ISSN 0147-9725 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Hi.. - Mt.iiii 2a tLlin oftL cMaxytanJ OxnilUog Lca[ cSoziely, One. JUNE 1986 VOLUME 42 NUMBER 2 MARYLAND ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY, INC. Cylburn Mansion, 4915 Greenspring Ave., Baltimore, Maryland 21209 STATE OFFICERS FOR JUNE 1985 TO JUNE 1986 EXECUTIVE COUNCIL President: CDR Anthony White, 5872 Marbury Road, Bethesda, MD 20817 229-1641 Vice President: Richard Dolesh, 17800 Croom Road, Brandywine, MD 20613 579-2256 Treasurer: Emily Joyce, 1550 Ellsworth Avenue, Crofton, MD 21114 721-2239 Secretary: Helen Ford, 408 Beach Drive, Annapolis, MD 21403 267-8417 Executive Secy.: Richard Danca, 4414 Albemarle St. NW, Washington, DC 20016 244-5150 Past President: Martha Chestem, 10850 Faulkner Ridge Cr, Columbia, MD 21044 730-1527 STATE DIRECTORS Allegany •Mark Weatherholt Robert Hiegel Howard •John Clegg Jane Farrell Eva Sunell Anne Arundel •James Cheevers Laddie Flyger Paul Zucker Baltimore Sue Ricciardi •Robert F. Ringler Jug Bay •John Gregoire Sue Dorney John Cullom Graham Egerton Benjamin Kaestner Kent •Stephen A. Hitchner Margaret Duncan Mac Donough Plant Steve Simon Jean Worthley Montgomery •Gary Nelson Margaret Donnald Philip A. DuMont John Malcolm Caroline Carroll •Steve Westre Mariana Nuttle •Geraldine Newton Patuxent Lola Oberman •William L. Murphy Chandler S. Robbins William D. Ellis Talbot •Virginia Graebert Jeff Effinger Frederick •Michael Welch David H. Wallace Washington Steve Goodbred •Betty & Ray McCoy Harford •Kermit Updegrove William Russell Joyce Sherman Wicomico Norma Lewis Betty McCoy •Maureen McAllister * Denotes Chapter President Active Membership (adults) Student Membership (full-time students) Junior Membership (under 18 years) Family Membership (Mr. & Mrs.) Sustaining Membership Life Membership Member-at-Large {Mcuyland Birdlife only) Cover: Sharp-tailed Sparrow at Elliott Is., Ringler. Md Lee Meinersmann $6.00 plus local chapter dues 2.00 plus local chapter dues 1.00 plus local chapter dues 8.00 plus local chapter dues 10.00 plus local chapter dues 200.00 (4 annual installments) 5.00 , May 22, 1976. Photo by Robert F. MARYLAND BIRDLIFE VOLUME 42 JUNE 1986 NUMBER 2 RED-NECKED PHALAROPE IN BALTIMORE COUNTY Hank Kaestner On September 12, 1985, Bob Ringler and I were surveying the avifauna on Hart- Miller Island, the dredge spofl impoundment about one mile east of Miller's Island in the Baltimore County section of the Chesapeake Bay. Toward the end of the circuit around the six mile dike we started walking east on the cross dike. About halfway across I noticed a phalarope swimming along the shore. Before Ringler could observe the bird, it swam closer to the shore and out of sight. “I think it is a Red-necked Phalarope,” I said. We walked along the shore, trying to get closer. When the bird became visible again, it was no more than 60 feet from us, swimming away from the shore. Seeing us, it stretched out its neck along the water so as to project no profile. About 30 feet offshore it found a stake in the water and tried to hide behind it. The bird then stayed still and allowed us to study;it. The light was good, and the bird all but filled the field of view in the telescope. The most obvious field mark was the long, thin, black bill. The phalarope ear mark, dark gray cap, and overall dark color began to confirm our suspicion that the bird was a Red-necked Phala- rope (Phalaropus lobatus). Also very obvious was a pair of light lines on the back, in the same relative place as the lines on the back of a Blackburnian Warbler (Dendroica fusca). At this point we were noticing such a long, thin bill that we wanted to see the bird in flight, to confirm that it was not a Wilson’s Phalarope (P. tricolor). The field guides, especially the new Peterson, show the Red-necked with a rather short bill, and our bird had a long bill. We flushed the bird, and it flew west along the dike, displaying its dark rump. With the sun now behind the bird, the plumage looked even darker than before. The white wing stripe was very evident against the blackish-gray plumage, confirming that our bird was Baltimore County’s first Red-necked Phalarope. It was interesting that this was the first phalarope seen at Hart-Miller during the more than two full years of observing birds there. Within another few weeks however, we began to see Wilson’s Phalaropes, eventually recording six indivi- duals. The Red-necked Phalarope, however, was not seen again. 322 Press way Road, Timonium, Md. 21093 28 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol. 42, No. 2 STATEWIDE BIRD COUNT, MAY 3, 1986 Michael Resch Poor weather conditions greeted observers on the 39th annual Statewide Bird Count on May 3. Although there was no precipitation that day, maximum estimates of the northwest winds were 35 miles per hour with higher gusts. Only a few ob- servers reported calm periods during the day. The typical temperatures ranged from the mid 30’s to 60°, with extremes of 28° in Garrett and Baltimore Counties and 75° in St. Marys County. These less-than-ideal weather conditions prompted one observer to remark that the 1986 Bird Count was held on the only day of bad weather in the entire 1986 spring season. Perhaps because the skies were clear to partly cloudy all day, 408 hardy observers in 206 parties amassed 1,380 party- hours in the field or at feeders. Observers explored 5,824 party-miles, either in search of birds or for a warm place to take cover from the wind. A total of 125,027 birds was reported, representing 245 species and 2 hybrids. C/l Q U C£ O z 3 x < O Q £ Q Z cn UJ o Ld o.