all observed. With the help of my spotting scope I soon located the Ruff at the far end of the depression, approximently 100 yards from my closest vantage point. My lense was not good enough to get a identifiable photograph, so I took a picture through my spotting scope by setting the end of my camera lense to the eyepiece of the spotting scope and used the scope as a lense extension. After about one hundred photos I was finally able to get a shot that I thought was exceptable. Ruffs are awesome birds. During breeding season they can come in many different colors from pure black, buffy brown, and white. They are an old world breeder which annually strays to the east coast of North America.

Caroline County 4/21/07

2007-05-02T22:24:00.000-05:00

Turkey Footprint -- Idlewilde WMA. Field Pansy -- the fields are turning white with these pretty little flowers. Eastern Kingsnake -- Idlewilde WMA just plain AWESOME!

Once again I decided to hit lower Caroline County to see what was emerging and check out what migrant birds had arrived in the past week. Line Road was the first stop and I was a little disapointed with the lack of butterflies and dragonflies. Azures and a few Henry's Elfins were seen along the road. Springtime Darner numbers had dropped drastically although the Lancet Clubtail numbers seemed about the same. Surprisingly I was able to get a photograph of a Red-breasted Nuthatch which dropped down from the top of a pine tree to investigate my terrible Screech Owl impersonation. Red-breasted Nuthatches were real slim this winter in the mid-atlantic so I was pretty amazed to stir one up this Spring. With the lack of activity along Line Road I decided to head down to Smithville Lake and see if there were any dragons or damsels flying around the lake edges. There wasn't. In fact I couldn't find anything until a pair of Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterflies landed a few feet away from the car. In my opinion Eastern Tiger Swallowtails are Delmarva's showiest butterfly. It always nice to see their large yellow wings flying by in the early Spring. Heading towards one of my favorite spots in Idlewilde WMA I caught a glimpse of a swallow sitting on a telephone wire. It turned out to be a Northern Rough-winged Swallow. It sat there and allowed me to get a couple great shots. A short time later while flipping an old piece of ply wood near an abandoned chicken house in an area that is now part of Idlewilde WMA I found one of my greatest finds so far this year -- a beautiful Eastern Kingsnake! Kingsnakes are super rare. You just don't see that many of these elusive snakes. I got some great shots, put him back underneath the plywood, and headed for home.

Elfins, Darners, and Clubtails 4/14/07

2007-04-15T11:06:00.000-05:00

Photos: Line Road, Caroline County, Maryland. Springtime Darner. Six-spotted Tiger Beetle -- these beautiful beetles were very common along the road. Common Green Darner.

On Saturday Colleen and I spent a few hours walking along Line Road in Caroline County, Maryland. My main targets were Henry's Elfins and Juvenal's Duskywing. We were pleasantly surprised by the amount of insects that were flying. Line Road is a dirt road that is not heavily traveled and I have always had good luck with insects along the roadsides. The first butterfly I spotted was a Henry's Elfin. Elfin's are small mostly brown butterflies that are very habitat specific. I have only seen Henry's Elfins on forested dirt roads on Delmarva. Their main foodplant on Delmarva is American Holly and their fight time is very short from early April to May. While we were walking down the road medium sized dragonflies kept zooming past. I knew they were probably Springtime Darners but I could not get a good look because their flight was so rapid. So I decided to run back to the car and grab my butterfly net and try to catch one. After a couple minutes of running, jumping, and swinging (much to Colleen's amusement), I was finally able to snag one of the dragonflies. I was right in my assumption of the dragons being Springtime Darners. Springtime Darners are one of Delmarva's earliest dragonflies. They also have a short flight time so I was real happy to be able to get a shot of this insect. Spring Azures were very common along the road. These small bright blue butterflies are very common in the spring on Delmarva. The Azure complex is very confusing with many subspecies and possibly full species all lumped under the named Spring Azure. Depending on whose taxonomic status the reader decides to follow, there may be as many as four full species in the complex. The 'Atlantic Holly' Azure is also found on Delmarva but I do not feel that I can safely discern between the species and for now I am sticking with Spring Azure. While taking photos of the azure a Juvenal's Duskywing landed a few feet away. Duskywings are another confusing butterfly family with many species that are extremely variable in their wing patterns. Fortunately on Delmarva we only have a few species and with a little field practice can be separated fairly easily. Juvenal's is the first Duskywing species to fly and can be quite common on Delmarva in wooded areas. While walking back to the car we spooked up a small dark butterfly off the road that landed in the grass along the road side. I was surprised to see that it was another species of Elfin. Eastern Pine Elfins are small brightly patterned brown butterflies. I was elated because I have only seen Eastern Pine Elfins twice on Delmarva. I consider them very uncommon. Colleen and I then took a side trail that led down to a small creek. The trail sides were weedy with waist high grasses. Amazingly hundreds of Springtime Darners would take off from the grasses as we walked past. I have never seen so many individuals of this species in such a small area. Walking back on the path towards tha car a Common Green Darner flew past. Common Green Darners are one of Delmarva's largest dragonflies and one of the prettiest. I was able to catch one in the net and get some really great photos. Driving home I told Colleen that this was just the beginning, that in a month it was going to get really crazy!

The Little Egret that wasn't there 4/7/07

2007-04-14T20:18:00.000-05:00

Photos: Great Horned Owl -- Little Creek WMA. Black-crowned Night-Heron -- Bombay Hook NWR. Common Loon eating a crab -- Indian River Inlet. Red-throated Loon -- Indian River Inlet.

So while perusing the rare bird alerts on the 6th I noticed that a Little Egret had been spotted at Bombay Hook NWR outside Dover, Delaware. Little Egrets are super rare in North America. They are an Old World Heron and any sighting on the East Coast is real exciting. I called Bill Hubick and Hans Holbrook and we set up a time to meet and chase the bird early the next morning.
I woke early Saturday morning to almost an inch of snow and it was still coming down. An hour later Bill, Hans, and myself were rolling down the back roads of Delmarva watching the snow covered fields zoom by while wondering if this was really April. Upon reaching Bombay Hook we drove straight to Bear Swamp where the Little Egret had been seen the day before. There were egrets present but we could not pick out anything other than Great Egrets and Snowy Egrets both of which are common warm weather birds on Delmarva. We decided to criuse the wildlife loop of the refuge slowly just to make sure we had not missed the bird. Along this slow cruise I was able to score some new photos of fairly common species like Red-winged Blackbird, Tree Swallow, and Black-crowned Night-Heron. After three hours spent on the refuge we decided that we had looked long enough for the Little Egret and decided to head south. Port Mahon was strangely slow with only a Snowy Egret photographed. We then headed to Little Creek where we had our star bird of the day. While driving back out to the main road, Bill and Hans simultaneously yelled stop. After backing up a couple feet, along side the road sitting on a small limb was a newly fledged Great Horned Owl. It puffed out its feathers and tried to look as mean as possible. It then started bill clacking and soon an adult Owl flew in and landed in the trees behind the young bird. It was spectacular watching the young owl's behavior. Being satisfied with our photos we left the owl and headed towards the ocean inlets. The wind was howling on the coast and it was really cold even though the sun had come out and the morning snow had long ago disapeared. Gannets were diving off shore and both species of loons were active inside the inlets along with Bonaparte's Gulls, Scoters, and Red-breasted Mergansers. Common Loons were almost entirely in breeding plumage while the Red-throateds were still in transition. Eventhough we did not see the Little Egret it was still an awesome day on Delmarva.

