Field Trip Results

 

January 1 (Thursday) EARLIEST BIRD WALK-GEORGETOWN RESERVOIR AND DC HOTSPOTS. Half day. Start the New Year right. Meet 8 a.m. at Georgetown Reservoir, DC, by the gate leading to the dike between the pools. Reservations required. Limit: 20. LEADER: Mike Bowen 301-530-5764. RESULTS: Participants: 14, Weather: Clear and very cold, below freezing all morning, but at least the howling winds of New Year’s Eve had abated; hot chocolate at the Hains Point golf club eased the pain.  Species count: 42. Highlights: Georgetown Reservoir disappointed again this year, with not a single duck and very few gulls when we gathered at 8 a.m. The pond at Constitution Gardens was however quite rewarding, with an unexpected drake Red-Breasted Merganser in with Ring-necked Ducks and a male Wood Duck snoozing with Mallards. A perched Red-tailed Hawk near the Tidal Basin gave some excellent digiscoping opportunities. Hains Point was pretty quiet – apart from a friendly but noisy group of sports car drivers – but did give us a close view of 3 and a distant view of hundreds of Lesser Scaup, and of a sub-adult Bald Eagle overhead. There were a dozen Black-crowned Night-herons at the roost in the Washington Channel, more than in recent years. Our next port of call was the LBJ Memorial Grove on the D.C. side of the Boundary Channel by the Pentagon, which once again gave us some excellent birds, including a male Pine Warbler, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Winter Wren, Brown Creeper, Hermit Thrush and numerous Golden-crowned Kinglets. The trip ended with a stop at Roaches Run near National Airport, where for the second year in a row we found a nice flock, some 40 in all, of Hooded Mergansers. January 10 (Saturday) INTRODUCTION TO THE WINTER SHORE: OCEAN CITY TO BROADKILL MARSH. Full day. We'll brave winter's icy blasts for the chance to see some seasonal specialties: scoters, eiders, Harlequin Duck, loons, Bonaparte's Gull, and Purple Sandpiper. New members and new birders are encouraged but all are welcome. Meet 8:30 a.m. at the Ocean City Inlet parking lot. Reservations required. Limit: 12. Car pooling strongly encouraged. For reservations and directions call the LEADER: Mike Bowen, 301-530-5764. RESULTS:  Weather: In the 30’s, but the forecast rain magically held off until dusk, cloudy skies turned sunny and the wind was gentle – delightful conditions for a winter field trip.  Species count: 60   Highlights: 3 Grebe species, with a few Horned, 1 Pied-billed, and a quite rare Eared Grebe off 33rd St. in Ocean City. Common and Red-throated Loons gave us very good looks. 7 Great Cormorants were at Indian River Inlet (highest number the leader has ever seen there), and we had terrific, close views of soaring and diving adult Northern Gannets at the O.C. Inlet. Our 20 species of waterfowl included mind-blowing views of a huge and noisy Snow Goose flock at Fenwick Island (at least 5000 birds), a mass of Canvasbacks at the West O.C. Pond, and about a dozen Redheads in with puddle ducks at the Bayside Development Pond, a new site for most of us. There were easily seen Long-tailed Ducks several places. Winter is not generally a great season for shorebirds, but we clocked 8 species, with the least expected being 3 (Western) Willets at the Eagles Nest Campground; the most roundly applauded were the more than 20 gorgeous American Oystercatchers just off Hooper’s Restaurant by the Route 50 bridge. Purple Sandpipers and Ruddy Turnstones were amazingly tame and approachable at the O.C. Inlet. Bonaparte’s Gulls showed well at several locations and we had a single Forster’s Tern. This trip is not designed to garner lots of land birds, but some sharp-eyed participants spied a nice Brown Creeper at the Eagles Nest Golf Club, and a Pileated Woodpecker was a most unexpected flyover near the bridge to Assateague Island. The day ended with a slight disappointment when we missed Short-eared Owl in the rain at Broadkill Beach Rd., and had to be content with two Wilson’s Snipe instead. FEBRUARY 15 (Sunday) LILYPONS/ NEW DESIGN RD.  