MARYLAND BIRDLIFE bulletin, of ike ^Maryland OrniikoloyicaL Society 2101 Bolton Street , Baltimore ij, ^Maryland VOL. 6 JANUARY - FEBRUARY 1950 C 0 N T ENT 3 Hawks Over Maryland* Fall of 1949 * . . . . 2 Chandler S. Robbins Anne Arundel Bird Club Organized ........11 Harford Country Club Developing Fast. ......... 11 THE SEASON: November - Deo ember* 1949. ..... 12 Chandler S c Robbins 'Eastern Shore Field Trip* November 11-13. ............ 15 Lorina M. Wendt Anne Arundel Walk? Gibson Island* December 4 ..... 16 Mr So Frederick Vinup Allegany Club Presents Audubon Screen Tours . . 16 MARYLA ND B IRD! IFF published Hi -monthly except July -August by ■MARYLAND ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY 2101 Bolton Street Baltimore IV, Maryland Events of January -February are reported in the March-April is- sue , for which closing date is Mar, 1 and publication date Apr. 1 Send Field Notes and other mater- ial to your local Staff Member, or direct to Editor Chandler S. Robbins, Patuxent Research Refuge, Laurel, Maryland 1 ^ 7 71, MoT 1 . UMTxIAITD 3EQLIFE Jan. -Feb, 19^0 JTpFc I aTJ> RviCL E5Wf IIAOTS OVER IMRKLAND, FALL OF 19U? On September 17, 19- +9, 3$ members of the Maryland Ornithological Society jarticioated in the first large-scale observation of hawk migration through our jtato. Flans for this operation were laid well in advance, and observers were ^signed to observation posts on nearly all of the parallel ridges which cross Maryland in Frederick, TTashingtori, Allegany, and eastern Garrett Counties, hccasional observations had been made in previous years from Monument Knob on south Mountain, and to a very limited extent on a few of the other ridges, but Up until the present study no information was at hand for most of the ridges, por were there any comparative data for tvro or more ridges on the same day. In order to cover as many observation posts as possible on this first trip, several persons inexperienced in hawk identification were asked to man posts by perns elves with the understanding that a count ox migrating hawks, even though Unidentified as to species, would be a valuable contribution to the study* Plans were also made to give the neophytes a chance to join more exp.erienced observers p some of the most promising locations on the following dav. j All observers were asked to keep records by half-hour intervals in order pat starting and stopping time of any particular flight, peal: movements, and stbe passage of any unusual birds could be checked from one station to another. JTord of the proposed study was passed, along to observers in other northeastern jstates with a request that they keep detailed records on the same day. The greatest gamble, of course, was the weather; but with the main flight of Broad-wings due to pass through at. about that time, there was at least a fair chance that either Saturday, the l?th, or Sundair, the loth, would be a favor- able day. Mrs Gilbert M. Miller, Dr. R. S. Stauffer, Mrs. Mabel J. Iloyler, and Miss Ruth Lenderking were most cooperative in handling registrations and observation jassignments for the Allegany, Tfashington, Frederick, and Baltimore clubs; and the jReverend Edward 5. Frey at Sterrett T s Gap, Pa., and Maurice Broun at hawk Moun- tain were kind enough to agree to telephone us in case a big flight should ma- terialize before the 17th. Special thanks are due to Mr. II. C. Buckingham, the State Forester, for giving us permission to use strategically located fire towers for observation purposes. Thanks are also extended to all persons in near- er states who sent frequent notes on the progress of the hawk migration, made observations on September 17 and lG, or sent other information which was help- ful in this study: Hr. and Mrs. Hervey B. Elkins (Mt. Tom, Mass.), Dr. Norman Hill ( Cooper stewn, H.I.), Messrs. Alfred Eynon, James L. Edwards, and Floyd JTolfarth (New Jersey ridges), 33r . Irston R. Barnes (Cape Charles, Va.), Mr Max Carpenter (Reddish Knob, Va.), and