Bitterns and Cricket Frogs 4/1/07

2007-04-08T13:30:00.000-05:00

Photos: Wild Turkey -- photgraphed in Millington WMA. Spring Beauty -- photgraphed in northern Caroline County. They are usually one of the first woodland wildflowers to bloom in April.

On Sunday Bill Hubick, Tom Field, Mike Parr, and myself birded Kent and Caroline Counties in Maryland. Even with temperatures in the 40's and a steady wind we were able to find some great birds. We started the day at Eastern Neck NWR just south of Rock Hall in Kent County. Eastern Neck has become known as the most northerly location for breeding Brown-headed Nuthatches. There has been at least one pair here for a couple seasons. Bill and Mike had not seen the nuthatches so they were are main target along with Yellow-throated Warblers. Yellow-throated Warblers are also very tricky to locate in Kent County and Eastern Neck is the only spot where they are observed with any regularity. After walking down one of the trails at the refuge we soon hit a flock which held all of our desired species. I was not able to get photographs of the nuthatches or warblers but I did get a pic of a Golden-crowned Kinglet. Golden-crowned Kinglets were moving through in sizable numbers and were observed at most of our stops throughout the day. We then headed towards the bay to search for Northern Gannets. The bay outlook at the butterfly garden didn't produce any Gannets. Northern Gannets come up the Chesapeake Bay in the Spring while migrating north but gannets have a major bridge phobia. On a Spring day you can sit at the Bay Bridge and watch gannets soar right up to the bridge and then turn around. They refuse to fly over the bridge. Because of this behavior Northern Gannets are very rare in the northern bay. One of the best times to observe gannets north of the Bay Bridge is on foggy days, wait for the fog to burn off, and hope a few birds happened to fly over the bridge during the limited visibilty. It wasn't foogy the morning we were there so our gannet search didn't turn up any birds but Mike picked out a Little Gull flying with a Bonaparte's Gull. Little Gulls are regular in very small numbers in Spring and Fall. They are normally viewed in Bonie flocks and it is always special to see one. Our bird was way too far away for any photos. We then headed to Millington WMA in eastern Kent County. Along the way I photographed a Cedar Waxwing. Once in Millington the birding was very slow. The cold temperatures and wind kept most of the birds hunkered down. Bill did find a brave Northern Cricket Frog that allowed all of the group to get great photos. After Millington we headed into northern Caroline County where we hit a few wetland areas. Tom braved one particular marsh and spooked an American Bittern that flew right over Bill and myself allowing us both to get great shots. The bittern was a major score. Because they are so secretive in often impassable habitat I was not expecting to get a bittern shot for the year. We ended the day fruitlessly searching through gull flocks for another Little Gull that would be close enough to photograph.

Nassawango on the last day of March

2007-04-07T20:52:00.000-05:00

Photos: Festive Tiger Beetle -- one of the first Tiger Beetles on Delmarva. Falcate Oragnetip -- photographed near the Nassawango River. American Kestrel -- photographed sitting on the fence surrounding the Salisbury airport.

Saturday was my first outing since getting back from Costa Rica and I was excited. It was warm, butterflies were flying, and the first neotropical migrants had finally arrived. My main goal of the day was to photograph a Louisana Waterthrush. The Nassawango area of Worcester/Wicomico Counties in Maryland holds a large population of these birds so that was where I decided to concentrate my search. Colleen and I arrived in the swampy woodlands that surround the Nassawango River in northwest Worcester County and were immediately bombarded by the songs of the waterthrush. As we walked down the dirt road which runs through the middle of the swamp we were scolded by a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher which unfortunately would not come close enough for a photo. Yellow-throated Warblers were also throwing their songs around the forest, but like the gnatcatcher would not come down from their lofty perches to pose for my camera. A single Falcate Orangetip allowed a few photos while feeding alongside the road. Orangetips are one off the earliest flying butterflies on Delmarva. They are really beautiful creatures. Unfortunately their flight season is very short and only lasts until May. The waterthrushes were not very cooperative but I was able to get a decent shot of one bird. Even though I did not get that many shots it was nice to be out in the early Spring watching nature being reborn.

Costa Rica Trip

2007-03-30T20:33:00.000-05:00

Photos: Vampire Bats -- seen on the Osa Peninsula. Skippers mating -- seen at Carara. Rosenberg's Treefrog -- seen on the Osa Peninsula. Blue Morpho and Silver-throated Tanager -- seen at La Paz Falls. Green-crowned Brilliant -- seen at La Paz Falls. Boa Constrictor -- seen on the Osa Peninsula. Common Potoo -- seen on the Osa Peninsula.

The last two weeks I spent birding in Costa Rica with friends from Maryland. It was a spectacular trip with over 400 bird species observed or heard. Many mammals, herps, and other wildlife were also seen. We spent most of our time working the Pacific slope with a few forays onto the Caribbean slope. Our first days were spent in the cloud forests of Monteverde. After Monteverde we birded the Pacific lowlands around Carara and the Rio Tarcoles. Volcan Poas and La Paz Falls were our next destination. We hit the Talmanca highlands and ended our trip on the Osa Peninsula. Over the next few weeks I hope to post my photos from the trip on my smugmug site.

