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Exploring Maryland’s Western Shore

We just spent a beautiful weekend exploring Maryland’s western shore. This region includes the counties that are on the west side of Chesapeake Bay. This trip our second time staying in Calvert County. The first time was in 2019 when we explored Flag Ponds Nature Park, Calvert Cliffs State Park, and Battle Creek Cypress Swamp. We returned to two of these locations, however this time it was Birder Boy’s (BB) first trip to the area.

Birding wasn’t our only goal on this trip. BB loves vehicles and he’s been into military vehicles recently. If you’re an aviation fan I highly recommend the Patuxent River Naval Air Museum, which was a really cool place to check out. As a birder I like how many of the planes are named after raptors such as the harrier, osprey, and hawkeye. We even saw a Broad-winged Hawk in the flight line area.

After the museum we took a quick hike at Battle Creek Cypress Swamp. Highlights include Yellow-throated Warblers, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Northern Parulas, Pine Warblers, and a Louisiana Waterthrush. We also heard many treefrogs and saw Black and Tiger Swallowtails.

Battle Creek Cypress Swamp (Image by Michelle Horowitz)

The next day we spent the morning at Flag Ponds Nature Park searching for fossils. Dave only found one small shark tooth, but BB had a blast digging at the beach. There was a lot of wildlife around: many calling tree frogs, tiger and zebra swallowtails, Ospreys, Yellow-throated Warblers, Yellow-rumped Warblers, a Swamp Sparrow, a male Belted Kingfisher, and more. Two of the most exciting finds of the day were a calling Prairie Warbler and two Killdeer. The Killdeer were calling ‘kill-deee, kill-deee’ and flying around the beach. Many times I see these cute conspicuous plovers in parking lots and other suburban/urban areas, so it’s fun to see them in a more natural habitat. They can be distinguished from other plovers by their double chest bands and red eyes.

Flag Pond Nature Park (Image by Michelle Horowitz)
Killdeer (Image by Michelle Horowitz)

There were also many Atlantic Lion’s Mane Jellyfish floating in the water. The size of this species depends on its geographically location. The lion’s mane jellyfish in the warm waters of the southeastern United States usually only grow up to 5-6 inches. However, individuals in the frigid Antarctic and Arctic waters can be up to 7 feet long which makes them the largest jellyfish species in the genus Scyphozoa. While not poisonous, these jellyfish have a moderately painful sting, so you should exercise caution if you around them.

Atlantic Lion’s Mane Jellyfish (Image by BirdNation)

In the afternoon on the second day we visited the Calvert Marine Museum. While birding was not our primary purpose we did see some species such as Purple Martins, Fish Crows, Common Grackles, and Mallards around Black Creek. We also watched this large Snapping Turtle swim under the dock.

It’s always a pleasure to visit Maryland. If you’re looking for a new location to explore I highly recommend Calvert County.

References
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Rise of the Spadefoot Toads!

On Friday April 12 I had a really uncommon and fascinating experience: the emergence of Eastern Spadefoot Toads!

Eastern spadefoot toad (Image by Michelle Horowitz)

A few months ago we moved back to New Jersey (more on that in a future post) and I resumed working at my old nature center as a naturalist. I was preparing for an amphibian presentation and a coworker was telling me about her experience with Eastern spadefoot toads, an elusive and rare frog in the northeastern United States. She said that in 2018 she witnessed a spadefoot eruption – where a large group of toads emerged in the center’s vernal pool to breed.

So you can imagine my excitement when she texted me Friday to say that the spadefoots were erupting at that moment. I rushed over to the center and was not disappointed.

Eastern spadefoot toads can be found throughout the eastern United States from Massachusetts to the Florida Keys and in parts of the interior southeast. They are rare and considered endangered in some states. 78% of frogs and toads have horizontal pupils, but spadefoot toads have distinctive bright yellow eyes with vertical pupils. Many species with vertical pupils, like the spadefoots, are active at night.

Spadefoot toad eyes floating in the vernal pool (Image by Michelle Horowitz)

Why was I in such a rush to observe the toads at the nature center? Spadefoot toads spend a majority of their lives in underground burrows, which they use their spade-like projections on their feet to excavate. They can stay in torpor (a state of decreased metabolic rate, low body temperature, and motor inactivity) for months at a time. They wait to emerge until warm, heavy rains of typically 2 or more inches in the spring and summer. Spadefoots feed at night, making them harder to observe. Although they can breed up to 3 times a year, if conditions are not right they can skip breeding completely for the year.

