123 sightings surpasses Dave Mozurkowicz, Fred Shaffer, and Rob Ostrowski’s 2009 120 sightings record.
Kevin Reports:
I’ve been birding Prince George’s County as much as I can since I moved to Greenbelt in 2018. It’s not a long time, but I felt a strong connection to the county that seemed underbirded in relation to its potential. Mostly I biked to Lake Artemesia, a five-minute ride from my apartment, but in 2020 I started to explore more widely. This year, tragically, I moved to Alexandria, but I haven’t been able to get over what still feels like my home county. So last month I decided I would attempt a big day in PG to get closure (and maybe also see some nice birds). I enlisted a fellow UMD grad student and expert birder Menachem Goldstein to help pass the unofficial PG big day record (“unofficial,” meaning it was the highest total Russ Ruffing had in his records—thanks, Russ!) of 120 species set by Dave Mozurkewich, Fred Shaffer, and Rob Ostrowski in 2009 and the same three plus Stan Arnold in 2010. A beatable number, but one that would require either getting lucky with a bunch of migrants or managing to find almost all of the breeders.
For the route, my plan was to start in the southern part of the county trying for owls and whip-poor-wills, then make our way north along the Patuxent getting breeders in the morning before snapping up specialized birds in the afternoon in the northern part of the county. I was counting on making up for lost morning migrants we might have had in a place like Lake Artemesia with getting all of the breeders while they were still singing. We didn’t have time to do much scouting, so we relied on eBird reports from previous years to find breeders (thanks to Jeff Shenot for atlasing in southern PG!). We stuck to ABA rules for big days, meaning rare bird alerts are off limits, but playback is OK. Ultimately, though, playback didn’t net us any species, which I guess is how it ought to be.
We started at 3:30am sharp on Sunday morning (5/9) on the entrance road to Cedarville SF listening for whips. There was no moon, but it was a partly clear night so conditions could have been worse. No whips, but a Barred Owl called once to start us off. Next up was the power line cut on Aquasco Farm Rd, where once again, whip-poor-wills were not calling, and as with all of my previous attempts in the county, I missed this species. Rails were similarly quiet in the marshes at Aquasco, but a Solitary Sandpiper in our headlights was a nice driving tick, Barred Owls called like crazy from every corner, and a Barn Owl screaming from out in the marsh eliminated the need to try to see one later in a nest box. As we were leaving, we stopped with open windows to listen to a chat singing in the dark. Menachem called out Great Horned Owl. I strained to listen. Then yep, there it was. We left Aquasco at 5:15am with 13 species and headed for Milltown Landing.
Great Horned Owls were hooting as we arrived, and birds were starting to sing from the forest and tall fields. We walked through the mix of habitats counting birds mostly by song: Acadian Flycatcher, pewee, Wood Thrush in the woods, Prairie Warbler, Field Sparrow, Indigo Bunting on the edges. At the dock on Black Swamp Creek, a family of five river otters rolled around and played, oblivious to our presence. Beyond them, a Least Bittern grunted. I heard it, Menachem didn’t—a “dirty” bird, at least for the moment. Menachem called out our one and only Yellow-billed Cuckoo of the day from down at the river boat launch, and a Ruby-throated Hummingbird showed off its U-shaped display flight as we walked back toward the car. A Magnolia Warbler sang as we departed, and we headed up to Jackson’s Landing with 56 species.
Jackson’s gave us our best migrant haul of the morning: Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bay-breasted, Cape May, Chestnut-sided, Blackpoll, Black-throated Blue Warblers, plus breeders Prothonotary, Yellow Warbler, and Louisiana Waterthrush. A Purple Martin at the boat launch saved us a later stop. Yellow-throated Warblers were cooperative next to Croom Airport, and a Hooded Warbler sang from near the Selby’s Landing boat launch. It was a few minutes before the Critical Area Driving Tour would open, so we made a quick run up to Mount Calvert for Laughing Gull and Marsh Wren plus a few others, then returned and headed down the CADT towards Merkle.
A few Greater Yellowlegs and a Spotted Sandpiper were our only shorebirds from the observation tower, but a singing Yellow-throated Vireo was species 100 at 10:15am. A harrier over the marsh was a nice surprise. In the fields and edges at Merkle we added Grasshopper and Savannah Sparrow, plus Northern Waterthrush and Cliff Swallow, saving a long detour later. Finally, we stopped at the wetland on Fenno Rd for a pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers I’d found there last year. We added Green Heron and Belted Kingfisher for good measure. To finish up the morning, we tried without success for the Virginia Rail I’d found at Cheltenham Wetlands Park two weeks earlier, but a Sharp-shinned Hawk overhead made the detour worthwhile.
For the second half of the day, we headed up north. Ring-billed Gulls were at Bladensburg Waterfront Park as expected, and so were the nesting Yellow-crowned Night-Herons over the street in University Park. The fields at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center did not produce the Dickcissel I’d found there the previous day, but Bobolink, meadowlarks, and kestrels were all in place. Menachem called out a Merlin, and sure enough, the small streaky falcon came right over our heads, flying north at a Merlin’s typical pace, made a half-hearted pass at a flyby cowbird, and was quickly out of sight. In the woods along Beaver Dam Rd, we finally saw a White-breasted Nuthatch, heard a quiet Swainson’s Thrush, and tracked down a rolling song deep in the woods—a Kentucky Warbler, in the exact same spot it was singing last summer, was species 120.
Next, we drove along the Patuxent south tract entrance road hoping for Worm-eating Warbler, but came up empty, so we headed up to Laurel Lake, where Black-crowned Night-Herons have been hanging out for a while. One bird was right in its place, and we were at 121. The last spot of the planned route was the fields at Konterra Dr. We opted to try parking on the side of the I-95 entrance ramp from Rt 200 for maximum visibility (a $0.40 privilege), which paid off with a raven, another flock of Bobolink, and another Greater Yellowlegs. The Rough-legged Hawk, sadly, was a no-show. To finish off the north part of the county, we made a quick run to my old stomping ground at Lake Artemesia and added Warbling Vireo for species 123.
Our last stop was back at Mount Calvert for sunset. We didn’t get the hoped-for Forster’s Terns, rails, or nighthawks, but small groups of Spotted Sandpipers put on a show. As the daylight faded and light rain started falling, Menachem heard a Least Bittern calling from the marsh, a “dirty” bird no longer, and we ended the day having both gotten all the birds, for a final species total of 123.
I’m proud of our total, especially since it beats—by one species—my personal big day record from a solo East Texas count I did a few years ago. We might have ended up with a higher number if we had put more effort into migrants early, but there wasn’t too much to complain about in the end. Worst misses included Forster’s Tern, Worm-eating Warbler, and (sigh) House Wren. In the end, if it is a record, it’s a beatable one. Hopefully someone tries next year. Maybe I will again! Birding Prince George’s County, especially its lesser-visited southern corners, is always a joy.