Lower Shore Birding 3/3 -3/4/07

2007-03-09T10:25:00.000-05:00

Photos: Sunset across the Elliot Island marshes.
The next three photos are of the gull we thought might be a Thayer's Gull but we finally decided it was just a light phase Herring Gull.
Flooded Swamp in the Nassawango area of Wicomico County, Maryland

Last weekend I birded the lower Eastern Shore of Maryland with a brief dip down into Virginia. Unfortunately I don't have enough time to go into details because I am leaving in a few hours for Costa Rica. The Big Year is going to be on hold for a couple weeks as myself and some of my Maryland birding friends go explore the back country of CR!!! A few highlights from last weekend were my first amphibian photos for the year. Saturday was very warm (in the 50's) so the Spring peepers were blasting away in the Nassawango. Under a rock at E.A. Vaughn WMA I caught a dark phase Red-backed Salamander. Also seen that day were five Mourning Cloak butterflies but I was not able to get a photo. Sunday I birded with Bill Hubick, Tom Feild, and Zach Baer. We spent most of our time south of Salisbury in Somerset County with a brief stop at the Wicomico dump where we thought we might have photographed a Thayer's Gull. But after reviewing the photos and asking for input from a few gull experts we decided that it was just a light-phased Herring Gull. Wood Ducks and Gadwall were finally captured as well as a big Turkey flock. But to be honest all I'm really thinking about now is Quetzals and Blue Morphos. Check back in a couple weeks and I post some photos of our trip. Hopefully when I get home the butterflies will be flying and the Yellow-throated Warblers will be singing!

February '07 -- A Summary

2007-03-06T22:46:00.000-05:00

Photos: Purple Dead Nettle blooming near Cambridge
Thick-billed Murre in Ocean City

February was a great month that held many special moments. The Delmarva Peninsula finally experienced hard winter weather and our only substantial snowfall. The month started with a great day of birding which resulted in photos of the Northern Shrike at Prime Hook NWR and Eurasian Collared-Doves in Selbyville, Delaware. Other rare birds followed through out the month like Lapland Longspur in Talbot County and Red-necked Grebes in Ocean City. But the most special bird was the Thick-billed Murre that I saw in Ocean City. This was a life bird for me and to observe this bird at such an intimate level will be remembered for a long time. Mammal photos were finally taken this month. I will argue that mammals are going to be my toughest group to photograph because most species are rarely seen and only for brief moments. The Marsh Rice Rat that I photographed in Wicomico County was awesome as was the Gray Fox in Kent County, Maryland and the Harbor Seal in Ocean City. All three of these animals were unexpected and to secure their photos for the Big Year was a major score. The last day of February I noticed a blooming Purple Dead Nettle which reminded me that Spring is coming.

Snow Birding on the Upper Shore 2/26/07

2007-03-05T22:59:00.000-05:00

Photos: Gambel's sub-species of the White-crowned Sparrow photographed in Kent County, Maryland
Horned Lark outside of Rock Hall, Maryland
Muscovy Duck (I'm a sucker for a photogenic exotic) Choptank, Maryland

On Sunday Bill Hubick and decided to bird the Upper Shore. Since ducks were beginning to migrate we decided to start out in Caroline County and get Bill some good county birds. Caroline County is the only land locked Eastern Shore county so many duck species are harder to find, especially diving ducks. We hit the town of Choptank first. Choptank is located right on the Choptank River and is a really good place to look for ducks. Our first good bird of the day was a fly-by Canvasback. I know of only one reported Canvasback sighting for Caroline County in the past few years. Outside of Choptank Bill spotted a white bird in a large Canada Goose flock. Using a spotting scope we were excited to find that the bird was a Ross' Goose. Ross' Geese look like Snow Geese but they are half the size and have a really small bill. Normally they are found in Snow Goose flocks where they blend in so well they are terribly difficult to find. It was exciting to find one so easily. Unfortunately the bird was too far away for me to get a photograph. From there we went to the Denton sewage ponds where we found two more Canvasbacks! Since sewage ponds seemed to be treating us well we headed to the Ridgely ponds which held a drake Redhead which is another really good bird for Caroline County. From Ridgely we found two Snow Buntings in a Horned lark Flock on Sparks Road but once again I was unable to get identifiable photos. By the time we left Caroline County we had ticked 16 species of waterfowl. Upon reaching Chestertown, Maryland it was beginning to snow. The Chestertown sewage ponds surprisingly held zero waterfowl. We decided to head to Rock Hall to look for waterfowl. On the way we got great photos of Savannah Sparrows that were feeding on the side of the road. While rounding a corner on a back road east of Rock Hall, Bill yells out that he sees a fox. When I get on the animal all I see is the fox running up a hill and out of sight. Bill and I both realize simultaneously that the fox did not have a white tip on the tail. This meant it was a Gray Fox. The white tipped tail is a diagnostic feature of the Red Fox. Gray Foxes are much more rare than Red Foxes. I was really bummed out that I didn't get a photo. Bill suggested backing the car up and climbing up a small embankment to see if the fox had stopped running. I obliged and climbed the embankment and was amazed to see the fox staring right at me. He allowed me to get a couple photos before he ran away for good. Birding in the snow can be very exciting. Birds that normally feed in fields and are hard to locate become much easier to locate when there is snow on the ground. Bill and I were able to photograph Horned Larks and American Pipits. Both of these birds are really difficult to photograph but with the snow they became fairly easy. Our best bird of the day soon followed. Outside of Butertown in Kent County we located a flock of White-crowned Sparrows. Bill soon picked out a 'Gambel's' race of the White-crowned Sparrow. White-crowned's are not particulary rare on Delmarva but the 'Gambel's' race live in western North America. Rarely the 'Gambel's' race wanders to the east coast. Our photos are the first documented photographs of the sub-species for Maryland. We worked our way back towards Oxford in the snow driving back roads and searching for good birds. Outside of Easton, Maryland we finally hit the golden flock. We spotted a large flock of Horned Larks close to the road. After a couple minutes I spotted a Snow Bunting feeding with the larks. Then Bill found a Lapland Longspur. Longspur's are small brown sparrow size birds that blend really well in field habitats and they are almost impossible to find. Most of the time it is easier to identify longspurs by the flight calls then by actually seeing them. I knew that I was going to need a good snow if I was going to have a chance of getting a photo of a longspur. We watched the flock until it flew off across the field. It was a long exciting day with many good birds and photos.