Mr and Mrs. Yl. R. DeGarmo (Allegheny Front, F* Va.). Mr. Robert J. Beaton visited Monument Knob almost weekly from late jSeptember to early December, and obtained a fine picture of the flight through jthat area. Probably the most interesting area covered was Cove point in Calvert [County , where George Kelly solved one of the mysteries of Maryland hawk - 2 - MAP 1. LOCATION OF OBSERVATION POINTS IN WESTERN MARYLAND Vol. VI, So. 1 ii&jgLAHD BIRDLIF I Jan. -Feb. 1950 ?ol. VI, No. 1 laARXLAND BIRDLIFE Jan. -Feb, 1930 flights by discovering where the famous Hooper's Island flight crosses Chesapeake Bay, Mr. Kelly has kindly turned over all of his notes on this flight for sum- marization in the present article. The early morning of September 17 found hopeful hawk counters clinging to the cold frames of fire towers and gazing disconcertedly at the ground fog which hung over the valleys for a seemingly endless time. The wind was very light, and in all the more eastern locations seemed determined to come from a direction a bit south of west. When the fog finally began to dissipate and the first scat- tered accipiters were sighted moving by at tr estop height, spirits heightened. For those of us in the more eastern locations, the remainder of the day brought frequent changes of moodj a spurt of excitement as a small group of birds came into sight, followed by periods of increasing apprehension as the wind freshened from the southwest or died down altogether. Then a mis -read mirror signal from another station gave renewed hope, and finally, at some time during the day there were one or two periods when nearly every observer strained his utmost to determine how many Broad-wings were contained in a distant gyrating flock. By 3:30 p. m. nearly all observers felt that the day's flight yjas rapidly drawing to a close, but most watchers continued to man their posts until 5 o'clock as previously arranged. More than a dozen weary but very enthusiastic hawk count- ers gathered at the Hiller's homo that evening to exchange accounts of the day's activities. Contact was made with the more distant parties by phone, and strategy for the following day was outlined. The ridges of western Allegany County yielded consistently better flights than did those further east, duo at least in part to the fact that winds in the western section were principally west to northwest while those to the east were more westerly with a tendency toward southwest. Nan Livingstone was the envy of all other observers since her location atop Lover's Leap on Hill's Mountain proved the most productive by far, in spite of the fact that she was able to cover this post for only one and a half hours. The following brief summary gives the location of the various observation points, the inclusive hours of coverage (Daylight Saving Time), the total number of hawks (exclusive of vultures), the names of observers, and other pertinent data: Bald Knob , Little Savage lit. 10 a.m. to 7 p.m* Last $ hawks seen at 6:50 p.m. total 108. Agatha YTitte, Mary TTitte. St. Johns Rock , Big Savage lit. (Allegheny Front), 1 mile south of U.S.Route ItO. “If hours observation. Total 80. Myra Taylor. Dans Rock Fire Tower (south of Vale Summit), 5 hours observation* Total approximately 250. Bill Wilson, Ray Clark. Wills Mountain Narrows (above "Lovers Leap"). 10:10 to 11: 10 a.m. Total 12167” mostly Broad-wings. Nan Livingstone. Alleghany High School, Cumberland. 2 hours. Total 153* Bill Scott. Nicholas Mountain , 11: h0 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Total 693. James Deetz. Martin' Mountain 7 "crest of mountain at Pennsylvania line. 9 a.m. to p p.m. Cloudless; wind' light NE. Total $0 9. Helen B. Hiller, George H. C-unnoe. Tovm Hill Fire Tower, mile south of U.S. Route 4 O. 10 a f m. to p p.m. Total 69 . Mr. and Mrs. Clark 0. Webster, James V, Derby. Sideling Hill at U.S . Route 1*0. 