A view of the “spade” on a spadefoot toad (Image by Michelle Horowitz)

Spadefoot toads are considered explosive breeders. Explosive breeders use temporary bodies of water such as vernal pools. As a result they need to reproduce and develop quickly. Explosive breeder males will call females to the breeding site. The spadefoot male’s call is a low pitched ‘waaaah, waaaah’ that sounds similar to a crow’s ‘caw’. Once the females arrive and breeding commences they can lay between 800 to 4,500 eggs per event. Many times eggs can hatch within 24 hours and within 14 days juveniles will metamorphize and leave the area.

The experience of seeing the spadefoots at the nature center’s vernal pool was amazing. I’d estimate that there were at least 50-70 toads in the vernal pool. They were calling when I quietly approached the pool then stopped. Once they adjusted to my presence they started to call again. I could see little pairs of eyes emerge and float around the pool, with small groups rippling around together. I did get to see some mating using the amplexus position, where the male wraps his arms around the female’s torso. I could also clearly see the vocal sacs of many males expand and contract while calling and swimming.

The next day I was presenting a program at the center and went to check the vernal pool. There was no indication that less than 24 hours earlier there was a large number of mating toads loudly calling and swimming throughout the vernal pool. They disappeared as quickly as they emerged. I feel so lucky (and thankful to my coworker for informing me!) to be able to witness such an amazing and rare event.

Spadefoot toad (Image by Michelle Horowitz)
The male’s vocal sac (Image by Michelle Horowitz)
References
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Follow BirdNation on Facebook!

Hi friends! BirdNation is now on Facebook!

I had a page on Facebook years ago but deleted it when I got rid of my whole account in 2018. But now we’re back! Please follow for more updates about birds and nature. https://www.facebook.com/birdnationblog/

Did you know that BirdNation is also on other social media sites?

Hope to see you there!

2024 Great Backyard Bird Count Day 4

Today was the last day of the 2024 Great Backyard Bird Count. Day 4 is usually a quieter birding day for me since it’s on a Monday. I ended up going to Long Bridge Park, which is a place that I haven’t gone birding at too much. I did a trip there in December for the Christmas Bird Count and we had a pretty productive morning, but this afternoon was pretty quiet.

Long Bridge Park (10 species, 55 individuals)
  • 5 Canada Geese
  • 15 Mallards
  • 1 Mourning Dove
  • 1 Turkey Vulture
  • 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker
  • 1 Downy Woodpecker
  • 3 Golden-crowned Kinglets
  • 2 Carolina Wrens
  • 6 Dark-eyed Juncos
  • 19 White-throated Sparrows

It was a really great count weekend. Overall, Team BirdNation saw 43 species. I’m looking forward to seeing the finally results from around the world!

2024 Great Backyard Bird Count Day 3

A view of Rancocas Creek (Image by Michelle Horowitz)

Today was a chilly but lovely day, so we ended up birding at two parks for day 3. First my in-laws joined me for a hike at Boundary Creek Natural Resource Area. We saw 10 species, with highlights including Eastern Bluebirds and a pair of Northern Mockingbirds. There also was a beautiful male Northern Cardinal who posed for a picture.

A beautiful male Northern Cardinal (Image by Michelle Horowitz)
Boundary Creek Natural Resource Area (10 species, 66 individuals)
  • 3 Canada Geese
  • 24 Mallards
  • 14 Ring-billed Gulls
  • 12 Turkey Vultures
  • 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker
  • 1 Tufted Titmouse
  • 2 Northern Mockingbirds
  • 4 Eastern Bluebirds
  • 4 Dark-eyed Juncos
  • 1 Northern Cardinal

After Boundary Creek I ended up going to Strawbridge Lake. There have been some Common Mergansers in the area, so I wanted to see if they were around today. I started noticing Common Mergansers at Strawbridge within in the past 5 years, which was a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately they weren’t at the lake today but I did see some other species.

Strawbridge Lake (12 species, 38 individuals)
  • 13 Canada Geese
  • 4 Mallards
  • 3 Mourning Doves
  • 2 Ring-billed Gulls
  • 2 Turkey Vulture
  • 1 Downy Woodpecker
  • 3 American Robins
  • 4 House Sparrows
  • 1 House Finch
  • 2 Dark-eyed Juncos
  • 2 White-throated Sparrows
  • 1 Northern Cardinal

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology released their “halftime report” today. At the time of writing this post, 7,373 species have been seen and over 191,000 checklists have been submitted from 192 countries. Last year’s species total was 7,538, so it would be amazing to see if that total could be beat this year.

2024 Great Backyard Bird Count Day 2

You can find Day 1’s post here.

Today we explored Palmyra Cove Nature Park for a little snow birding. Last night we ended up getting a few inches of snow and by mid-morning it already started melting! It seems like Palmyra got a little less snow than where I live, but it was nice to be out in the quiet of winter.