We will be targeting wintering field birds, including Lapland Longspurs, as well as sparrows such as American Tree and White-crowned. Chance of lingering wetland birds such as rails at Lilypons if ponds are ice-free. Call leader for reservations (required) and more info.  LEADER Gail Mackiernan, 301- 989-1828. RESULTS:  13 participants plus leaders. Temperature: 28-40F but the breeze made it seem colder. Visited: Lilypons Water Gardens, Oland Road, Bishop Clagett Center. As the group gathered at the Monocacy River Bridge, a Bald Eagle perched up for good views. A rather cold wind kept field bird activity down along Oland Road, and we were lucky to have a couple of Horned Larks fly in almost in front of the group for close views and photos. Landbird activity was also low at Lilypons although a good number of waterfowl were tallied, including Hooded Merganser, Black Duck, Wood Duck and Pintail. We flushed a Wilson’s Snipe that did a nice fly-by. Other birds of note included a pair of Killdeer and a Phoebe near the white house. Sparrow numbers were low and we only saw three species (Song, Swamp and White-throated), the Fields and White-crowns seen by the leaders while scouting Friday (in even windier weather) eluded us! Everyone valiantly walked for about two hours (although we covered barely 1/3 of this huge area) before deciding that we needed to find a birdier place. En route to the Clagett Center, 20 Tundra Swans graced a field along Route 85. At the Center, good views finally of White-crowned Sparrows, about 20 in total in two locations, plus a few other species for the list. A strange list indeed, Pileated but no Downy Woodpecker, and NO Starlings! (45 spp.)   FEBRUARY 22 (Sunday) LOIS Y. GREEN CONSERVATION PARK. Half Day. Explore the varied habitats of this new 204-acre Montgomery County park. Wintering songbirds/sparrows, woodpeckers, raptors, and waterfowl possible. Meet 7:30 a.m. at parking lot on Snouffer School Rd, Gaithersburg. Reservations required. For detailed directions and reservations call LEADER: Mark England, 240-252-4218 (home) or 240-375-4500 (cell). RESULTS: Participants:  9 plus leader, Weather:  Overcast with some snow flurries, a constant 37 degrees. Although the birding was slow (26 species), everyone liked this new Montgomery County park. Seven people were seeing it for the first time.  We had hoped for a good sparrow day, but saw only Field, White-throated, and Song, though Janice Brose and Brad Beukema had good looks at a Fox Sparrow as well.  We also saw a Red-shouldered Hawk, Hermit Thrush, a Killdeer, and a Great Blue Heron.  The two large ponds held small flocks of Hooded Mergansers and Ring-necked Ducks, with great scope views.  A probably female Greater Scaup was the most unusual bird.  New MBC member Jim Moore correctly questioned the leader’s premature i.d. of Lesser Scaup, usually the default inland scaup.  Taking a second look, all agreed that the smoothly-rounded head shape did not fit a Lesser Scaup.   APRIL 19 (Sunday) HUGHES HOLLOW AND VICINITY. Half day. With a variety of habitats, Hughes Hollow is always interesting in spring. Depending on where interesting birds have been seen, we may also visit nearby areas. We will look for waterbirds on the move and early songbird migrants. Possible birds include Purple Finches, Blue-winged Teal, swallows, and maybe even an American Bittern. Meet 7 a.m. at the Hughes Hollow parking lot in the McKee-Beshers WMA. Reservations required. For more info, directions, and reservations contact the leader. LEADER: Jim Nelson, 301-530-6574 or kingfishers2@verizon.net. RESULTS: The day was partly cloudy going from high 40s to 60s.  Some stretches were very quiet, but we had a good variety of species even though numbers of individual birds was low.  While none of us got to see all the birds, our group of 17 had a total of 59 species seen by one or more of us.  Most interesting of the lingering winter birds was a large flock of Rusty Blackbirds easily viewed in the trees.  We had a nice Red-headed Woodpecker and first-of-season Great Egrets, Green Herons, Eastern Kingbird, Broad-winged Hawk, and Ruby-throated Hummingbird, as well as looks at singing Field Sparrow, Common Yellowthroat, and White-eyed Vireo (a very cooperative bird which sat up in clear view singing loudly giving us long looks).  