Howard County Bird Club

A Chapter of the Maryland Ornithological Society

The Return of Hot Spots for Red Knots

Trip leader: Kurt Schwarz	Date of trip: June 3, 2023
Location: Eastern Shore	Number attending: 7
Details: Seven birders met at 5:45 on June 3, for an epic trip to Delaware. We were greeted at the park and ride by an adult Red-Shouldered Hawk. We drove for just over 1.5 hours to the Amalfi Drive Pond, where we found a pretty impressive 27 Black-bellied Whistling Ducks. We arrived at Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge at about 8:23, where we enjoyed 11 species of shorebird, with the highlight being two stunning adult female Red-necked Phalaropes. The number of Semipalmated Sandpipers was in the high hundreds, perhaps even a thousand plus. We recorded 53 species on the Refuge. The next stop was Port Mahon Road, but that was not productive. We got to Dupont Nature Center just before 1:00 pm. There were many shorebirds, mostly Semipalmated Sandpipers, but we finally found three Red Knots, and perhaps 8 Ruddy Turnstones plus two American Oystercatchers. A short drive to Slaughter Beach brought hundreds of Semipalmated Sandpipers, which was quit a spectacle, but species diversity there was not great, and no Red Knots found. The next spot was Prime Hook Road in Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge. Our main target was King Rails, which have put on some nice shows for the preceding few days, to include Saturday morning, but we could not locate them. High winds did not help. We were pleased, however, to see 22 Black Skimmers. The last stop, Broadkill Marsh, found no close birds, and the quality of the marsh has declined precipitously. There is a lot of encroachment of vegetation and no nearby mud flats to view. The drive home had a nice Pileated Woodpecker fly over Rt. 404 in Caroline County. Several participants got multiple life species on this trip. There were around 300 shorebirds (“peeps”) that could not be identified to species. Kurt Schwarz took the photos. The species list below combines the lists from each location.

001 Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, Amalfi Drive Pond, Clayton, DE — Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, Amalfi Drive Pond, Clayton, DE

032 Eastern Willet, Dupont Nature Center, Sussex County, DE — Eastern Willet, Dupont Nature Center, Sussex County, DE

090 Black-necked Stilt on nest, Bear Swamp, Bombay Hook NWR, DE — Black-necked Stilt on nest, Bear Swamp, Bombay Hook NWR, DE

123 Semipalmated Sandpipers, Slaughter Beach, Sussex County, DE — Semipalmated Sandpipers, Slaughter Beach, Sussex County, DE

135 Red-necked Phalarope, Raymond Pool, Bombay Hook NWR, DE — Red-necked Phalarope, Raymond Pool, Bombay Hook NWR, DE

179 Black Skimmers, Laughing Gulls, Common and Forster’s Terns, Prime Hook Road, Prime Hook NWR, Sussex County, DE — Black Skimmers, Laughing Gulls, Common and Forster’s Terns, Prime Hook Road, Prime Hook NWR, Sussex County, DE

239 Red-shouldered Hawk, Brokenland Park and Ride West, Columbia, MD — Red-shouldered Hawk, Brokenland Park and Ride West, Columbia, MD

381 Seaside Sparrow, Dupont Nature Center, Sussex County, DE — Seaside Sparrow, Dupont Nature Center, Sussex County, DE

27           Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
123        Canada Goose
31           Mute Swan
17           Mallard
3             Mourning Dove
3             Clapper Rail
19           Black-necked Stilt
2           American Oystercatcher
66           Black-bellied Plover
3             Semipalmated Plover
2             Killdeer
3             Ruddy Turnstone
3             Red Knot
5             Dunlin
6             Least Sandpiper
1545     Semipalmated Sandpiper
36           Short-billed Dowitcher
2             Red-necked Phalarope
72           Greater Yellowlegs
6             Willet
11           Lesser Yellowlegs
146        Laughing Gull
15           Ring-billed Gull
2             Herring Gull
67           Great Black-backed Gull
11           Least Tern
1             Common Tern
3             Forster’s Tern
3             Royal Tern
22           Black Skimmer
33           Double-crested Cormorant
4             Great Blue Heron
6             Great Egret
15           Snowy Egret
1             Green Heron
64           Glossy Ibis
1 Black Vulture
4             Turkey Vulture
5             Osprey
3             Bald Eagle
1             Red-shouldered Hawk

21           Belted Kingfisher
2             Pileated Woodpecker
1             Northern Flicker
1             American Kestrel
1             Eastern Wood-Pewee
1             Willow Flycatcher
1             Great Crested Flycatcher
1             White-eyed Vireo
4             Red-eyed Vireo
2             Blue Jay
1             Fish Crow
24           Purple Martin
4             Tree Swallow
10           Barn Swallow
1             House Wren
8             Marsh Wren
1             Carolina Wren
14           European Starling
5             Gray Catbird
2             Northern Mockingbird
1             Wood Thrush
5             American Robin
16           House Sparrow
14           American Goldfinch
1             Grasshopper Sparrow
1             Chipping Sparrow
1             Field Sparrow
7             Seaside Sparrow
12           Song Sparrow
1             Yellow-breasted Chat
1             Orchard Oriole
30           Red-winged Blackbird
8             Common Grackle
8             Boat-tailed Grackle
1             Ovenbird
15           Common Yellowthroat
1             American Redstart
5             Yellow Warbler
1             Northern Cardinal
4             Blue Grosbeak
2             Indigo Bunting