This has been quite a winter, so far, for reports/records of European geese. The summary below indicates reports for Pink-footed, Barnacle, and one Graylag Goose to eastern North America.

Note: It is easiest to use the small "download" link under the document frame to download this PDF document to your computer.

European_goose_records_winter_2011-2012.pdf Download this file

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Below is my report of my sighting of the Howard County, Maryland Pink-footed Goose, observed on 21 Feb 2012. The bird was discovered the day before by Nick Lund.

Note: To download this report to your computer, it is easiest to use the small "download" link below the document frame.

MD2012-010 PFGO - Howard Co 21-Feb-2012 PDavis.pdf Download this file

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In preparing my sighting report for Maryland's first documented Pink-footed Goose (Howard County, February 2012), I dusted off my "Brown Goose Complex" PowerPoint charts, extracted from my "Maryland's Next Species" presentation. The extracted charts are below, in PDF format. These charts are a bit dated and I should update them since Bean Goose has now been split into Tundra and Tiaga Bean Goose species. Also, for a number of these brown geese species, morphological differences of subspecies come into play. However, these charts provide a top-level overview of some of the key differences between the species.

Since the AOU and the ABA have now accepted Graylag Goose for North America, based on several accepted records from the Canadian Maritime region, separation of Graylag from other species (and from domestic stock) should be a field birder's consideration.

The artwork in the charts, below, is from Birds of Europe (Mullarney and Zetterstrom, 1999) and is used under the Fair Use clause for educational purposes.

Note: To download this PDF file to your computer, it is easiest to use the small "download" link BELOW the document frame.

The Brown Goose Complex.pdf Download this file

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MD Osprey:

On Thursday evening I received a written report and two very clear photos of a Wood Stork flying over Berwyn Heights, MD (Prince George's County), seen on 5/25/2011 around 9:40 am.

The bird was seen soaring fairly high up in the thermals with Turkey Vultures and was observed for about 20 minutes. The observer is a professional wildlife biologist and is familiar from the species from Florida.

I checked Google Earth and the location where it was seen is less than 1/2 mile NNE of Lake Artemesia and about 1.6 miles SW of Greenbelt Lake.

Keep your eyes up and open ...

Phil

Liz gave me permission to post her Wood Stork photos here. Thanks, Liz!

At 18:24 05/26/2011, Liz Tymkiw wrote:
Here are two pictures. The first is not zoomed in--it is of the stork with several vultures. The second is fairly blurry but is zoomed in on the stork alone. So exciting and unexpected!!
Liz Tymkiw

See the full gallery on Posterous

Photos by Liz Tymkiw

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The general location where the Purple Gallinule was seen this morning (05/06/2011) is shown in the close-up figure as a red circle. The parking lot is also shown. We were standing at the "X."

Good luck!

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I have been canvassing historical Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (Laurel, MD) records that were retrieved from deep storage last year, to try and locate detailed write-ups of MD/DC Records Committee "reviewable" sightings. In the process of reviewing these records, I have run across some very interesting material, such as the following ...

DC Audubon Society 1944-1946 bird walk checklists including three that were led by Roger Tory Peterson.

One checklist is from an April 1946 C&O Towpath bird walk. Note that there were 70 people in tow (no pun intended, well, ... maybe so). I also found another RTP bird walk checklist from Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens (DC) on 28 May 1944 ("last walk of the season"), with an attendance of ... are you ready? ... 165 people!!! Yikes! Can you imagine the vehicles, logistics and, as someone commented, keeping them all quiet!

Peterson lived in Glen Echo, Maryland in Montgomery County from 1945 through 1953, after he got of the Army at Ft. Belvoir, VA (1942-1945).

Further down in this post, you can find the three scanned RTP DC Audubon Society checklists.

At the bottom of this post, for 33 of the DC Audubon Society checklists, I summarized the total number of species and total number of people for each bird walk, in spreadsheet format. What amazed me were: (1) the numbers of people (!) in attendance, and (2) the frequency of these trips. The number of people generally dipped into single digits when it was raining, however, at least one "rain" trip still had over 100 people!