Ocean City, Maryland 2/24/07

2007-03-03T19:46:00.000-05:00

Photos: Thick-billed Murre -- a super rarity that is rarely seen from shore during the winter.
Ring-billed Gull -- this photo was taken while the bird was washing in a pond at Eagles Nest Golf Course.
Great Cormorant -- taken at Ocean City Inlet
Horned Grebes -- taken in West Ocean City

On the 21 of February word got around on the birding circuit that a Thick-billed Murre was regularly being seen in a small canal in West Ocean City. With much frustration I knew that I would have to wait until Saturday morning to chase the murre. I had never seen a Thick-billed Murre which just added to my anxiety that the bird wouldn't be there on Saturday. Friday evening I began receiving phone calls from my friends that they were watching the murre and it was only twenty feet away! Thick-billed Murres belong to the Alcid family which includes the more well known puffins. In North America they breed in northern Canada and Greenland. During the winter months they spend all their time at sea. So having a Thick-billed Murre regularly seen from land is an exceptional phenomenon. Friday night before I went to sleep I sent out all the positive mojo I could muster towards Ocean City and it worked. Saturday morning while photographing Ruddy Turnstones at the inlet the Thick-billed Murre flew in the inlet and swam back to its old haunt in the canal in West OC. There were many birders present and it was great to get a new life bird and share the comraderie of the moment with everyone else. The day was full of surprises. While searching for the murre, Hans Holbrook gave me a call and told me that there was a Harbor Seal sitting up on the flats in Assawoman Bay. The seal was real far away so a great photo was out of the question but I'm happy with my pic. After the seal it was time to chase two Red-necked Grebes that were being seen amongst the shrimp boats tied up at the West OC workboat docks. When we arrived the two grebes were feeding under the docks and allowed Hans and myself to get some nice photos. After photographing the Red-necked Grebes we went back out and photographed a Harlequin Duck that was feeding underneath the Ocean City Fishing Pier. Harlequin Ducks used to be regular at Ocean City Inlet but for the past five years or so they have been strangely absent except for a few scattered reports. So catching a photo of a Harlequin was a great boost for the big year. Other new photos for the day included a Tricolored Heron and a Red-breasted Merganser that we spooked while photographing the Red-necked Grebes. After eating a fine lunch at Plaza Tapatia Tom Fields and myself went to the Eagles Nest Golf Course to see if we could get better photos of the Eurasian Wigeon that has been there all winter. The wigeon was swimming on the other end of the pond so my photos were just as distant as the ones I took back in January but I did get a few neat pictures of Ring-billed Gulls washing in the pond. Tom and I then headed to the Wicomico landfill to try once again for the Glaucous Gull that seems to have been there all winter. We were feeling real good about the chase because Bill Hubick had seen the gull earlier in the morning. It was 4:30pm by the time Tom and I hit the landfill and once again I struck out. We did pick out an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull which was a nice rarity to add to the day.

Presidents Day Birding on Delmarva 2/19/07

2007-02-24T18:37:00.000-05:00

Photos: Ring-billed Gull at Kent Narrows, Ruddy Ducks and Lesser Scaup at Kent Narrows, American Coot at Romancoke, Kent Island, Maryland.

Monday I spent most of the day driving around Caroline County, Maryland searching for field birds like Horned Larks and Lapland Longspurs. After four hours of looking over frozen fields I thought that it might be my first outing this year where I could possibly get skunked on new photos. I was supposed to be in DC to pick up a friend at 5:00pm so I decided to give up on the frozen tundra of Caroline County and headed towards Kent Narrows where I knew there would at least be Common Goldeneyes, a type of bay duck that I had not yet photographed. In Grasonville just east of the Narrows I found a big flock of Brown-headed Cowbirds that were easily photographed along with American Robins and Northern Flickers. Feeling elated with three new photo species I headed towards the Narrows and captured a male Common Goldeneye taking flight after being spooked by my car. It was a lucky shot and one that I'll gladly take.

Wicomico and Somerset Counties, Maryland 2/17/07

2007-02-24T18:05:00.000-05:00

Photos: Surf Scoter on the Cambridge waterfront, Herring Gull at the Wicomico Landfill, Wenona Harbor, Somerset County, Maryland.

On February 17 Hans Holbrook and I did some deep winter birding on the Eastern Shore. We started the morning on the Cambridge waterfront along the Choptank River. Due to the freezing temperatures over the previous week the Choptank was almost completely frozen. We were hoping that around the marinas we might find some open water which would hold waterfowl. Our first stop was at Long Warf where around the skipjack Nathen of Dorchester there was some water which held an adult male Surf Scoter that allowed us to take some great photos. Unfortunately we could not find any other open water so we headed towards Salisbury, Md. Earlier in the week a Glaucous Gull was observed at the Wicomico landfill so we once again braved the stinking mountain of trash and earth movers to try to locate this rare northern gull. After 20 minutes of diligent searching through 1000's of gulls we came up empty. I did manage a photo of one of the many Fish Crows that were scavenging through the refuse. From the dump we decided to head towards White Haven Ferry to look for Common Mergansers. Unfortunately, we came up empty on the mergansers at White Haven but I managed to score pics of Belted Kingfisher and Red-shouldered Hawk. Red-shouldered Hawks are uncommon on Delmarva but this day it was the most common bird of prey. We saw over eight Red-shouldereds throughout the day -- a really good number. While driving down Clara Road towards the Wicomico River, Hans shouted to stop and back up. He said he might have seen a rat chewing on a phragmite stalk. We backed up and sure enough a Marsh Rice Rat was half way up a phragmite stalk chewing on the reed. We each got great photos of the rodent which did not seem to mind two humans five feet away excitingly snapping pictures. The Marsh Rice Rat is a major photo score. It is only the second one that I have ever seen and to have one model so well is beyond belief. Along the same road we came upon a nice feeding flock of sparrows and Bluebirds. I managed a nice Bluebird photo and Carolina Chickadee shot. We then went down to Somerset County. On Reading Ferry Road along a wet ditch three Wilson's Snipe allowed a few minutes of mad shutter snapping. We ended the day on Rumbley Point Road looking for Short-eared Owls. We were fortunate enough to have an owl sitting on a small stick right off the road in the marsh. Short-eared Owls are one of the few diurnal owls. They can sometimes be easily seen working marshes on Delmarva hawking for small rodents like Marsh Rice Rats.

Kent Narrows 2/11/07

2007-02-12T19:07:00.000-05:00

Photos: Lesser Scaup flock with Coots Kent Narrows, Mallards and hybrids Kent Narrows

Over the last week the freezing temperatures caused most of the rivers to ice over, so on our way to Annapolis last night Colleen and I stopped at Kent Narrows to see if there were any waterfowl hanging out in the open water. When we pulled up to the narrows we were were greeted by hundreds of ducks feeding in the waters close to the parking lot. Lesser Scaup were the most numerous with Am. Coots, Ruddy Ducks, Common Goldeneyes, and the resident Mallards and hybrid ducks. Unfortunately the goldeneyes were in terrible light and I couldn't get any photos but the scaup and the ruddies were very obliging.