A very tame American Bittern, first spotted by other birders, gave all of us good looks right by the levee and posed for photos.  In spite of lowered water levels in the impoundments, we had Pied-billed Grebe and American Coot and good duck variety with 7 species, including Green-winged and Blue-winged Teal and Hooded and Common Mergansers, most of which were flushed from a small vernal wetland back in one of the cornfields.  We also saw three swans in distant flight which we were unable to identify but likely were Tundras.  A very nice morning with good company.      2008 Trips May 4 (Sunday) LITTLE BENNETT RP. Half day. Near peak migration for warblers and vireos, including those breeding in this varied habitat. Contact the leader for time and directions. Reservations required. LEADER: Gemma Radko, 301-514-2894. RESULTS: Participants: 10 plus leader. Species: 60, including 16 warbler species. Weather: Cool and sunny, (in the 50s) to start, climbing only to the high 60s, but staying clear and becoming breezy. A lovely spring day! We met at the small parking lot across from the Hyattstown Fire Station, then carpooled into the park on Hyattstown Mill Road, now permanently closed as part of the park’s master plan. Halfway down the road, we ran into a snag – a huge tree had fallen across the road. We parked our cars there, and started hiking. We did the usual Bennett Ridge Trail loop from Sopher’s Branch, encountering many of the usual breeding species such as Worm-eating and Prairie Warblers, Veery, Wood Thrush, and Acadian Flycatcher along the way. The entire group got excellent looks at Canada and Blackburnian Warblers, Scarlet Tanager, and Prairie Warbler. Many also saw Kentucky Warbler, which continue to nest in the park, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak. One of the participants on this walk was Lou Sousa, who is president of the newly-formed Friends of Little Bennett group (www.friendsoflittlebennett.org). Lou told us a bit about the group’s volunteer and advocacy efforts on behalf of the park, which include trail maintenance, invasive plant removal, and many other projects. Anyone interested is welcome to join this Friends group, and help keep Little Bennett the special park it has always been!       May 7 (Wednesday) EXPLORING CALVERT COUNTY Three-quarters day. Sue Hamilton will guide us as we cover some of the birding hotspots of Calvert Co. Participants will meet at 7 a.m. at the road leading to Flag Ponds. We’ll then move to Battle Creek Cypress Swamp and other spots before stopping for lunch. Reservations required. Limit: 10. Call the coordinators for detailed directions and more info. LEADER: Sue Hamilton. COORDINATORS: Lydia Schindler, 301-977-5252, and Linda Friedland, 301-983-2136. RESULTS: Wednesday, May 7, Exploring Calvert County* A sunny almost summer-like day with temperatures starting in the 50’s and reaching 80. The trip began at 7 a.m. at the Flag Ponds entry road. Last year the woods and brushy areas on both sides of the road provided a bonanza of warbler activity; this year we were sad to see much of the habitat had been destroyed by the “clearing” of the power line area. Still, we caught some good warblers there- Chat, Black- and- White, Palm, Yellow, Prairie, Blackpoll- and male and female Summer Tanagers. The group of 13 under the expert leadership of Sue Hamilton began the walk on the South Ridge Trail, stopped at the ponds and headed over to the beach before returning back via the North Ridge Trail- a delicious mixture of habitats. During our time at Flag Ponds we tallied 21 species of warblers including Kentucky, Hooded, Magnolia, Northern Waterthrush and the park specialty - Yellow-throated Warbler. Swainson’s Thrush was a nice find as was Blue Grosbeak and Rose-breasted Grosbeak. At the ponds we scoped several Solitary Sandpipers, a Pectoral Sandpiper, some Least Sandpipers; a Little Blue Heron flew by followed by a Green Heron. Acadian Flycatchers kept us company on our walk as did Red-eyed and the occasional Warbling vireo. At the beach we picked up Spotted Sandpiper, Semi-palmated Plover, Caspian Tern, Savannah and Seaside sparrows. Then a quick run to over to Battle Creek Cypress Swamp where Andy Brown gave us a fine introduction to this lovely sanctuary of 100 foot cypress trees. We heard Prothonotary Warbler and saw some amazing frogs. Finally, at Scientist’s Cliffs, after enjoying lunch and hunting for fossils on the beach , we tallied the group total:100 birds!   