Caroline County Bird Club's April 19 meeting featuring Ron Gutberlet to talk about his "Big Year"

Thursday, April 19 at 7:30 PM, Caroline County Public Library, 100 Market Street, Denton, MD - FREE  “A Year on the Road with North American Birds” presented by Ron Gutberlet. 

During a Lower 48 “Big Year” in 2005, Ron Gutberlet visited all 48 of those states, drove about 70,000 miles, hiked over 100 miles, took six trips by plane (three specifically for birding), and spent nine days at sea. He met boat captains, truck drivers, a midwife, backpackers, sheriff’s deputies (uh oh!), state troopers (UH OH!), border patrol agents (no problemo), car mechanics, vacationing families, park rangers, mountain bike chicks, whale watchers, a naturalist surfer girl, hobos, and the poet laureate of Boise City, Oklahoma. And of course, he met birders. It was quite a year, and Ron looks forward to sharing a bit of it.

Thursday, March 15, 2012 Caroline County Bird Club Program on the Health of the Chesapeake Bay Oyster

       Please come to our free program “Using Hatcheries to Help Restore Oysters to the Chesapeake Bay” presented by Don Meritt. 

7:30 PM, Caroline County Public Library, 100 Market St., Denton.

Not only is Don an expert birder, but as the Oyster Hatchery Director at the Horn Point Laboratory near Cambridge, he is a leading researcher on oysters of the Chesapeake Bay and the work conducted for their restoration.  Anyone interested in birds is interested in the environment as a whole.  The Chesapeake Bay is an important part of our Eastern Shore eco-system and the oyster plays a vital role.

Come learn more about Don's work!

February 16 Movie Night - "The Big Year"

Come join us to watch the movie "The Big Year".
Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson star in this bird watching comedy based on the book 'The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature and Fowl Obsession' by Mark Obmascik. The three play birders  each try to outdo each other in a 'big year' (a competition in which birders compete to see who can spot the most different species of birds in a single year in a given area, in this case the U.S.).
  1 hour, 40 minutes long.

Caroline County Public Library, Denton's large meeting room - 7:30 PM. 

Popcorn and drinks will be served.

January 19 program on Birds of Alaska and much more

A program about Alaska will be presented by our own Wayne Bell and Les Coble of the Talbot Bird Club at  7:30 PM, Caroline County Public Library, 100 Market St., Denton.  If you have never seen a program by either Wayne or Les, now is your chance! Photos and stories galore, including what happened to Wayne's camera!

2011 Caroline County Christmas Count totals 92 species including 5 unusual birds

The black-headed grosbeak might be considered to be the best bird we've ever seen on the count.   It was discovered in a yard on Market Street, Denton during the Christmas count and was seen by many birders from around the state.   It left after the bird club bought sunflower seeds and a squirrel guard for the feeder.

Two rose-breasted grosbeaks were reported near Greensboro and while it's very rare to see one, seeing two of them has to be very unusual.

We were also fortunate to get a red-headed woodpecker, Lapland longspur & Virginia rail--can't expect to do that every year.  

We got 92 species and that's pretty good.   We had 19 observers.  In 1954 they had 18 observers and with similar weather conditions they only got 70 birds.

Steve Westre, Caroline County Christmas Count Coordinator

Pied-billed Grebe	1
D C Cormorant	8
Great Blue Heron	17
Black Vulture	80
Turkey Vulture	261
Snow Goose	1490
* Snow Goose (blue form)                    2
Canada Goose	2886
Tundra Swan	103
Wood Duck	4
Black Duck	10
Mallard	214
Wigeon	1
Blue-winged Teal	3
Pintail	2
Ring-necked Duck	48
Bufflehead	7
Common Merganser	6
Hooded Merganser	10
Bald Eagle, ad	18
Bald Eagle, im	6
Northern Harrier	6
Sharp-shinned Hawk	3
Cooper's Hawk	10
Accipiter sp.	1
Red-shouldered Hawk	8
Red-tailed Hawk	25
Am. Kestrel	10
Wild Turkey	35
N. Bobwhite	6
Va Rail	1
Am. Coot	6
Killdeer	66
Wilson Snipe's	10
Am. Woodcock	2
Ring-billed Gull	1901
Herring Gull	12
Rock Pigeon	294
Mourning Dove	167
Eastern Screech-Owl	12
Great Horned Owl	8
Barred Owl	13
Belted Kingfisher	9
Red-bellied Woodpecker	55
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	10
Downy Woodpecker	34
Hairy Woodpecker	7
Northern Flicker	64
Red-headed Woodpecker                    1
Pileated Woodpecker	14
Eastern Phoebe	2
Blue Jay	130
American Crow	349
Fish Crow	11
Horned Lark	571
Carolina Chickadee	156
Tufted Titmouse	132
White-breasted Nuthatch	8
Brown Creeper	13
Carolina Wren	79
Winter Wren	20
Golden-crowned Kinglet	31
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	5
Eastern Bluebird	128
Hermit Thrush	34
American Robin	1700
N. Mockingbird	77
Brown Thrasher	5
Euro Starling	2251
Am. Pipit	77
Cedar Waxwing	188
Yellow rumped Warbler	42
Chipping Sparrow	36
Field Sparrow	35
Savannah Sparrow	13
Fox Sparrow	4
Song Sparrow	108
Swamp Sparrow	10
White-throated Sparrow	485
White-crowned Sparrow	1
Dark-eyed Junco	700
N. Cardinal	115
Towhee	16
Red-winged Blackbird	2083
E. Meadowlark	31
Rusty Blackbird	36
Common Grackle	5604
Brown-headed Cowbird	245
*blackbird sp.	360
Purple Finch	1
House Finch	166
Am. Goldfinch	75
Rose-breasted Grosbeak                    2
Black-headed Grosbeak	1
House Sparrow	270
Lapland Longspur	1

Black-headed grosbeak visits Denton - a first for Caroline County

photo by Mike Framptom-Price

A first winter male black-headed grosbeak has been seen in Bill Miller's yard since Dec 19 - 600 Market Street - south corner of Market Street and 6th street. You can view his feeders from the sidewalk on Market, so will not have to trespass. A first for Caroline County!

Happy Holidays from Caroline County Bird Club!

Looking for holiday gifts for the birder in your life?  Check out the Maryland Ornithological Society’s web site - http://www.mdbirds.org/ for links to their online nature store and link to Eagle Optics.

Just a reminder for you younger folks interested in birding and the environment, check out the Youth Division of Maryland Ornithological Society’s web site – http://www.ymos.org.  They have all sorts of activities throughout the state and year.

Got your feeders out this winter for the birds?  Check out the National Bird Feeding Society for more ideas - http://www.birdfeeding.org/ .