Snow Birding on the Upper Shore 2/26/07

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.