Talbot County Birding 2/4/07

2007-02-12T18:28:00.000-05:00

Sunday afternoon my girlfriend Colleen and I drove around Talbot County, Maryland. My main goal was to see if we could find any Cackling Geese to photograph in the many goose flocks foraging in the surrounding fields. Earlier in the morning Hans had called and said he might have seen a Pink-sided Junco (a western sub-species of the Dark-sided Junco) near Pickering Creek Audubon Sanctuary, but he wasn't sure so he wanted us to try to get a photograph if we could refind the bird. Colleen and I found the junco flock but we were not able to locate any birds that resembled what Hans saw. I did manage to get a photo of a Dark-sided Junco that was sitting up in a water bush. Driving back roads we saw plenty of goose flocks but couldn't find any cacklers that were close enough to the road to photograph. There seemed to be many Red-tailed Hawks sitting on telephone poles alongside the road and I was able to get a few photos. Blackwalnut Point on Tlghman Island came through once again with a female Black Scoter mixed in with the usual Surf Scoters. Although the Scoter flock was fairly far offshore I was able to get one identifiable shot of the female Black Scoter.

A Couple Delaware Rarities 2/3/07

2007-02-12T17:41:00.000-05:00

Photos: Hans at Broadkill Beach, Prickley Pear Cactus at Prime Hook NWR, Cypress Swamp east of aurel, Delaware

Hans Holbrook and I spent a great Saturday birding in Delaware and we lucked out by getting photos of Eurasian Collared-Dove and Northern Shrike. We left Oxford Saturday morning and drove to Indian River Inlet with a brief stop in Salisbury to check out the lakes by the Ward Museum. These lakes often are full of waterfowl and I was able to get shots of Ring-necked Ducks although the Pied-billed Grebes and Hooded Mergansers were not as cooperative. We then made a stop in Selbyville, Delaware to look for the resident Eurasian Collared-Doves. I just found out about this population of doves. They have been present in Selbyville for at least five years and are said to be the first established population in the Mid-Atlantic. After locating the right street we turned a corner and Hans spotted two doves sitting on a house roof. I immediately started taking pictures until Hans pointed out the cop car in the drive and suggested we should roll on. Indian River Inlet held the usual shorebirds, loons, and ducks. Our next stop was Silver Lake in Rehobeth Beach to get pics of the Am. Coots that reside there in the winter. When we pulled up, the coots were eating on the grass between the road and the lake and I was able to get a few shots. Next stop was Prime Hook NWR to try for the Northern Shrike. This was my fourth trip to the refuge searching for the shrike and I didn't have much faith. Hans and I split up and each took a meadow and after about half an hour I viewed the shrike sitting on top of a small shrub in the middle of the meadow. I ecstatically called Hans and we followed the bird around for about an hour trying to get close enough for identifiable photos. A Great Egret was feeding by the side of the road to Broadkill Beach and I was able to get a great shot of the egret getting ready to land.We then made our way across the state to Trap Pond State Park to do a little reconoitering of the Cypress Swamp. We didn't see any good birds but the swamps were beautiful and we made plans to come back as soon as it gets warm. Getting photos of Northern Shrike and Eurasian Collared-Dove is a real bonus. These are two birds that I did not expect to find when I began planning for the Delmarva Big Photo Year. Just being able to observe these birds on Delamrva is truly special.

January '07-- A Summary

2007-01-31T20:00:00.000-05:00

Photos: Peacock at Tunis Mills, marsh south of Blackwater NWR, Black Rat Snake at Prime Hook NWR, Mallard X Domestic Duck Hybrid at Kent Narrows.

I am real pleased with the way the fundraiser is progressing. After one month I have photographed 51 species (50 birds and one herp) and still have many easy winter birds to get. I have been hitting the coast real hard trying to make sure I do not miss any of the coastal winter birds and have chased a lot of the rarities that have shown up on Delmarva. Chasing rarities has been relatively successful. I have taken photos of the Tropical Kingbird, Marbled Godwits, and the Eurasian Wigeon, but I have missed the Northern Shrike three times, the Red-necked Grebe, and the Little and Black-headed Gulls that have been hanging out in the Bonapartes Gull flock at Indian River Inlet. Early in January the weather was amazing with temperatures in the seventies. I saw or heard four species of frog (Green, Bull Frog, Spring Peeper, Fowler's Toad), two species of snake (Black Rat and Eastern Ribbon), two species of butterfly (Monarch and Clouded Sulpher), and many wild flowers in bloom. Later in the month the temperature got back to normal with the blustery winds, freezing rain, and even a little snow. With the shackles of Maryland loosened, birding Delaware and Virginia has been great fun. I am going to spend February concentrating more on land birds, hitting many of the inland parks on Delmarva instead of the coast. Hopefully, I will be able to keep up the fifty species a month average!

Black Walnut Point 1/28/07

2007-01-31T19:35:00.000-05:00

Photo: Black Walnut Point

Sunday was completely different from Saturday. Rain and wind greeted me as I walked out to the car. I only had a few hours to bird because Colleen and I were going to Washington DC to have dinner with friends. With only a little time I decided to head to Black Walnut Point to see if there were any ducks that I could photograph. Black Walnut Point is the southern tip of Tilghman Island which is the western most point of Talbot County, Maryland. On the western side of Tilghman Island is the Chesapeake Bay and to the south is the mouth of the Choptank River. It is a great location to view waterbirds and I was especially hoping to get pictures of Long-tailed Ducks. With the bad weather I was not very optomistic but when I pulled up to the parking lot alongside the bay I was surprised to see many ducks swimming close to the bulkhead. There were Surf Scoters, Buffleheads, Long-tailed Ducks, Lesser Scaup, and Common Goldeneyes in view. I was able to get photos of both a female Bufflehead and a Long-tailed Duck.

Prime Hook NWR and Indian River Inlet 1/27/07

2007-01-30T20:41:00.000-05:00

Photos: Red-throated Loon, Sperm Whale (5/05 off Cape Hatteras), South jetty of Indian River Inlet, Cape Henelopen Light.

