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.

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References

• Aquarium of the Pacific. (n.d.). Lion’s Mane Jelly. Aquarium of the Pacific. https://www.aquariumofpacific.org/onlinelearningcenter/species/lions_mane_jelly

The Birds of Spring

So far, May has been a pretty busy birding month for us: new life list editions, an owlet, purchasing our first spotting scope, big day events, and rare birds. The past week wasn’t as busy, but we still had the opportunity to get out a few times this week to enjoy the spring migrants. Dave and I went to Strawbridge Lake and Boundary Creek, Dave and his dad went to Palmyra Cove, and I went with my mom and sister to Haddon Lake for Mother’s Day.  I wanted to share some of the pictures we took on this week’s trips.

Strawbridge Lake

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Palmyra Nature Cove (all these pictures were taken by Dave)

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Haddon Lake Park

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We didn’t take any pictures at Boundary Creek because it was supposed to rain and pretty dark out. The highlight of that trip was seeing 5 Baltimore Orioles: 3 males and 2 females. It was fascinating watching the orioles flying around chasing each other, fighting, calling/singing, and displaying.

We have a very exciting trip coming up…I can’t wait to share our experiences with you! It’ll be a surprise…stay tuned.

Mother’s Day Birds

This past Sunday was Mother’s Day. I had a lovely day with my mother and sister. The weather was lovely as well, so we decided to start our celebration with a walk at Amico Island. I heard from one of the internet birding groups that I’m in that there was a heavy migration Saturday night, so I was hopeful for some new migrants. We had a successful day with 28 species in a little over an hour.

Our first stop was the blue trail. Towards the beginning of the trail there were two people with cameras. They seemed very excited and they had a reason to be: Baltimore Orioles! There were both males and females present and they were whistling from high in the tree tops. We didn’t know where to look; they seemed to be everywhere!

It was really busy in the forest area on the way to the Great Blue Heron rookery. Birds we observed included: Yellow Warblers, Common Yellowthroats, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Carolina Chickadees, Brown-headed Cowbirds, a Carolina Wren, Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers, Grackles, Gray Catbirds, and American Robins to name a few. Below is my favorite picture I took of a Yellow Warbler so far. He looks perfect to me :-).

Male Yellow Warbler signing (Image by BirdNation)

Carolina Wren (Image by BirdNation)

One of my favorite parts of our trip was watching from the rookery observation area. There were some Great Blue Herons in the rookery, as well as some flying around. We also watched a Red-Tailed Hawk soaring and many Tree Swallows. Before leaving I peeked through some branches and spotted a Great Egret (my first of season) and a Great Blue Heron standing side by side.

Great Egret and Great Blue Heron (Image by BirdNation)

Another Great Blue Heron decided he wanted to join the party too while the egret preened.

Then there were three…(Image by BirdNation)

The Egret wasn’t too thrilled about being stuck between two Great Blue Herons, so he decided he was going to be the leader of the line.

There he goes! (Image by BirdNation)

Egret leads the line (Image by BirdNation)

They were amusing to watch as they relaxed and preened. We continued towards the beach area on the yellow trail.

Red-tailed Hawk in flight (Image by BirdNation)

In the wintertime the beach area on the Delaware River section of the island is usually packed with waterfowl and gulls. This wasn’t the case on Sunday, but we did see some Mallards and Canada Geese. An Osprey flew overhead and was even mobbed by a little bird at one point.

We really enjoyed walking at Amico on Sunday. I hope everyone that celebrates Mother’s Day had a great weekend with their families!

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher: Migration Monday

Migration Monday is here! Yesterday Dave and I went to Rancocas Nature Center. I read on my E-bird rare bird alert e-mail that someone recently spotted the Pileated Woodpecker there. Since Dave was not with me when I saw it originally, it seemed like a good time to look for it. Unfortunately, we didn’t find the Pileated, but we did see some new spring migrants. So today I wanted to talk about one of our “first of season” birds: the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea)

Description:

The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher is a tiny, energetic woodland bird. The Blue-gray is smaller than a sparrow, but has a long tail that it pumps up and down while calling and fluttering through the trees. Its upperparts are blue-gray, underparts are grayish-white, and it has  a straight thin bill. It’s tail is mainly black with white underneath. The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher has a white eye ring and a black “v” above their eyes on their forehead.

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Image via animaliaz-life.com)

Range:

Long distance migrant to resident. Summer: breeds from California to the Southwest and the Great Lakes region to the Southeast and to the Northeast. Winters: in Mexico, Southern California and Arizona. Resident of Mexico and the Gulf Coast up to the Carolinas.

Habitat:

Thickets and open woods. Breeding habitat depends on the region. In the West Blue-gray prefer pinyon-juniper woods, scrubby  habitats, oak forests, and chaparral. In the East they live in deciduous forests with maples, oaks, southern pines, or ash. In the winter they usually stay near water in wooded habitats. Breeding habitats continue to  expand northwards.

Food:

Mainly insects, but prey depends on the region. Some insects include spiders, treehoppers, caterpillars, adult/larval moths, and many other kinds. Although named “Gnatcatcher”, gnats are not a very large part of a Blue-gray’s diet. They are considered foliage gleaners because they pick insects off leaves in the trees. They may sometimes catch insects in the air.  Before consuming larger prey they will hit the insect against a branch.

Breeding and Nesting:

Males will sing to defend his territory and attract a female. He will also court her by showing her different nest sites to choose from, usually in a deciduous trees. The pair will build a neat, round nest cup together out of small sticks, grass, and other plant fibers. It is wound together by spiderwebs, feathers, or animal hairs. It takes about 2 to 3 weeks to create a 2-3 inch nest. Blue-gray Gnatcatchers will build multiple nests through a breeding season to avoid mite infestations and predation. They will usually reuse materials from previous nests for the new nests.

A Gnatcatcher on its nest (Image by Michele Franz via presqueisleaudubon.org)

Blue-gray Gnatcatchers have 1-2 broods per year with a clutch size (number of eggs) of 3-5 eggs. Both parents will incubate the egg for 11-15 days and feed the chicks. The chicks will leave the nest in 10-15 days after hatching.

Sounds:

Calls: a mewing chee-chee, high trills and whistles. Songs: During nesting and the dawn chorus, simple, short musical phrases. Its morning to mid-afternoon song is more complex with mimic sounds, and sharp whistles and chips.

Fun Facts:

• The are 4 North American species of Gnatcatchers: Blue-gray, California, Black-tailed, and Black-capped. The Blue-gray is the only common Gnatcatcher outside the Southwest.
• Blue-gray Gnatcatchers  are nicknamed “The Little Mockingbird”. This is due to the fact that they look similar in appearance and it will put snippets of other bird calls into its songs like a Mockingbird does.
• They can build up to 7 nests during breeding season.
• Blue-gray pairs will work together to fight off an intruder in their territories. They are not afraid to attack birds that are much larger than them and will mob predators with other bird species.

(Image via 1000bird.com)