NOTE: Personally, I find it easier to use the small "download" links BELOW the document frames to pull these PDF documents down and open them on your own computer, rather than use the on-line full screen, print, and download Scribd functions found at the top of the document frames.

Enjoy ...

Wash DC Checklist RTP Kenilowrth Aquatic Gardens 05-28-1944.pdf Download this file

Wash DC Checklist RTP C-O Canal 05-06-1945.pdf Download this file

Wash DC Checklist RTP C-O Canal 04-21-1946.pdf Download this file

Early Checklists Summary.pdf Download this file

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I happened to have the issue of Birdwatch that Marshall referenced handy, so I have scanned and posted the photo. No photo editing or processing was applied.

Phil Davis

Date:         Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:06:15 -0400
From:         Marshall Iliff <marshall.iliff@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: [BIRDWG01] Azores Calidris
To:           BIRDWG01@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU

All,

This thread reminded me of an Azores "record" that I have been curious
about for some time. The October 2006 issue of "Birdwatch" (which I
don't subscribe to, but happened across once) has a very cool article
by Peter Alfrey describing the Nearctic fallout on Corvo in October
2005 (associated with Hurricane Wilma). It included discussion of the
first Palearctic White-eyed Vireo and Hooded Warbler records, among
loads of other cool stuff (with many photos) including a massive
Chimney Swift fallout.

In that article is a color photo of a trio of Calidris, labeled: "A
trio of Yank calidrids. From left: White-rumped, Semipalmated, and
Least Sandpipers, Cabo de Praia quarry, Terceira." The photo is by
Peter Alfrey. It is an undated photo, and it is unclear to me which,
if any, record this refers to in the Azores database
( http://www.birdingazores.com/index.php?page=rarebirdref&id=549#NotFirst ).
I don't have an easy means to scan it now, but perhaps someone else
does?

It is an excellent color photo and while the White-rumped and Least
Sandpipers appear to be correctly identified, the Semipalmated looks
to me like a straightforward Little Stint based on the thin straight
bill, split supercililium, breast pattern, and overall structure. I am
curious if anyone else has seen this photo and questioned the ID, and
whether this worked its way into the official Azores records or not. I
expect someone here would have an answer, but I reach dead ends with
even trying to figure out the date on this photo.

Not that another opinion is needed on this one, but I too agree on
Semipalmated for the bird that started this thread.

Best,

Marshall

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The images below of communal bathing by Turkey Vultures were taken by Fallston, MD veterinarian Dr. Donald Zantop and are posted here with his permission. Searching the web, I was not able to find other images of Turkey Vultures communially engaging in this behavior.

Dr. Zantop writes, "I believe I took these in the summer of 2007. The creek is in the Fallston - Forest Hill area of Harford County Maryland and feeds in to the Gunpowder Falls. You can see this on almost any sunny day in the afternoon."

Enjoy!

See the full gallery on Posterous

Images by Dr. Donald Zantop

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version 23 as of 25 Oct 2009:

141 reports or records of 153 birds; 198 citations

Background. In 2008, a Dutch researcher queried the AOU Check-List committee regarding whether a database existed for North American/North Atlantic albatross sightings. The committee Chair happened to ask me if I knew of such a database. I was not aware of any active database and to my knowledge no albatross sighting information had been compiled or updated in at least seven years since several related articles were published in the late 1990s and early 2000s. About a year ago I had a recent need for this same information, so this request motivated me to send out a "quick" data call request to records committee contacts along the North American eastern seaboard and Gulf coast for recent albatross reports and records information. My intention was to "quickly" pull together all reports and records into a data structure. One thing led to another and, being an anal-retentive computer-type person (!), I kept probing, linking, and resolving discrepancies regarding the albatross sighting references I obtained. As I delved deeper into this task, I decided to capture all related historical details and to baseline this information for future reference.

