Volume 19 Number 6 |
November - December 2006 |
Well it's almost time; the Rock Run Christmas Bird Count is right around the corner! It may even be possible to count in shorts this year if the weather stays as it is now in late November! In all seriousness the wacky weather could do all sorts of crazy things to bird movement, so it will definitely be an interesting count. One thing is for sure however, we can all look forward to meeting back at Lorna Wortman's house for soup and bread in the evening after the count! Regardless of the temperature, everybody warms up when treated to soup and stories at Lorna's, and certainly when I think about counts past the first image that pops in my head is the friendly post-count gathering. Now let's just hope there are some great birds this year to talk about while eating that soup!
Speaking of things to talk about, at our recent Executive Board meeting we decided to initiate several new programs that hope to open our club more to younger birders, those in middle and elementary school to be exact. The club will sponsor a bird art contest at local elementary schools, and maybe even middle and high schools as well if we find the interest. The monthly winner of the contest will have his or her artwork displayed on the club's website. We may even be able to place some of the artwork submissions in the newsletter as well if the format is appropriate.
There will be several other things to keep on eye out for in the upcoming year. If all goes well we will have a new Harford County Birding brochure that will be available for placement in local park kiosks and other tourism outlets. Not quite a checklist, this brochure will highlight some of the better birding locations in the county (and advertise for the club a bit as well!). Thanks to the generosity of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the statewide MOS, I am sure our new brochure will be quite a hit! We also hope to get additional exposure for the club by advertising some of our dinner meeting keynote speakers in the libraries and post offices around the county. It is my impression that many other chapters already do this, and it can only help increase our meeting attendance with a minimum of cost.
Speaking of which, we have some fabulous meetings coming up! January features the return of perhaps our most beloved speaker, Hank Kaestner. Nobody can know where Hank's 2006 "Journeys of a Spice Trader" will take us (except of course for Hank); so be sure to be there to hear fantastic stories and see beautiful pictures from lands far and near. The meeting starts at 7:00pm on Friday, January 12th. Be sure to also set aside the first Friday in March when Birder's Digest author and former VENT tour leader Jeffrey Gordon will host the *Birdsong Grammy Awards* following our dinner meeting! Good times will be had by all at this interactive meeting feature none-other than the musical talent of birds big and small. I wonder what bird will win best actor? Well, while we are waiting to see, be sure to get out there and do some birding, and I looking forward to seeing you all at Lorna's after the Rock Run Christmas Bird Count!
Best Birding Wishes,
Russ Kovach
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Great Backyard Bird Count - The GBBC will take place February 16 - 19, 2007. This citizen science project allows participants to count ANY area over a four day period. To participate, logon to www.birdsource.org/gbbc. Results may be submitted online or via a paper trail. Check out "Explore the Results" for a wealth of winter data.
Project Feeder Watch - A winter long survey of backyards for feeder watchers. To participate logon to www.birds.cornell.edu.
Ivory-billed Info - In case you missed it, the December 2006 National Geographic had a wonderful article on the Ivory-billed Woodpecker.
Best Bird 2006 - I was fortunate enough to add a few new North American lifers in 2006. Perhaps my best, Smooth-billed Ani; this bird may become extirpated ANY year now.
Rick Cheicante
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| December 29 | 35th Annual Christmas Bird Count. Contact Jean Wheeler |
| January 5 | Deadline: Harford Birdlife. Contact Becky Gallo. |
| January 12 | Winter Meeting. Guest speaker is Hank Kaestner. |
| January 25 | Deadline: Wrenderings. Contact Rick Cheicante. |
| January 27 | Mid-Winter Count. Contact Mark Johnson. |
| February 22 | Executive Board Meeting |
| March 2 | March Dinner Meeting. Guest speaker is Jeff Gordon. |
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Annual membership dues are now overdue for the Harford Bird Club year from September 1, 2006 through August 31, 2007. We would like to have all dues paid by December 31, 2006. If you have not paid your 2006-07 membership dues, the first line of your mailing label will read, "NOT RENEWED AS OF <date>". If you do not renew your membership by February 1, 2007, you will be removed from local and MOS mailing lists and this is the last newsletter that you will receive. If you have any questions about your membership, please contact Marjie Heagy.