May 13 (Tuesday) ROCK CREEK PARK, DC. One-third day. Active time for migrant warblers, vireos, etc. Meet at 7 a.m. at Picnic Area #18, one-half mile below the Nature Center on Ridge Rd. Call the leader for more information or specific directions. Reservations required. LEADER: Wallace Kornack, 202-338-7859. RESULTS: We had a very good morning for warblers at the Ridge, Equitation Field and Maintenance Yard.  Fourteen warbler species were seen and two others heard including the Canada, Nashville, and Yellow warblers.  In addition Scarlet Tanagers and Baltimore Orioles put on brilliant displays.   JULY 2008 Results of the   HATTERAS, NC, PELAGIC CHARTER. All-day deep-water pelagic trip to the Gulf Stream aboard the 61-foot Stormy Petrel II.  Designed to introduce MBC birders to pelagics and encourage more participation in Lewes, DE trips for MD birds by  Paul O'Brien.  The July 7, 2008 Pelagic trip.  The Intrepid Twelve, 10 from the MBC and one each from NJ and VA, assembled at Hatteras Landing Marina at 5:30 AM, give or take, and boarded the Stormy Petrel II with Capt. Brian Patteson and crew Kate Sutherland.  After various instructions about such topics as safety and where to stand if you needed to deposit breakfast in the chum slick, we were off shortly after 6 AM.  The wind was brisk from the southwest at 15-20 knots, so the starboard side was awash with spray and Brian carefully skirted the ominous black clouds that seemed to follow us.  There was enough chop to make a few of us uncomfortable in spite of medications, but in about two hours we were approaching Gulf Stream waters and the sun took over.  That's when Michael-of-NJ saw a suspicious sulid to port.  Brian slowed and got us over to an adult Masked Booby, the first adult he had ever seen off Hatteras.  It gave us a good show for a few minutes and provided photo ops for all.  From that point we trolled the 83 degree waters for the next six hours or so, trailing a menhaden oil drip from the high tech apparatus (just drill three holes in the plastic jug and hang it off the stern with a rope).  Kate added goodies such as shark-liver-in-a-bag whenever the numbers of Storm-Petrels grew.  As a result birds came into the slick and we had close-up views of 3 species of Shearwater (Cory's, Greater and Audubon's), Black-capped Petrel, 3 species of Storm-Petrel (Wilson's, Leach's and Band-rumped) and the piece de resistance, a near adult White-tailed Tropicbird, which flew in from port and circled low over the boat obligingly and repeatedly.  After that we all relaxed for the return trip.  It appeared that most of the participants were pleased with up to nine life birds on one trip. Seabird systematics are in flux right now.  For instance, the Black-capped Petrels were all of the darker form, whereas those seen in May were of the light form, which could suggest separate species.  Likewise, the Cory's Shearwaters were mostly of the expected borealis race, but one was a nominate diomedea, a candidate for splitting.  The Band-rumped Storm-Petrels are in turmoil with genetic evidence of four species in the Atlantic, only one of which, Monteiro's, shows enough plumage distinction, a notched tail, to Identify in the field.  We saw only square-tailed birds which could be Grant's, Madeiran or Cape Verde.  A new book, Petrels Night and Day, by Magnus Robb, Killian Mullarney and The Sound Approach , was published in May and devotes a full chapter to each of these taxa, good winter reading in preparation for the next pelagic trip.  The big questions: which of these taxa have been seen in MD waters?  Sign up with See Life Paulagics trips from Lewes, DE to help answer these questions.