Saturday morning I met some friends at Primehook NWR and tried to locate the Northern Shrike for the third time. Hans Holbrook, Bill Hubick, Tom Feilds and their girlfriends Sara, Becky, and Geraldine and myself (without Colleen) searched diligently throughout all the meadow habitats on the refuge for the damned shrike and came up empty once again. We did find a nice sparrow flock which held an American Tree Sparrow. The Tree Sparrow perched nicely in a bush and allowed me to take ten or twelve photos in which not one turned out real well. If Am. Tree Sparrows were not so rare on the coastal plain I would not have included the picture in the photo gallery. While I was getting into my car my trusty tan corduroys decided to give out around my posterior. Now normally this wouldn't have been a big deal if it was just the boys but there were three women birding with us. I had a problem. When I got out of my car I announced to everyone that I had ripped the ass out of my pants. Bill started taking pictures right away. Thankfully I had a nice pair of pea green ski pants in the trunk of my car that covered my anterior rip and we got back to birding. We headed to Cape Henelopen and walked around the point where there wasn't much but a few Surf Scoters, Sanderlings, and Cormorants. By now it was lunch time and we had worked up a thirst so we went and had libations and sandwhiches at the Dogfish Head Brewpub in Rehobeth Beach. Indian River Inlet was our last stop. We wanted to hit the inlet at high tide which was around 3pm because earlier in the week a female North Atlantic Right Whale and a her calf had been frequenting the inlet and we were hoping to get pictures. North Atlantic Right Whales are amoung the rarest large whale species on the planet. Estimates put the entire population around 350 animals. So with cameras armed and ready we perched ourselves on the jetty and waited...until sunset without really seeing anything. A Red-throated Loon and a female Boat-tailed Grackle gave us some great photo ops and it was fun hanging out with friends. I posted a photo up above of a Sperm Whale that was seen off of Cape Hatteras back in 2005 on a pelagic trip out of Manteo, North Carolina. We saw many Sperm Whales that day along with Cuvier's Beaked Whales.

Ducks and Vultures 1/21/07

2007-01-21T22:45:00.000-05:00

Above Photos: Kent Narrows, Tunis Mills, Female Redhead
While running around today I was able to score three more photos. Colleen and I drove to the Cambridge waterfront early this morning with the hopes of photographing the Redhead that hangs out in the Canvasback flock. We were very fortunate that the drake Redhead was close to the street and was easily photographed. I also got shots of the female Redhead. After checking out a few more spots in Cambridge we went to Tunis Mills and let Stitch (Colleens dog) run on some wooded property owned by friends. A small flock of Black Vultures were eating on a dead raccoon next to the path and I was able to get a good shot of one of the birds. After a great brunch we decided to go and see Pan's Labyrinth in Annapolis. On the way we stopped at Kent Narrows and took photos of a Surf Scoter that was fairly close to the parking lot at the Jetty Restaurant. Then the snow started. Hopefuly we will get three feet!

A Windy Day On The Coast 1/20/07

2007-01-20T21:56:00.001-05:00

Above Photos: Bonaparte's Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Ring-billed Gull.
The weather channel said the wind was blowing 25 to 35 mph when I crawled out of bed this morning. With low expectations I headed for the coast with the hopes of photographing the Eurasian Wigeon that has been hanging out in one of the ponds at Eagles Nest Golf Course in West Ocean City. Because of the frigid winds that were blowing there were not any golfers so I was allowed to walk out on the course and get as close as possible to the wigeon flock. Unfortunately my sneaking up on duck flock skills are real rusty. As soon as the ducks saw me they swam to the other side of the pond which resulted in the far photo of the Eurasian Wigeon in the photo gallery. Although the duck was distant the photo still shows the diagnostic marks of the rust colored head and the cream patch on top of the head. Eurasian Wigeons are annual visitors to the Delmarva Peninsula but they are still considered quite rare and this bird is the only one that has stuck around this year. They are usually found in flocks with American Wigeons. At the large Ocean Pines pond there had assembled a massive gull flock which held an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull. Like Eurasian Wigeons, Lesser Black-backed Gulls are from the Old World and until recently were considered real good finds. But in the recent years Lesser Black-backed Gulls have become regular up and down the east coast. Any large congregation of gulls will usually yield at lest one Lesser. I hit Indian River Inlet on the changing tide and Gannets were working the mouth of the inlet along with a large flock of Bonaparte's Gulls. I couldn't find any Little or Black-headed Gulls in the Bonie flock. Out at the end of the north jetty I got photos of Sanderlings working the edges of the rocks with Ruddy Turnstones and Purple Sandpipers. At Rehobeth's Silver Lake I was surprised to find a female Shoveler amoung all the Black Duck/Mallard hybrids. It was a good day to be out. The wind was howling and made my eyes tear up every time I lifted my camera or binoculars but the air was clear and the sun was bright and the birds were almost cooperative.

Birding Dorchester County 1/14/07

2007-01-15T19:20:00.000-05:00

On Sunday my girlfriend Colleen and my friend Karl Piltz and I spent most of the day birding Dorchester County. Karl just purchased a new Nikon D100 and he wanted to photograph some of the scenery at my grandfather's abandoned boatyard on LeCompt Creek west of Cambridge. While Karl and Colleen wandered around taking pictures of old wooden boats I went looking for some of the local birds. Eastern Towhees, Whitethroats, and a Carolina Wren were all ticked. While a flock of Chickadees and Brown-headed Nuthatches caused me much consternation and eluded my camera. After Karl had gotten his fill of old boats we headed to Blackwater NWR to try to get shots of the White Pelicans that have been hanging out all winter. Unfortunately when we got to the pelican site the lighting was horrible so we decided to come back later on in the day. The Eurasian Collared-Doves on Hooper's Island were our next target. I was also hoping to take photos of the Sanderling flock that has been present all winter on the causeway between the upper and lower islands. Neither the Doves or the Sanderling flock were seen. It was starting to get a depressing. I had missed almost all my target species for the weekend. We spent almost an hour on the island and by the time we left I had gotten zero photos. We stopped back at Blackwater NWR and got shots of the pelicans. Unfortunately the White Pelican flock congregates on flats that are quite a distance from the road so my photos are not that great but they are identifiable so I'm going with them. On the Cambridge waterfront resides a Canvasback flock which was our next stop. Great shots of Canvasbacks, Mallards, American Wigeon, and a Greater Scaup were all taken. We were almost out to Rt. 50 when Bill Hubick called and said that Harry Armistead might have had a female Barrow's Goldeneye on Hooper's Island. Arggghh!!! It had been a long day and the thought of driving all the back to Hooper's Island was not appealing. But I have a grebe to save from extinction so I dropped Karl off at the bar, told him we would pick him up on the way back through, and Colleen and I headed back down county. When we arrived at the spot where Harry had the goldeneye there was nothing out in the bay but an Oldsquaw and a few Bufflehead (all to far out to photograph) so we drove to where the doves were being seen by everybody but us. They still did not want to be seen. I think they can smell my car as soon as I get on the island. It was a long day and even though I missed some targets I still managed some good photos and the Bears won.