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The Harford Bird Club is now accepting nominations for our 2006/2007 awards. Please email nominations for our Harford Bird Club yearly awards to the Executive Board. Nominations are accepted for Bird of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Birder of the Year and Volunteer of the Year. The awards will be presented at one of our 2007 gatherings.
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A number of changes have occurred at Swan Harbor over the past year. The latest, a birdwatching blind overlooking the Ducks Unlimited ponds is now complete. Becky Gallo has also prepared a bird checklist now available at the main office (Hours: M - F 8:30 - 5).
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The Harford Bird Club would like to extend a warm welcome to our new 2006 members:
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The web site for the Harford Bird Club is located at http://www.harfordbirdclub.org. The site contains information about the club and how to join, upcoming meetings and field trips, information about birds and birding in Harford County and links to local hotlines, other bird clubs and other birding sites of interest to Harford birders. It also includes a search utility that makes finding the secondary pages easier.
In connection with the web site, I have set up two mailing lists that should be of interest to club members. The first is the Harford Bird Club information mailing list and the address is clubnews at harfordbirdclub.org. This mailing list is for the dissemination of information and announcements pertaining to the Harford Bird Club to its members. All Harford Bird Club members who have an email address should be on this list. If I know your email address, you are already on this mailing list. If you are not receiving occasional emails of this type and/or would like to subscribe to the mailing list, please contact me at les at harfordbirdclub.org. Please note that this mailing list is to be used to send information that is club related and is of interest to all members. It is not to be used to report bird sightings.
The second list is the Harford birds mailing list. This mailing list is for the discussion of birds in Harford County and reporting notable bird sightings. The address is harfordbirds at harfordbirdclub.org. Anyone interested in what birds are being seen in Harford County should subscribe to this list. To join this list, send me an email at the above address. If you see an unusual bird, please report it to the mailing list.
If you have any questions about the web site or the mailing lists, don't hesitate to ask. Suggestions for improving the web site are always welcome. My email address is les at harfordbirdclub.org.
Les Eastman
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Larry and Jean Fry and I (sans Jean Wheeler) arrived in Darwin, W.A. on September 8 Australian time having lost a day in travel. We had time to explore Darwin and do some birding before meeting Don Messersmith and the tour group. Our first sightings here gave us a taste of what was to come. The first excursion produced such beauties as a Blue-faced Honeyeater (one of many species of Honeyeaters in Australia), a Brahiminy Kite and a Red-collared Lorikeet plus nine or ten other species new to us.
We met our tour group in Kununurra on the West Coast on the 10th of September and traveled with them from Kunururra, to Broome, to Perth, to Narrogin, to the Stirling Range Retreat near Borden and on to Albany in the South. The many and diversified habitats proved a wide variety of bird and animal sightings. We were privileged to see some rarities such as the Gouldian Finch, a Purple-Crowned Fairy Wren, Superb and Splendid Fairy Wrens, a Yellow Chat, Elegant Parrots, a Western Whipbird, Scarlet Robins, and Kookaburras. A special treat was seeing the Crested Shrike-tit at the Stirling Range Retreat. An arduous journey to the Mitchell Plateau resulted in the sighting of the elusive Black Grasswren. Our total for the three week tour was 264 species.
The last leg of our journey was to Brisban and to O*Reilly*s Rainforest Retreat. Here we added another 34 birds including the Golden and Satin Bowerbirds, a Green Catbird, the Eastern Whipbird, a Rose Robin, King Parrots, and a Logrunner. We spent a couple of days visiting Sydney and then home.
Carol Flora
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September - October 2006: After the hot days of summer, everyone is back into birding! Thanks for sending so many reports.