Scope. I decided to make this a comprehensive data collection effort and pull together and summarize all published reports, records, and even anecdotal sightings. Mlodinow 1999 served as my baseline and to this I planned to add the information I received from records committee points-of-contact. Geographically, I limited this effort to eastern Canada, the eastern seaboard and Gulf coasts of the United States, and western North Atlantic islands. I included all albatross taxa, even the two historical Wandering Albatross reports from Florida. No independent detailed ornithological content analysis of the data has been undertaken at this point; record and report validity is based upon the information published, the existence of photographs, and for some later records, records committee decisions.

Data Entries. I compiled the data in an Excel workbook since filtering and sorting is more easily facilitated. The data entries are in chronological order and encompass all associated published references that I could locate. In cases where sighting reports were not accepted by state records committee, I show the submitted taxon in a red-strikeout font. I have also indicate where records committees accepted records as "albatross, sp." rather than a specific taxon.

Data Files. My most recent data compilation version is provided in the files below. Two files are provided below. [You may want to use the "download" link associated with each document frame to download the files directly to your own computer, rather than use blog's the iPaper/Scribd document capabilities.]

Summary Data File. The MS Excel summary file provides top-level statistical summaries and an abridged version of the complied western North Atlantic/Gulf of Mexico/Caribbean albatross sighting data, along with other supporting information. In the Summary Data spreadsheet file there are six worksheets (i.e., tabs) including a "Summary Data" tab ­that presents data counts by taxon by state/province, year, and month of the year. A "Quick Look" tab ­summarizes the basic information for each of the data entries. The "Negative Reports" tab indicates the states and provinces who ­indicated no albatross reports or records exist. The "Literature Cited" tab lists all published references consulted. An "Abbreviations" tab provides specialized abbreviations. The "Points-of-Contact" tab indicates contributors ­by state/province. Each worksheet is formatted for printing; worksheets can be printed individually or all together by clicking on "print entire workbook." Note that you can filter the summary data by State/Province/Territory/Island by clicking on the small pull-down triangle located in that column's header of the spreadsheet.

Detailed Data File. The MS Word document provides details for each sighting report and record. The detailed MS Word document provides published report extracts, status, and annotations for each of the report entries (some encompassing multiple birds). In the detailed document I have included extracts of relevant reference quotes. I edited these quotes (using brackets) to focus on the sighting in question; however, in some cases, multiple references could not easily be separated and in those cases I used a bold font to highlight the relevant portions of a quote. I also included editorial comments in brackets.

Referenced Literature. I have physically acquired (thanks to the help to many of you) all of the references identified, except for a few obscure ones. I found a great deal of information on the web, especially via SORA and Google Books, including various record committee reports and databases, as well as many journal and book references. The few missing references are highlighted in red. If anyone has access to any of these references, I would appreciate a copy or scan of relevant albatross quotes for my files.

Personal Communications. I included some personal communications comments from contributors. Please let me know if you think I did not capture your comments properly or if you do not wish to have your comments included in the final version. Several contributors provided views and opinions concerning sight record observer reputations; however, I generally did not include those comments in my compilation.

Feedback/Comments/Additions. I would appreciate any comments, corrections, or additional inputs. I highlighted in red font items where I am not sure of a fact or where I suspect data is missing. If contributors could especially look over the data associated with their home states, I would appreciate it. Any additional inputs (references, records committee accession numbers, specimen numbers, location specifics, other facts or comments, etc.) are also welcome.

