Time(EST) Temperature Dew Relative Wind Wind Wind Quality Solar Precipitation Fuel 10 hr Fuel Battery
Point Humidity Speed Gust Direction control Radiation accumulated Temperature Moisture voltage
° F ° F %  mph  mph  W/m*m  in ° F  gm  volt
23:25 42 42 100 4 7 NW OK 0 10.54 42 19 12.5
22:25 43 43 100 1 5 W OK 0 10.53 43 18 12.6
21:25 42 42 100 1 4 WSW OK 0 10.53 42 17 12.6
20:25 42 42 100 1 3 ESE OK 0 10.53 41 16 12.7
19:25 42 42 100 1 4 W OK 0 10.53 41 15 12.8
18:25 42 42 100 1 3 SSW OK 0 10.53 41 14 12.9
16:25 44 40.1 86 2 4 E OK 34 10.53 42 12 13.2
15:25 45 40.5 84 3 6 SSE OK 94 10.53 45 12 13.4
14:25 46 40.5 81 2 6 S OK 150 10.53 48 12 13.6
13:25 46 42.1 86 4 8 SE OK 207 10.53 49 12 13.7
12:25 44 41.3 90 6 8 E OK 216 10.53 46 12 13.7
11:25 44 36.3 74 6 9 E OK 284 10.53 48 12 14
10:25 43 35.3 74 6 9 E OK 195 10.53 47 13 13.9
9:25 42 36.6 81 6 8 ENE OK 146 10.53 43 13 13.2
8:25 36 35.2 97 3 4 WSW OK 62 10.53 37 14 12.7
7:25 33 30.9 92 3 6 W OK 4 10.53 30 14 12.5
6:25 34 32.7 95 3 9 WNW OK 0 10.53 31 13 12.5
5:25 35 32.4 90 5 8 WNW OK 0 10.53 33 13 12.5
4:25 35 31.5 87 5 9 WNW OK 0 10.53 32 13 12.5
3:25 36 30.7 81 6 11 WNW OK 0 10.53 34 12 12.5
2:25 37 30.8 78 5 9 WNW OK 0 10.53 35 12 12.5
1:25 37 28.8 72 5 9 WNW OK 0 10.53 35 12 12.5
0:25 38 29.1 70 6 11 WNW OK 0 10.53 35 12 12.5
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[1]
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.