Savannah Sparrow

A number of Savannah Sparrows were also in the flock of birds on Sparks road .

Danny Poet

Horned Lark

One of the Horned Larks on Sparks Road near Ridgely Maryland

LAPLAND LONGSPUR

On Dec 24 , 2009 I went out to the still snow Covered Fields on Sparks road near Ridgely Maryland where there were many Horned Larks feeding on a pile of corn spilled by the farmer on the road in among them there were six Lapland Longspurs this is a photo of one

Danny poet

Caroline County Christmas Count December 19, 2009

Well, it was certainly a snowy one! [16 inches??] When you consider the weather I think we had an excellent count. It's better than 8 of our past counts. The 47 they got on the first one is what I wanted to beat, but in the first couple of hours I didn't think we'd ever get that many. This was our 60th count and it's never been postponed. I'd love to hear what Roberta Fletcher would have had to say about this count. Thanks to all who participated in the count!
Happy holidays, Steve


Pied-billed Grebe 1
Great Blue Heron 1
Black Vulture 10
Turkey Vulture 69
Snow Goose 75
Canada Goose 263
Tundra Swan 7
Mallard 134
Ring-necked Duck 30
Bufflehead 4
Hooded Merganser 1
Ruddy Duck 4
Bald Eagle, ad 1
Cooper's Hawk 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Am. Kestrel 2
Am. Coot 1
Killdeer 5
Common Snipe 1
Ring-billed Gull 40
Rock Dove 3
Mourning Dove 21
Great Horned Owl 1
Barred Owl 1
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Wdpecker 7
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Downy Woodpecker 4
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 4
Blue Jay 16
American Crow 16
Horned Lark 209
Carolina Chickadee 17
Tufted Titmouse 15
White-b Nuthatch 6
Brown Creeper 2
Carolina Wren 4
Golden-cr Kinglet 1
Eastern Bluebird 18
Hermit Thrush 2
American Robin 288
N. Mockingbird 7
Brown Thrasher 1
Euro Starling 137
Cedar Waxwing 60
Cardinal 42
Towhee 2
Chipping Sparrow 3
Field Sparrow 2
Savannah Sparrow 13
Fox Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 50
White-th Sparrow 309
Dark-eyed Junco 266
Red-winged Blackbird 92
Common Grackle 46
Br-headed Cowbird 50
House Sparrow 25
House Finch 11
Am. Goldfinch 9
Lapland Longspur 1

IVORY GULL CAPE MAY N.J.

A few members of the Talbot County Bird Club and Myself went to Cape May N.J. on Fri Dec 4 , 2009 to look for the very Rare Ivory Gull recently reported there . We met with success see attached photo

Surf Scoter in Caroline - a first for the county!

Thursday December 3rd. Eight Thirty a.m.
Steve Westre and Mike Framptom-Price report sighting a Surf Scoter on the Choptank River in front of the house of Mike and Mary Framptom-Price. Took a couple of not very good digi-scope shots, just good enough we think to confirm bird's identity.

Caroline's Christmas Bird Count December 19

Christmas Bird Count is coming up. Contact Steve Westre if you can help.

Camp Todd Girl Scout Camp working on a bird list

MOS members - we need your help!

Bob Foote is Camp Ranger of this enchanting Girl Scout Camp in Caroline County. He is working with some volunteers to update his trail guides. He wants to include birds likely to be seen on certain trails along with trees and other plants and wildlife.

We've got some good tree/plant folks helping out including Dave Reinecke and Sylvan Kaufman. We can create a cursory list of basic birds that can be seen in various areas of the camp. For a detailed seasonal list, it would help to get folks in there to bird and send in their lists with dates and location.

Bob invites MOS members to visit the camp to hike and bird. He just asks that you contact him ahead of time either by phone 281-844-6854 or email BobFoote1@aol.com.

Click HERE to get a copy of Camp Todd's map and a checklist you might wish to use.