Acknowledgements. Many thanks to all who contributed data and references to this project. I sincerely appreciate your efforts. Many of you provided specific answers to my numerous questions and tracked down and provided me with reference documents. In addition to the direct data contributors, I would also like to extend special thanks for reference document assistance to Lynda Garrett at the PWRC Library, and also to Paul O'Brien (MD/DCRC Chair), Nick Pulcinella (DOS), Marcia Watson (MD/DCRC member), and Shaibal Mitra (NY/RI). Also, thanks to all of the other key contributors including David Seeler, Denis Lepage, Norman David, Bruce Mactavish, Paul Linegar, Blake Maybank, David Christie, David Seeler, Roger Etcheberry, Bill Sheehan, Rob Woodward, Terry Bronson, Rebecca Suomala, Majorie Rines, Jeremiah Trimble, Doug Wilson, Christopher Raithel, Greg Hanisek, Angus Wilson, Jeanne Skelly, Laurie Larson, Jennifer Hanson, Bill Boyle, Frank Rohrbacher, Bruce Peterjohn, Susan Heath, Amy Gilmer, Harry LeGrand, John Wright, Jim Parnell, Donna Slyce, James F. Flynn Jr., Andy Kratter, Steve McConnell, Greg D. Jackson, Terence Schiefer, Donna Dittmann, Steven W. Cardiff, Mark Lockwood, Tony White, and Andrew Dobson.

Thanks!

Phil

 ===================================================
Phil Davis, Secretary
MD/DC Records Committee
2549 Vale Court
Davidsonville, Maryland  21035     USA
301-261-0184
mailto:PDavis@ix.netcom.com

MD/DCRC Web site:  http://www.MDBirds.org/mddcrc/rcindex.html
===================================================

Summary Data and Supporting Information (MS Excel):

[You can use the DOWNLOAD link UNDERNEATH the document frame to download the file to your computer.]

North American Western Atlantic-Gulf Albatross summary data v23.xls Download this file

Detailed Data (MS Word):

[You can use the DOWNLOAD link UNDERNEATH the document frame to download the file to your computer.]

North American Western Atlantic-Gulf Albatross detailed data v23.doc Download this file

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The four images below were taken by Nat Donkin of the National Park Service on 05 August 2009. His originals are posted, as well as enlarged enhancements of the bird where I cropped and resized the image and adjusted the lighting histogram. Thanks to Tami Pearl of the NPS. Phil Davis
 
Here's Nat's statement: A juvenile Brown Booby was found on the North end of Assateague Island 4 km from the Ocean City inlet on 8/5/09 at 8am. It was standing 8m from the waterline. The bird seemed to be in good health but the lower bill was cracked.

Photo credits: NPS 2009/Nat Donkin. Used with permission.

See the full gallery on Posterous

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In June 2009, Maryland birders Bill Hubick and Matt Hafner conducted a poll of Maryland birders to predict Maryland's Next 10 Species. This effort was a update to a similar poll conducted in 2001 that correctly predicted seven top ten species that were subsequently found in Maryland over the ensuing eight years.
 
The document posted below summarizes my "top ten" analysis and the spreadsheets present my backup data in both ranked and taxonomic order. (Click on the small brown "download" link below each document frame to download the PDF files to your computer.)
 
My "top ten" predictions are:
 
1. Brambling
2. Garganey
3. Black-tailed Godwit
4. Bell's Vireo
5. Ivory Gull
6. Eurasian Woodcock
7.White-tailed Kite
8. Lewis's Woodpecker
9. Bar-tailed Godwit
10. White-winged Tern
11. Pink-footed Goose
12. Snowy Plover
13. Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
14. Fieldfare
15. Redwing
 
The results of the current poll can be found here ...
 
  http://www.billhubick.com/docs/Marylands_Next_Ten.pdf
 
 
The original "Maryland's Next 10 Species" by Marshall Iliff (Word document) can be found here ...
 
  http://www.mdbirds.org/birds/mdbirds/nexten/iliff.doc

Maryland's Next 10 Species by Phil Davis.pdf Download this file

Maryland's Next Species analysis ranked order Phil Davis.pdf Download this file

Maryland's Next Species analysis taxonomic order Phil Davis.pdf Download this file

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See the full gallery on Posterous

The two photos (above) by Lois Fussell and email message thread (below) deal with an "almost" Maryland immature Brown Booby on 17 Jul 2009 ... too bad for Maryland ... good news for Virginia ...

From: "Stephen Hult"
To: "Phil Davis"
Subject: Fw: Gannet?
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:47:54 -0400

Phil:
 FYI  More information to follow.

