Journal archives for January 2020

January 7, 2020

Drum Point, Maryland Community Birds 2017-2019

Local Birds – 2017 thru 2019, Drum Point to Seahorse Beach, (Calvert Co., MD)

LOONS
Common Loon (17,18,19)
GREBES
Horned Grebe (17,18,19)
PELICANS
Brown Pelican (17,18,19)
GANNETS
Northern Gannet (17,18)
CORMORANTS
Double-crested Cormorant (17,18,19)
HERONS,etc.
Great Blue Heron (17,18,19)
Great Egret (17,18,19)
Snowy Egret (17)
Green Heron (17,18,19)
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (18)
DUCKS, etc.
Mute Swan (18,19)
Tundra Swan (17,19)
Canada Goose (17,18,19)
Wood Duck (17,18,19)
Mallard (17,18,19)
Blue-winged Teal (19)
Lesser Scaup (17,18)
Long-tailed Duck (17,18,19)
Black Scoter (19)
Common Goldeneye (17,18,19)
Bufflehead (17,18,19)
Hooded Merganser (17,18,19)
Red-breasted Merganser (17,18,19)
Ruddy Duck (17,18,19)
VULTURES
Black Vulture (17,18,19)
Turkey Vulture (17,18,19)
HAWKS, etc.
Osprey (17,18,19)
Bald Eagle (17,18,19)
Sharp-shinned Hawk (18)
Cooper’s Hawk (18,19)
Red-shouldered Hawk (17,18,19)
Red-tailed Hawk (17,18)
SANDPIPERS, etc.
Semipalmated Plover (17)
Spotted Sandpiper (17,18,19)
Least Sandpiper (17,19)
GULLS,etc.
Ring-billed Gull (17,18,19)
Great Black-backed Gull (17,18,19)
American Herring Gull (17,18,19)
Laughing Gull (17,18,19)
Forster’s Tern (18,19)
DOVES
Mourning Dove (17,18,19)
OWLS
Great Horned Owl (18)
SWIFTS
Chimney Swift (17,18,19)
HUMMINGBIRDS
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (17,18,19)
KINGFISHERS
Belted Kingfisher (17,18,19)
WOODPECKERS
Red-bellied Woodpecker (17,18,19)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (17,18,19)
Downy Woodpecker (17,18,19)
Northern Flicker (17,18,19)
Pileated Woodpecker (17,18,19)
FLYCATCHERS
Eastern Phoebe (18,19)
Great Crested Flycatcher (17,18,19)
Eastern Kingbird (17,18,19)
SWALLOWS
Purple Martin (17,18,19)
Tree Swallow (17,18,19)
Northern Rough-winged Swallow (17,18,19)
Barn Swallow (17,18,19)
PIPITS
American Pipit (18)
KINGLETS
Golden-crowned Kinglet (17,18)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (17,18,19)
WAXWINGS
Cedar Waxwing (17,18,19)
WRENS
Carolina Wren (17,18,19)
THRASHERS, THRUSHES, etc.
Gray Catbird (17,18,19)
Northern Mockingbird (17,18,19)
Brown Thrasher (17,18,19)
Eastern Bluebird (17,18,19)
Hermit Thrush (18,19)
American Robin (17,18,19)
NUTHATCHES, etc.
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (17)
Carolina Chickadee (17,18,19)
Tufted Titmouse (17,18,19)
Red-breasted Nuthatch (18,19)
White-breasted Nuthatch (17,18,19)
Brown-headed Nuthatch (18,19)
Brown Creeper (18,19)
JAYS, CROWS
Blue Jay (17,18,19)
American Crow (17,18,19)
STARLINGS
European Starling (17,18,19)
OLD WORLD SPARROWS
House Sparrow (18,19)
FINCHES
House Finch (17,18,19)
American Goldfinch (17,18,19)
WARBLERS
Yellow Warbler (17,18)
Black-throated Blue Warbler (17)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (17,18,19)
Yellow-throated Warbler (17)
Pine Warbler (17,18,19)
Palm Warbler (17,19)
Blackpoll Warbler (17,19)
Black-and-white Warbler (18)
Common Yellowthroat (17,18)
Yellow-breasted Chat (18)
SPARROWS, etc.
Eastern Towhee (17,18,19)
Chipping Sparrow (17,18,19)
Song Sparrow (17,18,19)
White-throated Sparrow (17,18,19)
Dark-eyed Junco (17,18,19)
Northern Cardinal (17,18,19)
BLACKBIRDS, etc.
Red-winged Blackbird (17,18,19)
Common Grackle (17,18,19)
Brown-headed Cowbird (17,18)
Orchard Oriole (17,18,19)

Number of different species observed over this 3 year period: 101

Posted on January 7, 2020 10:16 PM by rosalie-rick rosalie-rick | 0 comments | Leave a comment

January 20, 2020

Calvert County (MD) Dragonflies and Damselflies: Part One - A Nearly Invisible World Comes to Life

Prior to this past year, I am not sure that I have ever tried to photograph a dragonfly or damselfly and certainly had never tried to identify one. During a late spring hike in Calvert Cliffs State Park I happened upon a group of very large and colorful dragonflies that were periodically resting on a set of tree branches next to the trail. I took several photos with the hope that I might learn their identity using the iNaturalist app, a relatively new software program to me. Thus was the start of a season learning about a group of creatures that I knew were about, but that I knew so little about. I discovered that Rambur’s Forktail damselflies frequented the lake shore of our yard and that Blue-fronted Dancer damselflies only inhabited one side of our house. Eastern Amberwing dragonflies were generally only found resting on stumps protruding from the lake while Common Whitetail dragonflies seemed to prefer to stay on or close to our house. Flowers in the garden were often adorned with Blue Dasher or Eastern Pondhawk dragonflies. Unusual wing patterns, beautiful vibrant body colors, unusual mating positions, and a much greater variety of species were present than I could have imagined. A world that was apparently almost literally under my feet for years without any awareness on my part was now an exciting new avenue of discovery. So now in addition to trying to find and photograph the local birds, I have another incredible set of creatures to entertain me as I roam around the neighborhood and county.

Posted on January 20, 2020 05:57 PM by rosalie-rick rosalie-rick | 0 comments | Leave a comment

January 21, 2020

Calvert County (MD) Dragonflies and Damselflies: Part Two – Current County Status in iNaturalist (data as of January, 2020)

The Calvert County total number of species and observations for dragonflies in iNaturalist currently stands at 26 and 328, respectively.
County damselflies are only 7 species from 76 observations.

How does these numbers compare to our other surrounding counties?
For the two Southern Maryland counties:
St. Mary’s County dragonflies - 17 species/49 observations; damselflies - 5 species/12 observations
Charles County dragonflies - 30 species/166 observations, damselflies - 9 species/23 observations
And to our north:
Anne Arundel County dragonflies – 45 species/1, 099 observations; damselflies - 27 species/286 observations

The Anne Arundel County data in particular would appear to offer the possibility that quite a few more species are waiting to be added to the iNat county database. To date, there have been a total of 68 naturalists inputting data for dragonflies and damselflies, but only seven observers have provided 10 or more observations. A new iNaturalist project for dragonflies and damselflies of Calvert County has recently (04 November 2019) been created by Karyn Molines, Chief of the Calvert County Natural Resources Division. Maybe this will inspire some others to take a closer look at these most interesting insects and input their own observations.

Posted on January 21, 2020 06:45 PM by rosalie-rick rosalie-rick | 1 comment | Leave a comment