An exciting find at the Conowingo Dam was by LE & GF. I am sure most have heard by now that we were graced by the presence of a Sabine's Gull. This is only the 4th accepted record for Maryland. According to Cornell Sabine's are an Artic Gull that spends the winter near the tropics; usually taking the coastal route to get there. The gull looks and acts more like a tern than a gull.
Keep in mind next time you are birding that there might be guests in our area!
Goose, Duck, Gamebirds
DK had 2 sometimes 3 Cackling Geese on
Turney's Pond the week of Oct 15th. Mallards were seen at the
Conowingo Dam on Oct 7th and at APG on Oct 9th (MoH). JRG saw
Mallards at Swan Harbor during Sept and Oct. On Sept 23rd MoH saw 6
Common Mergansers at Susquehanna State Park. On Sept 20th MoH saw a
Wild Turkey at Swan Harbors' front gate. A Northern Bobwhite was
calling in Havre de Grace on Sept 3rd and 4th (MoH).
Grebe, Herons, Hawks, Falcons
A Pied-billed Grebe stayed at
Turney's Pond most of Sept and Oct (DK). MoH saw 1 Great Egret and 2
Snowy Egrets at APG on Sept 15th. JRG saw an Osprey Oct 9th at Anita
Leight Center. MoH saw 9 at the Conowingo Dam on Sept 23. At Eden
Mill on Sept 9th RC saw a Northern Harrier. MoH and JRG saw one at
Swan Harbor on Sept 20th. RC observed a Sharp-shinned Hawk at
Susquehanna State Park on Sept 29th. MoH saw one in Havre de Grace on
Oct 24th. LAD watched one chase House Sparrows in the Safeway parking
lot in Bel Air on Oct 27th. A Red-shouldered Hawk perched for a while
in Earlton on Sept 29th (DW). LAD saw one perched on a telephone pole
at the intersection of Emmorton Road and Lexington Road on Oct 27th.
Between 1 and 8 American Kestrels spent their Sept/Oct at Swan Harbor
(JRG & MoH). DW had a Merlin fly over Beards Hill Shopping Center
on Sept 16th. MoH watched a Peregrine Falcon fly over Havre de Grace
on Sept 28th.
Gulls, Terns, Cuckoo, Owls
RC saw a Bonaparte's Gull at the
Conowingo Dam. MoH saw 1 Herring Gull at APG on Oct 7th. On Sept 22
MoH saw 5 Great Black-backed Gulls, 5 Caspian Terns and 3 Forster's
Terns in Havre de Grace. RC saw 2 Yellow-billed Cuckoos at Eden Mill
on Sept 9th. LP heard an Eastern Screech-Owl at her house from Sept
until early Oct. A Great Horned Owl was heard near DB's house at the
end of Sept. JRG heard one at Swan Harbor several nights in late
Sept.
Swift, Hummingbird, Woodpeckers, Flycatcher
At Tydings JRG saw
an Eastern Phoebe on Oct 27th. Ten Chimney Swifts were seen in Havre
de Grace by MoH on Sept 22nd. SBH saw a Ruby-throated Hummingbird at
their feeder (Sept 30). DW saw a Red-bellied Woodpecker and Hairy
Woodpecker in Earlton on Sept 29th. MoH saw a Red-bellied Woodpecker
at APG on Oct 9th. At Susquehanna State Park MoH saw a Downy
Woodpecker on Sept 23rd. On Oct 9th BJD saw a Hairy Woodpecker in
Forest Hill. Eleven Northern Flickers invaded RC's yard in Creswell
(Oct 6).
Vireos, Swallow, Titmouse, Nuthatch, Creeper
MoH saw 600 Tree
Swallows at the Conowingo Dam (Sept 23). On Sept 9th RC observed 4
White-eyed Vireos, 6 Yellow-throated Vireos and 2 Red-eyed Vireos. MJ
saw 1 Blue-headed Vireo at Eden Mill on Oct 22nd. Carolina Chickadees
were seen in Earlton, Creswell and at APG (DW, RC, MH). On Sept 29 DW
watched a Tufted Titmouse. In Forest Hill BJD saw a Red-breasted
Nuthatch (Sept 13). BJD saw a Brown Creeper in Forest Hill on Oct 6th.