 

 

RESULTS:   Ad-hock birding trip on Thursday 10/3/08 to Bombay Hook (Cindy Loeper, Stephanie Lovell).  Greater and Lesser, Find the Hybrid, Golden slippers, Sanderlings.  Pictures by Stephanie.

 

 

 

October 11 (Saturday) LILYPONS WATER GARDENS. Half day. Please join us for a joint Montgomery/ Frederick Bird Club trip to this southern Frederick Co hotspot. Target species include: American Bittern, Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow, and a variety of raptors. Meet at Lilypons at 7:30 a.m. Reservations required. For reservations and directions, contact LEADER: Mike Welch at 301-874-5828 or manddwelch@comcast.net.

RESULTS: On October 11, 2008, a group of 14 birders from Frederick and Montgomery Counties descended upon Lilypons Water Gardens in southern Frederick County.  The trip was led by Mike Welch from Frederick.  The weather was somewhere between gorgeous and spectacular.  Sparrows were in particularly good numbers, with seven species observed.  A few Lincoln’s and several White-crowned Sparrows were found amongst the hordes of Song and Swamp Sparrows.  Four species of warblers were found with several good looks at Yellow Palm Warblers.  A Marsh Wren posed nicely for everyone’s enjoyment.  Other notable sightings among the 49 species observed were an immature Bald Eagle, two Wilson’s Snipes, and a Rusty Blackbird.  A few people heard a Red-breasted Nuthatch call.  No Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrows were found this year, but it was still a very enjoyable morning of birding.

 

 

 

October 12 (Sunday) BIG SIT. Join the Sitting Ducks at Black Hill RP starting at dawn and continuing until? Come for the day or just a few hours. Meet at the dike across the road from the park boat ramp. LEADER: Rick Sussman, warblerick@aol.com.

The Montgomery Sitting Ducks once again held our (7th) Big Sit at Black Hill Regional Park in Boyds. We did a bit below average this year, finding only 50 species, "sitting" from 6:15 AM until about 12:45 PM. Our last species came shortly after noon when 5 Tree Swallows flew right over our heads. The odd thing was that Mike Bowen and I were just talking about swallows, that he had seen good numbers the previous day at Lilypons, and then within seconds the 5 flew over. Further talk of what we hadn't yet seen failed to produce anything else new however, so we missed Chimney Swift, Osprey, Bald Eagle, Great Horned Owl, PB Grebe or DC Cormorant, birds that we traditionally have had in years past.  We did get at least 3 new species this year, as far as I can tell; Palm Warbler (YAY Eric!), Field Sparrow and Chipping Sparrow, so the day was productive never-the-less, bring our cumulative list to 91! We had 6 woodpecker species, including a heard only Red-headed, and though I didn't put it on the days list we thought we heard a Hairy as well, which would have given us all 7 species.   was an absolutely gorgeous day, but bird numbers seemed low, maybe due to the lingering warm weather. Our average species list is about 52.4, so we came in a bit below that. We did however have a record number of participants this year, with 19 including myself, and my thanks go out to all who helped; Jim Green, Mike Bowen, John Pangborn, Linda Friedland, Betty Brody, Sujata Roy, Eric Skrzypczak, Brad Beukama, Lydia Schindler, Tom Marko (Happy Birthday TOM! We'll miss you!), Joy Bowen, Stephanie Lovell, Charlie Mosley, Kit Angell, Tony and Cynthia Mead, Janet Millenson and Barbara Knapp. 

 

 

 

November 16 (Sunday) OCCOQUAN NWR, VA. Three-quarters day. Bring lunch and warm drink. We will look for sparrows and other fieldbirds and early waterfowl. Established in 1998, Occoquan NWR is located at the confluence of the Potomac and Occoquan Rivers. Wetland habitats cover about 50% of the refuge; upland meadows and mature oak-hickory-beech forest are interspersed among the wetlands. Meet 8 a.m. at the refuge car park. Reservations required. Directions: the refuge is located in Woodbridge, VA, 20 miles south of Washington. From the north: take I-95 south to exit 161 (Woodbridge), follow Rte 1 South, cross the Occoquan River, turn left at light onto Dawson Beach Rd. Follow road to end at entrance to refuge and proceed on same road to large parking lot on right. LEADER: Mike Bowen, 301-530-5764.

RESULTS:  Participants:  10, Weather:  Upper 40’s to 50 F but strong NW winds made it seem much colder,  Species count:  49.  Highlights: Some good water birds, including a Common Loon, 3 Horned Grebes, masses of Pied-billed Grebes, and a female Common Goldeneye and female Ring-necked Dick in with Buffleheads. Ruddy Ducks were in isolated groups.  Five gull species were seen:  a small group of Laughing Gulls and two sizeable flocks of Bonaparte’s showed up in addition to the usual three locally wintering species.  The harsh winds kept most of the sparrows hunkered down out of view, but we did have a brief sighting of a Savannah and lingering looks at a handsome Swamp Sparrow.  Best small bird was a very late Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. In the air we had six Bald Eagles, one perched and photographed, two Red-tailed and one Red-shouldered Hawk, and a female Northern Harrier just before we quit for the day.