 ----- Original Message -----
Stephen,
    Here are the two photos of the bird that landed on our boat last Friday.
         Jess

==================================================================

From: "Stephen Hult"
To: "Phil Davis"
Subject: Fw: Gannet?
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2009 18:30:07 -0400

Phil:
Some additional information about the Booby photographs.  The bird was seen at about 10 am, Friday July 17 fairly close to the western shore of the Chesapeake off Cove Point in Calvert County.  It circled the boat and then landed and was photographed.  Lois Fussell, who saw the bird was initially not sure that it was not an immature Norther Gannet, but said it was much to small.  I think the photos speak for themselves.

 If you think it appropriate, please post this to MDOsprey.  In addition to this bird, there was another "possible" sighting last week, so birders should keep their eyes open.  I don't have a site to post the photographs, but Lois said you should feel free to do so if you want to.

 I will give Lois a form for a full report to the Records Committee, including measurements of the boat hook (?) in the first photograph so that the bird's size can be determined more accurately if necessary.

===============================================================

From: "Stephen Hult"
To: "Phil Davis"
Subject: Booby--Bad news
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2009 19:32:09 -0400

Phil:
 Just got a call from Lois Fussell.  After carefull checking their "sailing log"  they concluded that they were mistaken and the Bobby was seen just below the Potomac River in Virginia waters.  She is sorry.  To whom should they send a report for the Virginia Records commitee?

 I guess Maryland birders should still keep their eyes open since the bird was within a few miles of Maryland waters and there is still a "possible" sighting in Maryland waters

================================================================

Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2009 22:07:32 -0400
To: "Stephen Hult"
From: "Phil Davis"
Subject: Re: Booby--Bad news

Hi Stephen:
Wow! What a great photo of an immature Brown Booby. It shows all of the key field marks to eliminate other sulids ... the yellow feet and the all dark brown plumage. Rules out juvie Gannet and other Boobies such as Red-footed and Masked.

Here's a link to the VARCOM reporting web page ...
         http://www.varcom.org/submissionform.html

 

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The following message is from Kevin Kalasz who found the Fenwick, DE Roseate Spoonbill in Maryland on 26 Jun. I have also posted a copy of his excellent image and an image of the GoogleEarth Placemark that he provided. You can see the yellow placemarked location near the lower left, in Maryland. (You can click on the map image to enlarge it.)

Please report and other Maryland sightings to the MD/DC Records Committee.

Phil

Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2009 01:07:52 +0000 (UTC)
From: Kevin Kalasz
To: Phil Davis
Subject: Re: Roseate Spoonbill in MD

Hi Phil,

I would be happy to provide you my report.  I observed the bird in a small bay in N. Assawoman Bay approximately 0.5 miles south of DE Rt 54.  The bay is located near the southeat cul de sac of Madison Ave south of DE Rt 54.  The bird was first observed flying into the bay at approximately 8am.  I observed the bird for approximately 20 minutes before flew a short distance to a marsh northeast of the sighting.  Attached is a photo of the bird and you will also recieve an email message that includes a file you can load into Google Earth that will give you the coordinates of the exact location.

See the full gallery on Posterous

Roseate Spoonbill image (c) Kevin Kalasz 2009

GoogleEarth image (c) Google 2009

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Everyone is familiar with the traditional collective bird nouns such as a murder of crows and a parliament of owls. Well, starting back in the 1990s, I developed new ones for a newsletter and have continued to create new ones over they years. Enjoy ...