Hitting The Delaware And Maryland Coasts 1/13/06

2007-01-14T23:44:00.000-05:00

On Saturday I awoke early and headed to Dover, Delaware in hopes of photographing a Red-necked Grebe that was being seen regulary throughout the previous week. Red-necked Grebes are annual on the Delmarva Peninsula but only in very small numbers so I needed to chase this bird. Chasing rarities can be a very frustrating endevour. A lot of the time you come up empty having spent a lot of money and time only to have the day end up in frustration. It is a problem that birder's deal with on a regular basis. And I have had to deal with it on all my chases in Delaware so far this year. I have missed the Northern Shrike at Prime Hook NWR and now the Red-necked Grebe at Dover. But that's alright, it was a good day anyway. I went to many places that I had not been to in many years. Ted Harvey WMA, where I had seen the Whiskered Tern back in the early ninties. Little Creek, which held a White-winged Black Tern at the same time as the Whiskered Tern. Bombay Hook, where I had gotten so many life birds like Ruff, Cinnamon Teal, and Northern Lapwing. Port Mahon, with it's legendary shore bird flocks that amazes everytime I have gone during migration. Even though I did not see anything of note on the Delaware coast it was great to go back to some of these places that I have ignored in the past few years. I stopped by Silver Lake in Rehobeth Beach on my way south and photographed a willing Double-crested Cormorant and the Bonaparte Gull flock at Indian River Inlet was accommodating as well. At Ocean City Inlet the Common Eider flock was briefly seen but they were on the south side of the jetty and were to far away to get any photos. In the parking lot at the inlet I took photos of Ring-billed, Herring, and Great Black-backed Gulls. On the flats along side Hoopers Restaurant on the bayside an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull was seen but I didn't like the photos so I'll have to wait on this species. It was getting late on the ride back to Oxford but I couldn't resist the urge to stop at the Salisbury landfill and maybe get an Iceland or Glaucaus Gull pic. Many Gulls were present but no rarities were seen. It is always nice to end the day with the heavy aromas of a city dump wafting around inside the car.

Exploring The Coast of Virginia's Eastern Shore 1/7/06

2007-01-09T20:28:00.000-05:00

After spending the past five years birding exclusively in Maryland, I am real excited that I am going to get to spend time exploring Delaware and Virginia, searching for new places to bird and going places where I have never been. After reading that Harry Armistead had had a massive flock of Marbled Godwits at Willis Warf, Virginia, my girlfriend Colleen and I decided to drive down to the Eastern Shore of Virginia and see if we could relocate Harry's birds. Other than birding Chincoteague and Kiptopeke State Park I have never really explored Virginia's Eastern Shore and I was really excited about all the cool habitat that we saw. We drove straight to Willis Warf which is a small waterfront comunity that sits right against the beautiful coastal marsh. When we arrived around 11:00am the tide was quite high and other than a few Bufflehead there were no birds in sight. Colleen and I then explored the back roads on the coastal side of the peninsula until we arrived in Oyster. Oyster is another small community built on the marshes. Red-throated Loons and Brant were eating in the small marshy cuts while gulls picked at discarded seafood byproducts that had been thrown out by local picking houses. At Kiptopeke State Park, which is situated on the bay side there were Brown Pelicans and Horned Grebes working the waters near the docks and jetties. On our way back north we decided to stop and have lunch at Stingrays (a great little diner just north of Kiptopeke on Rt 13) and try Willis Warf one more time. When we arrived the tide was low exposing large mud flats that were chocked full of shorebirds. As I jumped out of the car a Peregrine Falcon swooped down and dive bombed the large flock of Western Willets and Marbled Godwits causing all the birds to get up. It was a beautiful sight seeing the buffy underwings of the Godwits flying with the black and white wings of the Willets. I took a thousand photos (none of which I was very pleased with) as the birds flew out over the flats. Marbled Godwits are a rare bird in Maryland and to see so many in one flock was an incredible sight. After the Godwit/Willet spectacle we zoomed up to Chincoteague and tooks some photos of Greater Yellowlegs working an oyster pile but it was starting to get dark and it had been a long day so we drove for home.

Prime Hook NWR and the Delaware Shore 1/6/07

2007-01-08T20:17:00.000-05:00

I headed out Saturday morning to try to photograph the Northern Shrike that has been frequenting Prime Hook NWR. The unseasonably warm weather caused a few surprises. Two species of snakes were observed. A pair of Black Rat Snakes that were so bedraggled and ugly that I'm only going to post their photos if I do not end up with any other Black Rat Snake pics for the rest of the year. A beautiful small Eastern Ribbon Snake was extremely photogenic as it soaked up rays on one of the refuge trails. Spring Peepers were singing in the flooded woodlands while Green Frogs jumped from the banks of the dike trail. A fat Fowler's Toad was seen sitting on a small dirt patch out in one of the refuges meadows. I saw two Clouded Sulphers flying in the same meadow. Unfortunately the Eastern Ribbon Snake yielded the only usuable non-avian photo for the day. White-crowned Sparrows, a bird that can be a nuisance to find in Maryland's Eastern Shore counties, seemed to be quite prevalent at Prime Hook and one healthy looking male posed for some great pics. The Northern Shrike was not as accommodating. I walked around the meadows where the Shrike had been seen earlier in the morning but I never found the bird. The marshes surrounding the road to Broadkill Beach at the southern end of the refuge held a massive Snow Goose flock and here is where I got my Pintail photo. I searched the Snow Goose flock for a Ross' Goose but came up empty. I then made my way to Indian River Inlet where I was successful in photographing both Purple Sandpipers and Ruddy Turnstones at the end of the north jetty. An obliging Common Loon swam close to the jetty and allowed me to take nice photos. Bonapartes Gulls were working the changing tides inside the inlet but I was never able to get the flock into good light. When I was stashing my gear in my car getting ready to leave the inlet I was lucky enough to look up and see a Peregrine Falcon land on the top of one of the power line poles near the parking lot. The falcon was really too far away for a great picture but in the photo the bird is definently identifiable. I waited in the parking lot for close to half an hour waiting for the falcon to fly off that pole thinking that I could get a flight shot but the bird never moved so I headed home.