9:30 a.m. to U: 30 p.m. Hind light, mostly W, calm about noon, some shift toward S. in p. m. Total 326. John and Martha Stauffer, joined in p. m. by Dr, and M rs* R. S. Stauffer. Tonoloway Ridge, 10 a.m, to 1 p.m. Total 0. Dr. and Mrs. R, S. Stauffer. Pigskin Ridge. 9 a.m. to It p.m. Total 33* Seth IT, Low. - h - Vol. VI, No. 1 MARYLAND BIRDLIFS Jan. -Feb, 1950 Cross Mountain Fire Tower, 0,1; mile north of Maryland-Pennsylvania State Line. - £T a. in. to p p.m. Wind W, 12 m.p.h. at c a.m.; WUW, 5 m.p.h. at 10:55; shifting to SW, 5 m.p.h, at 11* 15; SSW, 8 m.p.h. at 1:30; WSW, 5 m.p.h. at 1:55; S, 10 m.p.h, at 2:10, Heavy fog in valleys until 10:30; no migrating hawks seen until this time. Total 305. Chandler S. Robbins. Fair view Mountain , at U.3. Route UO. 10 a.m, to 5 p.m. Wind WNW to W, 10 m.p.h. all day. Total 55* Orville W. Crowder, Tirsah M. Sandy, Dorothy Rice, William McHoul. Quirock Mountain Tower , South Mountain, 9 a.m. to 12 noon. Total 1. Mabel J. Hoyler, Rodgers Smith. Foxville Tower , South Mountain. 9:10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pair, slight haze in early a. 1 m. Wind W in a.m., dropping at noon, SW in p.m. Total 326, Pearl Heaps, Florence Burner. Monument Knob , South Mountain. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunny, but haze increasing at 5:30 and very bad by 5 p.m. Wind SW to W, 10-12 m.p.h. Temperature 70° to 80°. Total 251. Madeline K. and R. D. Cole. Lambs Knoll , northern limit of Blue Ridge Mountains. 3:55 p.m. to 5:15 p.m* Hazy. - Wind' SW. Ho migrants. Elizabeth Romsbcrg. Harpers Ferry , Blue Ridge. 9 a.ra, to 1 p.m. Total ll2. M. Brooke Meanlcy, Anna Gi Ikes on. Salamander Fire Tower , Ca toe tin Mountain. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wind NW, 15 m.p.h. at 10 a.m,, shilling to W and diminishing at noon, increasing to 15 m.p.h. from NW at 3 p.m. Total 78. H. M. Gross, John Blowers. Hamburg Fire Tower , Catoctin Mountain. 9:15 a.m. to 3:20 p.m. Total 71. Compton Crook, Will S track, Frank Kaufman. Braddock Heights , Catoctin Mountain. 7:30 a.m, to 1 p.m. Wind NW and W. Total 19. Johnll.v; illoughby . Mount Tom , Mass, Total 190, Mr. and Mrs, Hervcy B. Elkins. Montclair Quarry , First Wat chung Ridge, N. J. 156. A. E. Eynon and others, Sparta , Sussex County, N.J. "No indications of a flight on the 'Highland' fly-line." J. L. Edwards. Hawk Mountain , pa, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Total 1035. Mam-ice Broun, Partial count by half-hour intervals submitted by Irston R. Barnes. Sterrctt T s Gap , Blue Mountain, Pa. 9:15 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wind light W; very hazy in a.m. Total 260. Edward S. Frey. Reddish Knob Tower , Augusta Co., Va. Elevation 1398 feet. 10:50 a.m. to 5 p.m. Haze in valleys . Temp. 65° 1° 70° * Total 510. Max Carpenter. Roaring Plains , crest of trie Allegheny Front, Grant-Tucker County line about 1 mile's "'south of "Stony River Dam, W. Va. Elevation 1000 feet. 11:15 a.m. to 3:50 p.m. Heavy rain the two preceding days. Total 2661. Mr. & Mrs, W. R. DeGarmo. Table 1 summarizes the counts from all stations, separated by species wherever reliable identifications were made. Unidentified birds are listed in the next to last column under the designation ”X ,f . The great majority of unidentified birds were undoubtedly Broad-wings. The localities are arranged geographically, from west to east. The first 7 are in Allegany County or the eastern edge of Garrett County, the next 6 in western Washington County, the next 1 from north to south along South Mountain, and the next three from north to south along Catoctin Mountain. For comparison, 6 localities from other states are given at the end. There was no significant difference in species composition from one area to another. - 5 - V UJ-* Table 1* Hawks observed on September 17, 19l*9 in Maryland and nearby states T.ncalitv Sharp Coo- Red- Red- Br'd Rgh Bid Ha- Os- Due Pig Spa X TOTAL shm pers tail shld wing leg Eag rsh M iS- eon row Bald Knob 108 St. Johns Rock 88 Dans Mountain 250 Wills Mountain 1216 Allegany H* S. 153 Nicholas Mt* 