My first string:
A coronation of Emperor Geese
A drift of Snow Geese
A cornet of Trumpeter Swans
A timber of Wood Ducks
A galaxy of Steller's Eider
A goggle of Spectacled Eiders
A sovereign of King Eiders
A wave of Surf Scoters
A unadornment of Plain Chachalacas
A sagaciousness of Greater Sage-Grouse
A governator of California Quail
A revenge of Montezuma Quail
An asylum of Common Loons
A brass of Horned Grebes
A sounding of Eared Grebes
A reticence of Shy Albatross
A peripatetic of Wandering Albatross
A law of Murphy's Petrels
A triangle of Bermuda Petrels
A kitchen of Cook's Petrels
An embarrassment of Red-faced Cormorants
A superlative of Magnificent Frigatebirds
A tart of bitterns
A cowardice of Yellow Bitterns
A bullion of Golden Eagles
An illusion of Merlins
A pastime of Eurasian Hobbys
An applause of Clapper Rails
A dune of Sandhill Cranes
A singularity of Solitary Sandpipers
An orientation of Far-Eastern Curlews
A nutrisystem of Slender-billed Curlews
A schnozzle of Long-billed Curlews
A dude of Surfbirds
A sheepshank of Great Knots
A deminimis of Little Stints
A bunion of Long-toed Stints
A haze of Purple Sandpipers
A ladle of Spoon-billed Sandpipers
A trump of Ruff
A dunno of Jack Snipe
A donkey of Pin-tailed Snipe
A prosthesis of woodcock
A trailerpark of Red-necked Phalaropes
A hilarity of Laughing Gulls
A mint of Franklin's Gulls
A waterloo of Boneparte's Gulls
A munster of Heerman's Gulls
A burping of Belcher's Gulls
A tickle of Ivory Gulls
A dagwood of Sandwich Terns
An orphanage of anis
A workshop of Elf Owls
An inferno of Lucifer's Hummingbirds
An expedition of Lewis's Woodpeckers and Clark's Nutcrackers
A scaffold of Ladder-backed Woodpeckers
An amputation of American Three-toed Woodpeckers
A glimmer of Norther Flickers
A burmashave of Northern Beardless-Tyrannulets
An oxymoron of Greater Pewees
An annunciation of Say's Phoebes
A tinkling of Bell's Vireos
A bob of Plumbeous Vireos
A lauren of Hutton's Vireos
A brotherlylove of Philadelphia Vireos
A hangover of Red-eyed Vireos
A crayola of Yellow-green Vireos
An alphabet of jays
A cincodemayo of Mexican Scrub-Jays
A pining of Pinyon Jays
A maniac of ravens
A toleration of swallows
An exposure of tits
A wcfielding of chickadees
A redundancy of bulbuls
A primogeniture of kinglets
A mirroring of Naricissis Flycatchers
A gulag of Siberian Flycatchers
A durum of wheatears
A tweezing of Eyebrowed Thrushes
A stadium of redwings
A hood of robins
An assortment of Varied Buntings
An empire of Aztec Thrushes
A litter of catbirds
A ridicule of mockingbirds
A radius of Curve-billed Thrashers
An enumeration of Le Conte's Thrashers
A nebula of starlings
An inflection of accentors
A booty of wagtails
An opry of Nashville Warblers
A pilot of Palm Warblers
A range of Ovenbirds
A derby of Kentucky Warblers
A lamentation of Mourning Warblers
A pallet of Painted Redstarts
A devotee of Fan-tailed Warblers
A bunch of Bananaquits
A lettering of Scarlet Tanagers
A conflagration of Flame-colored Tanagers
A jaundice of Yellow-eyed Juncos
An anatomy of Gray Buntings
A mansion of Pallas's Buntings
A tide of Crimson-collared Grosbeaks
A proboscis of grosbeaks
A rainbow of Painted Buntings
An oxidation of Rusty Blackbirds
A tanningbooth of Bronzed Cowbirds
An aura of goldfinch