Please send Debby Bennett a copy of your bird lists @ firefly5845@hotmail.com. With as many lists as we can get throughout the year, we will be able to create a nice bird list for Camp Todd.

Location of the camp: 25012 Beauchamp Branch Road, Denton, MD 21629

2009 May Bird Count for Caroline County

Canada Goose	121
Wood Duck	39
American Black Duck	4
Mallard	88
Wild Turkey	51
Northern Bobwhite	10
Double-crested Cormorant	50
Great Blue Heron	44
Great Egret	2
Snowy Egret	3
Cattle Egret	10
Green Heron	8
Glossy Ibis	2
Black Vulture	34
Turkey Vulture	175
Osprey	36
Bald Eagle	14
Sharp-shinned Hawk	2
Cooper’s Hawk	2
Red-tailed Hawk	13
American Kestrel	3
Virginia Rail	1
Black-bellied Plover	26
Semipalmated Plover	2
Killdeer	81
Spotted Sandpiper	18
Solitary Sandpiper	8
Greater Yellowlegs	21
Lesser Yellowlegs	16
Least Sandpiper	22
Wilson’s Snipe	5
American Woodcock	2
Laughing Gull	678
Bonaparte’s Gull	2
Ring-billed Gull	26
Herring Gull	12
Least Tern	3
Common Tern	4
Forster’s Tern	4
Rock Pigeon	105
Mourning Dove	134
Yellow-billed Cuckoo	4
Black-billed Cuckoo	1
Eastern Screech Owl	3
Great Horned Owl	4
Barred Owl	7
Common Nighthawk	2
Chuck-will's-widow	1
Whip-poor-will	3
Chimney Swift	446
Ruby-throated Hummingbird	17
Belted Kingfisher	5
Red-bellied Woodpecker	36
Downy Woodpecker	19
Hairy Woodpecker	4
Northern Flicker	12
Pileated Woodpecker	18
Eastern Wood-Pewee	48
Acadian Flycatcher	9
Least Flycatcher	1
Eastern Phoebe	16
Great-crested Flycatcher	88
Eastern Kingbird	29
White-eyed Vireo	23
Warbling Vireo	1
Red-eyed Vireo	40
Blue Jay	73
American Crow	173
Fish Crow	18
Horned Lark	212
Purple Martin	149
Tree Swallow	68
N. Rough-winged Swallow	19
Barn Swallow	165
Carolina Chickadee	47
Tufted Titmouse	68
White-breasted Nuthatch	7
Carolina Wren	75
House Wren	17
Marsh Wren	2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	7
Eastern Bluebird	102
Hermit Thrush	5
Wood Thrush	23
American Robin	383
Gray Catbird	38
Northern Mockingbird	93
Brown Thrasher	31
European Starling	718
Cedar Waxwing	53
Northern Parula	4
Yellow Warbler	5
Chestnut-sided Warbler	1
Black-throated Blue Warbler	5
Yellow-rumped Warbler	9
Pine Warbler	13
Prairie Warbler	5
Palm Warbler	1
Blackpoll Warbler	1
Black-and-white Warbler	8
American Redstart	4
Prothonotary Warbler	10
Worm-eating Warbler	4
Ovenbird	46
Louisiana Waterthrush	2
Kentucky Warbler	3
Common Yellowthroat	39
Yellow-breasted Chat	15
Summer Tanager	14
Scarlet Tanager	3
Eastern Towhee	23
Chipping Sparrow	126
Field Sparrow	36
Vesper Sparrow	6
Savannah Sparrow	2
Grasshopper Sparrow	11
Song Sparrow	19
White-throated Sparrow	6
Northern Cardinal	150
Blue Grosbeak	38
Indigo Bunting	112
Bobolink	33
Red-winged Blackbird	582
Eastern Meadowlark	2
Common Grackle	460
Brown-headed Cowbird	136
Orchard Oriole	38
Baltimore Oriole	34
House Finch	41
American Goldfinch	101
House Sparrow	199
Total Individuals	132
Species Total	7612