Wrens, Kinglets, Thrushes, Mimid
At Eden Mill on Sept 9th RC
watched 2 House Wrens. MH saw a Winter Wren at her house and RC saw 1
in Creswell. Golden-crowned Kinglets were seen in Bel Air (LAD Oct
26) & Forest Hill (BJD Oct 31). RC, SBH and MoH observed
Ruby-crowned Kinglets in Creswell, Fallston and Havre de Grace.
Eastern Bluebirds were abundant at Swan Harbor Farm (MoH & JRG).
RC saw a Gray-cheeked Thrush at his house in Creswell. A Wood Thrush
was hanging out in a Dogwood tree at Eden Mill on Oct 6th (MJ). On
Sept 29th RC saw 3 Brown Thrashers.
Warblers
Three Northern Parulas were at Eden Mill on Sept 9th
(RC). SBH observed 1 Chestnut-sided Warbler in Fallston on Sept 12th
and RC saw one at Eden Mill on Sept 9th. A Magnolia Warbler was seen
at Eden Mill (Sept 9) and Susquehanna State Park (Sept 29). On Laurel
Brook Road and at Susquehanna State Park Black-throated Blue Warblers
were spotted (SBH & MoH). Black-throated Green Warblers were seen
in the county by SBH & MH in September. DW saw a Blackburnian
Warbler in Earlton on Sept 29th. A Prairie Warbler was at Eden Mill
on Sept 9th (RC). SBH, LP & DK all spotted Palm Warblers in
October. Black-and-white Warblers were in Forest Hill (BJD), Eden
Mill (RC), Susquehanna State Park (MoH) and APG (MoH). Common
Yellowthroats were observed at Eden Mill (RC & SBH) and Creswell
(RC). RC also saw a Hooded Warbler and 2 Yellow-breasted Chats at
Eden Mill.
Tanager, Sparrows, Grosbeak, Oriole
SBH saw 1 Scarlet Tanager
in Fallston on Sept 7th. In Creswell RC watched 2 Eastern Towhee*s on
Oct 6th. MoH saw 1 Savannah Sparrow on Oct 20th at Swan Harbor Farm.
White-throated Sparrows were seen in Creswell (RC) and HDG (MoH).
Dark-eyed Juncos arrived in the County. MJ had 10 at Eden Mill and
SBH saw 1 in Fallston. RC watched 7 Indigo Buntings and a Baltimore
Oriole at Susquehanna State Park on Sept 29th.
Contributors
DB - Deb Bowers, RC - Rick Cheicante, LAD - Lynn &
Angela Davis, BJD - Bob & Jan Depuy, LE - Les Eastman, GF - Greg
Futral, JRG - John & Rebecca Gallo, MoH - Monroe Harden, MH -
Marjie Heagy, SBH - Susan & Bob Hood, MJ - Mark Johnson, DK -
Dennis Kirkwood, LP - Leanne Pemburn, DW - Dave Webb
I want to thank everyone who contributed. The next article will have sightings from November 1 thru December 31, 2006. You can call me with sightings - 410-459-8873 or email me. Please send the reports to me as you see them.
Thanks and Happy Birding!
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A new certificate program has been established to recognize all Harford Bird Club members who participate in all 4 bird counts during a calendar year. Our inagurual year will begin in 2007 with the Mid-Winter Count on January 27. Subsequent counts include the May Count, the Fall Count conducted in September, and the year end Christmas Bird Count. Remember, feeder counts are OK for the first three counts. Check with count coordinators Mark Johnson and Jean Wheeler as counts approach for more details. Bird, enjoy, submit!
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Field Trip Schedule
by Colleen Webster