Tiger Salamander Chase Vol 1 1/5/06

2007-01-08T19:11:00.000-05:00

So the word is that on the first warm rainy night of January there is a spectacle that takes place in a certain delmarva bay up in Kent County, Maryland. Imagine 50-100 six to eight inch Tiger Salamanders all waking up in their underground burrows saying to themselves, "Hey, it's raining outside and its warm. I want to get it on!" So they climb up to the outside world and instinctively know to start heading to that pond where they got it on the year before. No one gets lost. They all get there safely. Meet their mates. And for one warm rainy night this certain delmarva bay turns into an orgiastic Tiger Salamander utopia. At least that's what I was thinking as I was driving up to Millington WMA in Kent County that rainy warm foggy night.
A few weeks earlier I had gone to Millington WMA to scope out at which pond the Tiger Salamanders might mate. I found a couple delmarva bays that I thought might be the right ones and decided to head back that first rainy night in January. I have no problem admitting that I freaked myself out. It was foggy, yet there was a slight breeze that made the tree branches rustle. It was dark and my Wal-Mart head lamp just didn't seem to light up enough of an area to make me comfortable. I knew there was some deranged redneck cannibal freak waiting behind the next tree for a mid-thirties amatuer naturalist/photographer who happens to be out trying to take pictures of copulating salamanders. I walked around two of the delmarva bays I had staked out a few weeks earlier. I found no salamanders. I got wet. I heard Spring Peepers. I fell into the delmarva bay. I got real wet. There were no deranged redneck cannibl freaks. There were still no salamanders. I'm not sure if I had the right delmarva bay or it still might have been too early in the year. I'll just have to go back up to Millington the next warm rainy night in January.

House Sparrow Photos 1/4/07

2007-01-04T22:31:00.000-05:00

My main goal today was to get photos of the House Sparrow flock that hangs out down the road from the boatyard. House Sparrows are one of our most common birds but they are not native to North America. In 1851 twenty House Sparrows were released in New York City. Within a few decades the diminutive House Sparrow had spread across most of the country. In the mid 1800's it was common practice for municipalities to import certain bird species from Europe. In E.A. Zimmerman's "History of the European House Sparrow" he relates the House Sparrows introduction to Cincinnati,
"Between 1872-1874, the Cincinnati Acclimatization Society released 4.000 European songbirds of at least 18 different species, including House Sparrows and Starlings, in order to 'aid people against the encroachment of insects' and to ensure that the 'ennobling influence of the song of birds will be felt by the inhabitants.' Only the Starling and House Sparrow took hold."

Lunchtime in Oxford 1/3/07

2007-01-04T22:00:00.000-05:00

Once again I went out at lunchtime to try to get a few more photos. Along Bachelor Point Harbor Road there is a long hedge row that separates houses from the road. There is a large flock of House finches that congregate in the hedge and I was able to get a decent shot of a female. The males were not as cooporative. A male Cardinal, a species that I have always had a hard time photographing, gave me a couple seconds on a bare limb and I was able to get of a couple shots. Yellow-rumped Warblers are usually very common around Oxford but this winter there just does not seem to be the large numbers hanging around. After looking for a few days I finally ran into a flock of Yellow-rumpeds along the road into the Oxford Cemetary and I really like the shot of the lone male looking down at me.

A Little Lunch Time Photography 1/2/07

2007-01-02T17:50:00.000-05:00

During my lunch break today I went out and got a few photos of one of the many Mockingbirds that hang around the boatyard where I work in Oxford. Unfortunately the wind was still blowing strong so the birds were not as cooporative as I had hoped. After work, right before the sun went down, I managed to get a shot of one of the Song Sparrows that live along the ditches at the boatyard. Two more easy ones down.

A Rainy First Day 1/1/07

2007-01-01T20:16:00.001-05:00

I was awakened this morning at 7:00am by the sound of horizontal rain hitting the bedroom window. It was then I knew this was going to be a tough day to start the Big Year. My plan for the day had been to hit all the bird rarities that were still hanging around Delmarva. There is a Northern Shrike at Prime Hook, Eurasian Wigeon in West Ocean City, and Tropical Kingbird in Somerset County, but with the bad weather this plan had to be scrapped. The rain slackened around 11:00am so my girlfriend and I hit the road. We decided to go straight after the Tropical Kingbird. By 12:15pm we had arrived at the Kingbird spot and the rain had stopped but the bird was nowhere to be seen. After only a few minutes we heard the bird call and soon spotted it hawking for insects amoung the trees. We hoped the bird would come closer to the road allowing for better photos but we soon got tired of waiting and with the approaching weather we decided to head for Ocean City. By the time we got to the Ocean City inlet the wind was blowing extremely hard and the rain was coming down in sheets. The only acceptable photo I took was of a Rock Pigeon hanging out in the inlet parking lot. The rest of the afternoon was a compete washout. There were birds around but it was raining too hard for photography. It was not the opening day that I had hoped for but I did get photos of one of the three rarities. To see the photos taken today click on the Delmarva Photo Big Year link to the right.

So You Would Like To Make A Pledge

2006-12-31T18:50:00.000-05:00

So you would like to help out in saving the Junin Grebe from extinction by pledging money toward my Delmarva Photo Big Year. It is really simple. First (this is real important) I am not going to see or handle any money. I have set up an email account at savethegrebe@hotmail.com. If you would like to make a pledge just shoot me an email and I will put your name, email, and amount pledged in a folder. At the end of the year I will send you a message letting you know how much money you will need to send to the American Bird Conservancy. For example, if you pledged .05 cents a photo and I took 400 photos then I would send you a message saying that you need to send a check of $20 to ABC (with address of course). It's all real easy. If you would like to make a pledge send me an email and I'll keep your pledge stashed until the end of the year.

Photo Big Year Fundraiser Mission Statement

2006-12-31T10:55:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is going to be the start of a great adventure. I am embarking on a Delmarva Photo Big Year to try to raise money for the Junin Grebe Project. The American Bird Conservancy is a conservation group who are trying to save the endangered and threatened bird species of our hemisphere. ABC has put together a long term project to save the Junin Grebe from extinction. There are less than 300 grebes currently on Lake Junin, a high altitude lake in the Andes of Peru. Due to decreasing water levels from various man made sources and pollution problems on the lake the Junin Grebe has been in a steady population decline since the 1980's. ABC is now in phase two of the project which is to determine the health of the population so survival stratagies can be evaluated.
I want to do my part to help save this animal from extinction. I made a list of all the birds, mammals, reptiles & amphibians, butterflies, dragonflies, and damselflies that have been recorded on the Delmarva Peninsula. The list came to a total of almost 700 species. I am going to try to photograph as many species on the list as possible. What I would like from you is to pledge an amount per photo. Realistically, I believe I can get between 400 and 500 species photographed in a year. If you pledged .05 cents a photo at 400 photos that would only be $20. Not that much money right? But if I can get many .05 cent pledges it will add up. Of course I will take any pledge amount. If you would like to support by just giving a certain amount and not per photo that will be fine as well.
On my photo website www.jimbrighton.smugmug.com I will have a gallery titled Delmarva Photo Big Year where you can keep track of the photos as the year progresses and I plan on keeping a journal here at this site about the adventure. With your help we can save the Junin Grebe from extinction.