We were greeted by a number of songbirds right in the parking lot: a first-of-year Brown Creeper, White-throated Sparrows, a Northern Cardinal pair, a Tufted Titmouse, Dark-eyed Juncos, and a Downy Woodpecker. A female Bufflehead at the beaver pond was a pleasant surprise as hundreds of gulls flew overhead. We even saw a mink! We ended our walk with 4 Cedar Waxwings near the visitor center. Overall we observed 17 species.

Palmyra Cove Nature Park (17 species, 314 individuals)
  • 9 Canada Geese
  • 2 Mallards
  • 1 Bufflehead
  • 1 Mourning Dove
  • 60 Ring-billed Gulls
  • 150 Herring Gulls
  • 1 Turkey Vulture
  • 3 Downy Woodpeckers
  • 1 Hairy Woodpecker
  • 5 Tufted Titmice
  • 2 White-breasted Nuthatches
  • 1 Brown Creeper
  • 3 Carolina Wrens
  • 4 Cedar Waxwings
  • 16 Dark-eyed Juncos
  • 50 White-throated Sparrows
  • 5 Northern Cardinals
Bufflehead female (Image by Michelle Horowitz)
Angry Canada Geese (Image by Michelle Horowitz)

We are halfway through the count weekend and Team BirdNation has observed 36 different bird species and 2,412 individuals. Other fun finds the last two days were a mink, deer, and a backhoe. Let’s see what the second half of the weekend will bring.

Have you participated in the first two days of the bird count? Share some species you saw in the comments below.

2024 Great Backyard Bird Count Day 1

Hi everyone! It’s time for the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC)! This annual event takes place this weekend from February 16-19. It’s easy to participate, so check out https://www.birdcount.org/ to join the fun!

Today Dave, Baby Birder, and I made our way out to Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge for the first day of the count. It was a fairly chilly and windy morning. As expected there was waterfowl galore and lots of gulls. We observed 27 species. Highlights included a Northern Harrier, two Bald Eagles, and a large amount of Gadwalls.

Gull Pond
Edwin B. Forsythe NWR (27 species, 2098 individuals)
  • 450 Snow Geese
  • 70 Brant
  • 255 Canada Geese
  • 9 Tundra Swans
  • 200 Northern Shovelers
  • 160 Gadwall
  • 24 Mallards
  • 150 American Black Ducks
  • 60 Northern Pintails
  • 7 Green-winged Teals
  • 35 Bufflehead
  • 14 Hooded Mergansers
  • 55 Ruddy Duck
  • 470 Dunlin
  • 8 Ring-billed Gulls
  • 87 Herring Gulls
  • 2 Double-crested Cormorants
  • 2 Great Egrets
  • 7 Great Blue Herons
  • 9 Turkey Vultures
  • 1 Northern Harrier
  • 2 Bald Eagles
  • 11 American Crows
  • 1 Carolina Wren
  • 3 Dark-eyed Juncos
  • 1 Common Grackle
  • 5 Yellow-rumped Warblers
Dunlin flock (Image by David Horowitz)
Hooded Merganser male (Image by David Horowitz)

We had an unexpected surprise on the wildlife drive today. Baby Birder, being well into toddlerhood now, isn’t super into birding. He likes birds just fine and is fairly familiar with ducks, geese, and eagles (my favorite was when he saw a Wild Turkey and called it a “duck-eagle” 😂). However, his true passion (obsession lol) is vehicles, so while he likes to see the birds his favorite part of visiting Forsythe is the other vehicles on the wildlife drive. And special for bird count weekend we had…a backhoe!

A GBBC first…a backhoe!

He was quite thrilled to see a backhoe laying gravel out on the road today, so we all had a lovely morning for GBBC Day 1. It’s supposed to snow 2-5 inches tonight into tomorrow so we’ll see what happens for Day 2.

Return to the Shore

We visited family in New Jersey for Memorial Day weekend. On May 28 Dave, BB (Baby Birder), and I spent the morning at Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. It was a lovely morning with loads of shorebirds and seabirds. We observed 48 species and added 2 new birds to our life life: a Marbled Godwit and Bank Swallows. Here are some of the highlights:

Seabirds: Common Terns, Forster Terns, Least Terns, Gull-billed Terns, Black Skimmers, Great Black-backed Gulls, Herring Gulls, Ring-billed Gulls, Laughing Gulls, Double-crested Cormorants

Forster’s Tern (Image by Michelle Horowitz)
Black Skimmers (Image by David Horowitz)

Shorebirds: Marbled Godwit, Semipalmated Sandpipers, Ruddy Turnstones, Black-bellied Plover, American Oystercatchers, Willets, Dunlin, White-rumped Sandpipers, Short-billed Dowitchers

Ruddy Turnstone breeding adult (Image by Michelle Horowitz)

Other Highlights: A Clapper Rail running across the mudflats, 24 Osprey, Marsh Wrens, lots of Red-winged Blackbirds, a horseshoe crab, and many Diamondback Terrapins

Diamondback Terrapin (Image by David Horowitz)
Diamondback Terrapins basking in the Sun (Image by David Horowitz)

Mating Monday: Cooperative Breeding

If you missed the previous Mating Monday posts you can check them out here and here.