2 1 2 687 1 693 Martin Mt. 7 19 16 350 2 2 109 505 Town Kill u u 5 to 1 15 69 Sideling Hill 322 h 326 Tonoloway Ridge 2 2 pigskin Ridge k 1 22 6 33 Cross Mountain 0 1 12 1 263 1 1 k 305 Fair view Mt. 3 12 31 1 1 k 3 55 Quirock Mt. ii Foxville Tower 1 5 k 310 1 5 326 Monument Knob h 1 30 1 1 217 251* Harpers Ferry 1* l 1 126 1 5 3 1 11*2 Salamander Tower 2 h 2 1 19 1 2 1 16 78 Hamburg Tower 21 11 2 3 2 1 31* 71* Braddock Hts. 3 ' 7 1 6 1 1 19 Maryland Total 1*600 Mount Tom 33 1 115 2 h h 39 190 Montclair 67 1 2 67 1 3 1 lh 156 Hawk Mountain 10 l 2 2 705 1 3 7 739 Sterrettis Gap 22 1 1 231 2 h 1 2 3 1 268 Reddish Knob 3 2 25 510 ? 2 93 636 Roaring Plains 8 7 1 2650 1 1 2 5 6 2681 Grand Total 9278 In comparing the totals of the various stations it is important to keep in mind the differences in length of coverage. St. Johns Rock on the Allegheny Front, for instance, cannot be dismissed as a poor location, since observations were made for only l| hours, Nicholas Mountain, with the second highest count, had a fine flight in progress by the time the observer arrived, but on subse- quent days remained inferior to Hills Moxmtain. Progressing eastward the counts on the higher ridges dropped gradually, while the lower ridges were consistently poorer than the higher ones. Unfortunately, Polish Mountain was not cover ed* Green Ridge was sampled briefly, but found to be less productive than adjacent Town Hill which is some lj.00 feet higher. The attempt to intercept any ridge flight which might have followed Blue and Kitta tinny Mountains from Hawk Mountain and Sterrett f s Gap westward and south- ward into western Washington County was unsuccessful, Kittatinny Mountain ends abruptly 1 5 miles north of the Maryland line, but it was hypothesized that any flight along this ridge would either shift westward onto Cove or Tuscarora Mountain, or possibly travel 11 or 12 miles over low country to the Bear Pond Mountains which start just north of the Maryland line. The Cross Mountain fire - 6 - yol. VI, No. 1 MARYLAND DIEDLIFE Jan. -Feb, T95Q tower provides a commanding view of Gove Mountain .just north of the Maryland line, and als® overlooks the 'western edge of the Bear Pond Mountains. Tuscarora Mountain comes to an abrupt end just north of the Maryland line, and only very low ridges such as Pigskin Ridge lie between this and Sleep Creek Mountain south of the Potomac. Fair view Mountain, the souther most of the Bear Pond Mountains was thought to be another likely possibility for seeing a flight through this region, but both the Pigskin and Fairvicw counts were very low. The summit of Cross Mountain compared favorably with the better ridges east of Allegany County, and indicated that with a favorable wind there might be a respectable flight visible from the fire tower. Most of the birds traveled along the west edge of the ridge, but a few passed directly over the fire tower, and a good many were sighted in the far distance moving south through the Bear Ponds. The hawks which migrated along Cross Mountain moved out over the low country between Fairview and Pigskin, but were not spotted by an observer who checked half a dozen likely observation points in the intervening area. South Mountain proved to be consistently better than the more eastern peaks or ridges on Catoctin Mountain, as might be expected in view of the fact that South Mountain forms a nearly continuous ridge rising abruptly from the Hagers- town Valley, thus getting the full benefit of westerly winds, Catoctin Moun- tain, on the other hand, might prove the better of the two on a day with east- erly winds, since it is bounded on the oast by the wide, flat Frederick Valley. The report of a Rough-logged Hawk on such an early date would normally be subject to considerable suspicion, but it was closely seen by two observers at Foxvillc, and later identified 2h miles further south along the same flight line at Harpers Ferry. Table 2. Hawk counts by half-hour intervals Bald Nich Mar- Town Sidl Cros