My second string (you can stop reading here ... seriously!):
A blanch of Greater White-fronted Geese
A guffaw of Cackling Geese
A lake of Baikal Teal
A tent of Canvassback
A ginger of Redheads
A collar of Ring-necked Ducks
An everest of Himalyan Snowcock
A dapper of Spruce Grouse
A chimney of Sooty Grouse
A pullet of Greater Prairie-Chickens
A capon of Lesser Prairie-Chickens
A feast of Wild Turkey
A peak of Mountain Quail
A balance of Scaled Quail
A compass of Western Grebes
A muddiness of Black-footed Albatross
A booty of Short-tailed Albatross
A poi of Hawaiian Petrels
A setting of Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels
An ocean of Pelagic Cormorants
A kung-pao of Chinese Egrets
A neapolitan of Tricolored Herons
A guernsey of Cattle Egret
A lip of Glossy Ibis
A forest of Wood Stork
A fraud of Hook-billed Kites
An escargot of Snail Kite
A restoration of Bald Eagles
An unshaven of Rough-legged Hawks
A commonwealth of Virginia Rails
A web of Semipalmated Plovers
A hem of Piping Plovers
A half-shell of American Oystercatchers
A meandering of Wandering Tattlers
A roll of Rock Sandpipers
A geriatric of Ancient Murrelets
A serengeti of Rhinoceros Auklets
A yen of Oriental Turtle-Doves
A traveler of Passenger Pigeons
A cloister of Monk Parakeets
A tarheel of Carolina Parakeets
A foolishness of Common Cuckoos
A beepbeep of Greater Roadrunners
A calypso of Carribean Elaenias
A pit of Olive-sided Flycatchers
A wheezing of Ash-throated Flycatchers
A mixer of Social Flycatchers
A rottenegg of Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers
A blotch of Variegated Flycatchers
A cancer of Tropical Flycatchers
A peninsula of Florida Scrub-Jays
A odiousness of creepers
A contrast of Black-and-White Warblers
A rising of Worm-eating Warblers
An embarrassment of Red-faced Warblers
A politic of spindalis
A graze of seedeaters
A oldblock of Chipping Sparrows
A bumpkin of Rustic Buntings
A roast of Bean Geese
A dominion of Canada Geese
A mime of Mute Swans
A dapple of Mottled Ducks
A flavoring of Cinnamon Teal
A scoop of Northern Shovelers
A costume of Masked Ducks
A flush of Ruddy Ducks
A prickling of Sharp-tailed Grouse
A bar of Clark's Grebes
A proclamation of Herald Petrels
A stippling of Mottled Petrels
A chapeau-noir of Black-capped Petrels
A flash of Streaked Petrels
A maze of Corn Crakes
An apology of Sora Rails
A geezer of American Coots
A wilt of Limpkins
An igloo of Eskimo Curlews
A catseye of Marbled Godwits
A cowl of Gray-hooded Gulls
A meow of Mew Gulls
A kipper of Herring Gulls
A shaving of Whiskered Terns
A refinement of Elegant Terns
A gillette of Razorbills
A sweeping of Chimney Swifts
A hirsute of Hairy Woodpeckers
A scrimshaw of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers
A plunder of Piratic Flycatchers
A settee of Couch's Kingbirds
A shearing of Scissor-tailed Flycatchers
A chorus of Warbling Vireos
A muddling of Brown Jays
An atoll of Island Scrub-Jays
A calling of crows
A domestication of House Wrens
An aria of warblers
A blotch of Spotted Flycatchers
A withdrawing of Hermit Thrushes
A branch of Tree Pipits
A cowl of Hooded Warblers
A dialogue of chats
A bile of Hepatic Tanagers
A frolic of Lark Sparrows
A locust of Grasshopper Sparrows
A playa of Seaside Sparrows
A shiner of Dark-eyed Juncos
A dance of Lapland Longspurs
A college of cardinals
A booty of Great-tailed Grackles

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This is my original article that appeared in November/December 2005 issue of the American Birding Association's magazine, Birding. Posted with permission of the ABA and Birding.

I plan to revise and update this article in the future.

Citation:
Davis, Phil. 2005. Identification and Natural History of the Red-faced Cormorant. Birding 37(6):638-648.

Red-faced Cormorant article.pdf Download this file

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Here is a copy of my still-unfinished manuscript on the History and Status of the Red-faced Cormorant in the Northern Bering Sea region. Items that I have yet finalized are highlighted in various colors. Comments are welcome. (Use the small "dowload" link under the document frame to download to your computer.)