Cooperative breeding occurs when a mating pair has other birds of the same species helping raise young from one nest. Many time the “helpers-at-the nest” are previous offspring of the parents, but sometimes non-related individuals provide care. This system is widespread throughout the animal kingdom and practiced in approximately 9% of bird species.

“Helpers” play multiple roles. They assist parents with defending the nest and feeding the offspring. A study of Brown-headed Nuthatches (Cusick et al., 2018) found that helpers also removed fecal sacs, but had no part in nest excavation and had no influence on maternal egg production. Cusick et al. concluded that the offspring raised in cooperative groups had more access to food and therefore weighed more. The cooperative nests were also more likely to fledge at least one offspring. Cooperative breeding seems to usually have positive effects for the breeders. But why would an individual forego their opportunity to breed in order to help a nest in which they are not passing on their own genetic material?

There are many factors that influence why cooperative breeding groups exist. One reason may be that environmental constraints limit the opportunities for young birds to breed. Many species that use this system live in regions with low temperature variations and warm winters. This allows the species to become sedentary and establish year-round breeding territories. There may be limited territories due to high-quality habitats being saturated with mature breeders. Low mortality, small clutch sizes, and longevity of offspring contributes to a more stable population that has lower turnover rates, so more birds are available as helpers. Skewed sex-ratios or a shortage of partners (usually females) may also encourage cooperative groups. There are more cooperative breeding groups in altricial species (incapable of moving around on its own shortly after hatching) than precocial (capable of moving on its own shortly after hatching).

Just because cooperative breeding is practiced within a species does not mean that all individuals of the species participate in the system. For example, studies have found that 20-30% of Brown-headed Nuthatches use cooperative breeding as a strategy, with many of the helpers being second-year birds. A study of Long-tailed Tits by Meade & Hatchwell found that helpers had higher overwinter survival rates than non-helpers. Whether or not an individual tit decided to be a helper was determined by the availability of a relative with an active nest. They found that tits that decided to help a relative had a 61% survival rate and the survival rate of those who did not have any relatives with an active nest was 52%. However, male birds that chose not to help a relative with an active nest had a survival rate of 24%. The authors found individuals among the helpers were in good physical condition, the birds without relatives to help were a mix of good/poor condition, and the birds that chose to not help relatives were in poor condition. Meade & Hatchwell also suggested that helping did not have significantly positive effects on reproductive success in the future.

Long-tailed Tit (Image by Alexis Lours via wikimedia commons)

In addition to higher survival rates, helpers may receive other benefits. Helpers may improve their chances of inheriting a mate, territory, or nest. They also gain experience in foraging and may form alliances. Strengthening the genetic makeup of a species through the survival of offspring may be an indirect fitness benefit to the helpers and breeders.

There are many North American bird species that use cooperative breeding. These include Florida Scrub-Jays, Acorn Woodpeckers, Red-cockaded Woodpeckers, Grove-billed Anis, Pygmy Nuthatches, and Gray-breasted Jays.

Brown-headed Nuthatch (Image by DickDaniels via wikimedia commons)

References

Spring Friends

We’ve had a lot of wonderful avian visitors to our yard this spring. Dave set up a new feeding station since we suspect that our old one was knocked down by a bear and it’s been quite a hit. There are also now two bluebird boxes in the field so this year we have an Eastern Bluebird pair! Many of our yearly visitors have returned, including the Chipping Sparrows, Gray Catbird pair, American Robin pair, Rose-breasted Grosbeak pair, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, a Broad-winged Hawk, and the Red-eyed Vireo. Our Northern Cardinal and Pileated Woodpecker pairs have also been making frequent appearances.

Gray Catbird (Image by Michelle Horowitz)
Gray Catbird (Image by Michelle Horowitz)

Pileated Woodpecker male (Image by David Horowitz)
Pileated Woodpecker male (Image by David Horowitz)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker breeding male (Image by David Horowitz)
Chipping Sparrow (Image by Michelle Horowitz)

What kind of birds have been visiting your yard/area this spring? Let me know in the comments!