Bruce Peterjohn and I started our Hundred
on the Hook day for December at 4:00 am this morning with just about a full
moon, a slight breeze, and the temperature around 36 degrees (and
falling). We started our night birding
at Petersfield Ditch on Broadkill Road, with the first bird being a Snow
Goose. A clap or two failed to yield
anything further so we went in search of a Saw-whet Owl. Not to be disappointed a Saw-whet Owl
responded to Bruce's tooting. Moving up
to the entrance area, flushing an American Woodcock along the way, we picked up
a a Barred Owl, an Eastern Screech Owl, and several Great-horned Owls. With the common Owls covered, we then
returned to the marsh area and were rewarded with a Barn Owl. With the Barn Owl secured, we returned to
Broadkill Road to watch the sun come up near Petersfield Ditch and picked up
Tundra Swan, Wilson's Snipe, Marsh Wren, American Wigeon, and a few of the
other expected puddle ducks.
With the sun starting to rise we headed into the Headquarter's Area. Highlights along the Boardwalk Trail
included Wood Duck, Virginia Rail, American Coot, Brown Creeper, Winter Wren,
and Rusty Blackbird. We then made a
brief visit to the Pine Grove Trail area where we found two Wood Ducks at
Turkle Pond and several Hooded Mergansers on Fleetwood Pond. Knowing that shorebirds were going to be key
to the day's success, we decided to make a quick run to the Slaughter Beach
Flats (at high tide) to look for shorebirds.
On the way to the flats, we picked up a Merlin along Thirteen Curves
Road, and while searching a Blackbird flock for something other than Redwing
Blackbirds we found a few Brown-headed Cowbirds before a Peregrine Falcon
chased the birds out of the field. The
two main flats were void of birds, but we were able to track down Greater
Yellowlegs, Dunlin, and a Long-billed Dowitcher farther south in the marsh
area. Just as we were about to leave
Bruce spotted a non-Dunlin type shorebird in flight that turned out to be a
Baird's Sandpiper, nice. A quick look
at the bay yielded both Red-throated and Common Loons, as well as some
Bufflehead. Our plan next called for a
quick stop at Fowler Beach before resuming our land birding. On the way we spotted an Osprey, along with
a nice sized flock of birds along Fowler Road as we picked up Gray Catbird and
Eastern Meadowlark. In the fields
nearby we picked up a Killdeer and several Horned-Larks. At Fowler Beach we picked up four
Black-bellied Plover in the inlet area, plus Greater Scaup, Long-tailed Duck,
and Horned Grebe out in the bay, plus three "Ipswitch Sparrows" near
the observation platform.
With our early shorebirding complete we headed back to the State Wildlife Area
where we picked up a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, plus good numbers of both
Kinglets, a Brown Thrasher, and several Fox Sparrows. A quick run through the Prime Hook Road marsh yielded no new
birds, but the bay yielded Surf and Black Scoter, plus an adult Lesser
Black-backed Gull. On the return trip
through the marsh area we picked up a Double-creasted Cormorant. With the time past noon, we decided to head
off to the Milton for lunch with a lunch-time total of 102 species. (Oh what a relief, as we made our goal of
seeing 100 plus birds on the refuge for each month of the year in
2006.)
After picking up lunch we headed to Broadkill Road to enjoy our lunch while
looking over several thousand Snow Geese in the south impoundment. Before eating a quick scan of the flock
yielded a Cackling Goose in the flock.
After lunch a more thorough search yielded a pair of Ross' Geese that
never strayed more than three feet from each other. With our two main focus birds of the flock obtained I switched my
focus to the north side of the road and was immediately rewarded with a adult
Northern Shrike in a cedar further down the road. (The Shrike was observed in a pair of similiar sized Cedars that
is in a group of three clumps of Cedars just east of the water, about 100-150
yards north of Broadkill Road.)
After observing the Shrike, and snapping a few photos, we then moved on to the
bay where we found a Laughing Gull. The
return trip along Broadkill Road yielded an American Bittern, Snowy Egret, a
flyover Great Cormorant, and our first Yellow-rumped Warbler of the day. With the time at 3:30 pm, and daylight
daylight beginning to fade, a return trip to Fowler Beach yielded a single
Lesser Yellowlegs and several Sanderlings.
At 4:15 pm, and daylight fading fast, we headed south to Oyster Rocks
looking hard along the way for our dear old friend the Pileated
Woodpecker. Once there, we had several
Clapper Rails calling, spotting one along the banks of the Broadkill River, as
well as a Seaside Sparrow that crossed over the river. With the sun set, and our dear old friend
mosquitoes appearing, we heard our final 2006 HOTH bird, a Long-eared Owl
calling in the distance. We finished
the day at 5:00 pm with a total of 115 species. Biggest misses were Pileated Woodpecker, American Pipit, and Snow
Bunting.
With no new birds on this outing we ended the year with a 'Hundred on the Hook
Day' cumulative total of 246 species.
Unfortunately we dropped Pileated Woodpecker from our 'All Trip' list,
ending the year with 39 species seen on all 12 trips.
In the coming weeks I hope to publish all of our HOTH data on my website. I'll send out a recap email once I have the
information on my website.