Status of Red-faced Cormorant in the northern Bering Sea v36.pdf Download this file

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Here's is a message and later photo from Michael Allen.

Good birding!

Phil

From: "Michael Allen"
To: <pdavis@ix.netcom.com>
Subject: Snowy Owl in Havre de Grace
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2009 19:57:23 -0400

The snowy owl (markings suggest perhaps a female) that was sighted earlier this week in Havre de Grace appears to remain in the vicinity of Market Street near the Susquehanna River.  The attached photo was taken with the bird perched atop the Tidewater Marina building at Market and Fountain Streets.  Poor lighting, stiff winds, but wonderful creature!
Michael Allen
 

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Phil Davis      Davidsonville, Maryland     USA
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MD Osprey, et al.:
 
I just received this email and image ... keep your eyes peeled in Havre de Grace!
 
Good birding!
 
Phil Davis
 
>Subject: Snowy Owl
>Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2009 06:56:42 -0400
>From: "Phil Powell"
>To:
> 
>MOS,
>
>Thought you might be interested in this.
>
>I snapped this picture Sunday morning (March 8th, 2009) along the waterfront in Havre de Grace, MD. 21078. I at first thought is was some type of deterrent to keep the birds off of the mailbox until the thing turned it's head around to look at me. Needless to say I was surprised. I sent a Copy of the photo to "Owl Pages" to have it identified and found it to be a snowy owl. The folks sent me several links about the beautiful bird one of which was as recent as March 1st, 2009 reporting several sightings on the eastern shore.
>
>Thanks!
>
>Phil Powell
>Project Manager
>Ward Properties
>2700 Philadelphia Road
>Edgewood, Maryland, 21040 
 
===================================================
Phil Davis, Secretary
MD/DC Records Committee
2549 Vale Court
Davidsonville, Maryland 21035 USA
301-261-0184
mailto:PDavis@ix.netcom.com
 
MD/DCRC Web site: http://www.MDBirds.org/mddcrc/rcindex.html
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NOTE: Use small "download" link at the bottom-left of the document frame so you can easily read and print this PDF document.

MD_DCRC Membership Characteristics.pdf Download this file

Maryland / District of Columbia Records Committee Membership "Characteristics"
 
This is a draft set of membership characteristics (not formal qualifications), considered during the MD/DCRC membership nomination process.
 
===================================================
Phil Davis, Secretary
MD/DC Records Committee
2549 Vale Court
Davidsonville, Maryland 21035 USA
301-261-0184
mailto:PDavis@ix.netcom.com
 
MD/DCRC Web site: http://www.MDBirds.org/mddcrc/rcindex.html
===================================================

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"I think the bird is an adult male Tufted Duck molting out of eclipse plumage. It is in the later stage of molt since the tufts are shorter then expected. I have an old Macmillan Field Guide to Bird Identification. Illustrations and text are from Harris, Tucker, and Vinicombe that cost me $3 way back when. It is very good and I wished I had bought more. It treats some of the more difficult European species much more completely then other text I have seen. On page 45 it shows an example of the bird at Cambridge. If you find this book, look at the text on page 43 and the illustrations on page 45.

  "So much for the pundits that are speculating on hybrids. The head shape on the Cambridge bird is completely wrong for any crosses with Ring-necked Duck. I also don't see Greater or Lesser Scaup in this bird for what it is worth."

 
I have a copy of that excellent book on my shelf. I find it especially valuable when dealing with Eurasian rarities in Alaska. I tried to get official permission from the publisher to post scanned plates from pages 44 and 45; however, I was told that MacMillan has been broken up and that entity no longer exists. I was also not able to find current email addresses for the surviving authors. I believe that I'm OK under the fair use clause to reproduce the plates here for educational purposes.

The plates from pages 44 and 45 deal with Aythya Ducks. The complete citation is:

        Harris, Alan, Laurel Tucker, and Keith Vinicombe. 1996. The MacMillan Field Guide to Bird Identification. MacMillan.

Hope this helps.

Phil

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