Fair Foxv Monu Harp Sala Ster Hawk Red Knob Mt tin Hill Hill Mt view illc Knob Fy Towr Gap Mt Knob 9-9:30 — — 5 — — 2 — 1 — 2 — 0 — — 9:30-10 — — 0 — a 0 — 2 — — 2 9 — 10-10:30 17 0 7 cLC 0 0 n > 11 1 0 63 10 10:30-11 20 — 0 20 21 10 5 n 16 Ih 29 3 11-11:30 0 — 5o 18 3'0 17 •i 31 17 16 26 03 11:30-12 0 Ht2 52 2 12 72 6 C5 3 3 7 07 55 12 a 12-12:30 0 30)4 0 2 32 13 5 63 a ■j 1 20 16 109 12:30-1 h 109 6 0 63 11 5 0 26 JL 5 37 9k 1-1:30 25 39 259 2 15 6 0 2 8 o 1 ho 35 79 1:30-2 12 36 TL 1 1 2 7 110 6 J 7 12 ioa 2-2:30 2:30-3 1 12 2h 9 36 6 a 3 l 7 123 ~33 10 1 10 1 7 2)4 10 11 7 10 7 71 36 3 3-3:30 0 10 0 0 11 5 1 2 96 122 6 29 102 0 3 : 30-L 0 — 0 1 31 7 10 1 22 3 71 0 U-ln30 a 0 0 h 0 2 0 9 0 o 250 0 U:30-5 0 0 1 — 2 2 0 3 — 0 7 TI 0 - 7 - yol. tfl, MoTT ttVRIUilD BIRDLIFE Jan.-Fc'o, 195(3 Tabic 2 shows the combined total for all species by half-hour intervals at lii selected stations* Although occasional birds wore soen before 10 o'clock and after h, the main movement all Maryland points took place between these hours. The highest half-hour count, on the other hand, occurred at any tine from 10:30 a. m. (Wills Mountain, no w shown in Tabic 2) to It p.m. in Maryland, and as late as U: 30 at Hawk Mountain. It is interesting to note that at no two Mary- land stations was the peak flight recorded in the same half-hour interval. The figures for Foxvillc, Monument Knob and Harpers Ferry suggest that the flight of 110 birds noted between 1:30 and 2 at the first location was subsequently recorded at the other two stations, but the birds seen earlier in the day at Foxville seem largely to have been missed at the other points. Table 3. Daily hawk counts in Maryland and other northeastern states. Locality S( ;:nt ember date S 10 11 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 2k 25 Mount Tom 52 207 190 39 96 357 76g 13 120 __ Coopers town 215 “3 51 Montclair Qu. — — 136 13 12 222 1227 Rain h6 2222 U36 Hawk Mountain 92 2717 1CS5 1039 lTOo Rain 351 373' m Storretts Gap 75 * * im — "295 - — — 310 ' — Hills Mount 1 n — — 1215 66 — — U77 Nicholas Mtn. — 19 693 27 Monument Knob — — m 3 232 191 Roaring Plains — 116 273JI -- — — 617 6 — Hi' ■— Cove Point 22lii 3 lii 157 97 Cape Charles 170 99 — Table 3 gives a comparison of hawk flights at h Maryland stations with those at most of the best known observation points in other northeastern states. Days when no observations were made are indicated by dashes. The dates selected for the table wore those for which the most data were available: the weekend of September 10-11, and the period from the 17 th through the 25th. The peak counts for all stations included in the table were recorded awing the period shown. Except for the last two areas showing the coastal flight, the localities arc arranged from north to south. Underscored counts indicate that observations were made throughout, the greater part of the day. The early flight at Capo Charles on September 10 is noteworthy. The maximum Hawk Mountain count on the 11th (a Sunday) was not reflected by high reports from other areas, although very few Maryland localities were patrolled on this early date. This table indicates that our choice of September 17 was indeed a lucky one, but that several other days such as the 11th, the 19th, 20th, 21st, and 2lith (none of them weekends, unfortunately) might have been equally rewarding. The Montclair peak on the 2uth must have gone through some part of Maryland even later. Hawk Mountain can be justly proud of its continuous fine record as compared with the sporadic high counts at other observation points. Comparisons between Hawk Mountain and Stcrrett's Gap give still further evidence that a groat majority of the Hawk Mountain Broad-wings do not continue to follow the ridge, but head south over the flat country. Many of these birds probably subsequently turn up on South Mountain, but the fact that South Moun- tain counts have always boon consistently below those of Hawk Mountain suggests that either the Hawk Mountain flight disperses, or that it has not yet been - 8 - gg Tvi, No. 1 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Jan. -Feb. 1950 intercepted. The records of higher counts further south in the Blue Ridge fountains of Virginia (Shenandoah National Park) stimulate Marylanders toward further investigation. On September 18, winds were chiefly from the southwest and consequently all counts were low. No area except Monument Knob was covered for more than 4 hours. p, large group of observers at Tills Mountain under the guidance of Nan Living- stone submitted the highest count of the day - 41 hawks. Dr. and Mrs. Stauffer counted 36 on Sideling Hill; Miss Lenderking, Mr. Gross and Mr, Blowers observed 36 at Foxville; James Deeta found 23 at Nicholas; Messrs. Hodgdon, Low and others counted 17 at 5t . Johns Rock, and Messrs, Baldwin, Taylor and DuBois identified 5 at Monument Knob. The highest one-day hawk count ever reported for Maryland was made on September 21 at Lore’s Pond just, north of Solomons in Calvert County by George Kelly, After receiving word of a large flight on the previous day, Mr. Kelly stood watch from 10 to 5 and counted 2214 hav/ks, eleven hundred of these were sighted at 10:25 as they passed high overhead in a single long flock. As early as 10 o'clock a floght of 96 was seen, and by 11:15 when the wind shifted from northwest to southwest, 2187 hawks had been counted. On subsequent days Mr. Kelly explored other areas between Cove Point and Solomons and also made MAP 2. LOCATION OF HANK FLIGHTS RHCORDRD IN THR COVE POINT ARIA BY GH0R.GR KELLY. observations by boat offshore. He found that the hawks arrived on a broad front from Cove Point to Drum Point, traveling just south of west as they came in from over Chesapeake Bay, Observations from 16 different points indicated that there was no location from which the entire flight could be viewed. The arrows on Map 2 show the locations where hawk flights were observed during the fall of 1049, and the direction of each flight. The length of each arrow indicates the distance through which the birds were under obser- vation, and is not an indication of the number of birds recorded at each place. Mr. Kelly’s observations are summarised in Table 4* In addi- tion to the birds shown on the table, many Bald Ragles and Ospreys were seen, but these two species were not counted except where they were definitely known to be migrating birds . The best flights occurred on light north- westerly or light northeasterly winds . 9 Vol. VI,, Ho> 1 Jan .-Fob, 19W IWUtX 1m observations in the Cove ' Point area by George Kelly S e p t e m bar 0 c t 0 b c r 21 22 23 2U 25 28 22 h 13 21 7 i 4 i Ui !..l It li i 4 i 4 3/U 27 2 12 19 37 3 1 5 5 1 1 2 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 2169 2 h 130 25 h 6 2 l 31 1 l 1 1 2 1 1 l 9 1 5 13 3 1 6 1 m 221H “1 in T37 57 r r 33 "9 Date Hrs # of observation Sharp-shinned Hawk Cooper's Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Br oad-wi ngo d Hawk Raid Eagle Harsh Hawk Osprey Duck Hawk pigeon Hawk Sparrow Hawk uni dent, falcon other unidentified Total Robert J. Beaton and others made frequent weekend trips to Monument Knob on South Mountain, and identified from 50 to 100 hawks per day during th^. f-rst ttece weekends!? October, about 25 to 50 per day in November, and a fen scat- tered birds including a Rough-legpcd Hawk and a Golden Eagle on December 3.0ther Golden Eagles wore recorded on October 16 and November 11. borne of ,.r. Beaton s fibres wore published in "Birds of the Season" in the Novomber-Decombor and January-February issues of The 'Tood Thrush; he will publish a more comprehensive report at the conclusion of his IS’FO studies. The results of the present cooperative study have been most encouraging, and all who participated are eager to continue it in future years. Mo nave learned' that Broad-wings follow nearly all of the higher ridges m substantial numbers but it will take several more cooperative ventures before we