MEMORANDUM 
DATE: December 18, 1989 
TO: 
FROM: 
SUBJECT: 
Twelve observers participated in the count, which was held on Sunday, 
17 December 1989. A severe cold front had descended on the region on 15 
December, with night-time temperatures plummeting below 10° F. on Friday 
and Saturday. A series of snowstorms had left about 6 inches of frozen 
snow on the ground. We started the count at 08:00, at which time 
conditions were sunny, calm, and cold (ca. 18 F.). The count ended at 
15:30, by which time the sky was overcast and the temperature was in the 
low 20‘s. For the remainder of the count day, skies were mostly sunny to 
overcast, winds were calm to light, and there was no precipitation. All 
ponds and inlets were frozen solid, but there was open water in the wider 
sections of Rhode River and West River. 
Despite the unusually cold weather conditions, a total of 65 bird 
species was sighted. This broke the old record species total (established 
in 1983, under much milder and snow-free conditions) of 61 species. 
Unusual sightings included Red-headed Woodpecker (1), Great Black-backed 
Gull (1), Eastern Phoebe (1), White-crowned Sparrow (1), and Fox Sparrow 
(1). Some boreal visitors were scarce (e.g.. Red-breasted Nuthatch - 2 
individuals) or absent (e.g.. Purple Finch, Evening Grosbeak, Pine Siskin), 
but some other northern species were present in good numbers: Yellow- 
bellied Sapsucker (10), Winter Wren (6), Hermit Thrush (13), Golden-crowned 
Kinglet (22), Yellow-rumped Warbler (42). The fact that most near-shore 
areas were frozen made waterfowl difficult to observe, but most of the 
"normal" ducks for the area seemed to be present in good numbers. Even 
allowing for some possible double-counting of flights by different parties, 
the 1,477 Canada Geese that were tallied is impressive for a Western Shore 
locality. 
As was also true in 1983, some resident species that are known to 
frequent the Edgewater area in large numbers during winter were missed on 
the count. Such "easy" species as Rock Dove, Common Grackle, Brown-headed 
Cowbird, and House Finch were in this category. A little advanced scouting 
of farms and houses with bird feeders should ensure that such species are 
not missed in future counts, and we should be able to break into the 70+ 
species range. By comparison, the nearby Bowie Christmas Count circle, 
which„is more than 20 times the area of the SERC count region (1810 krn vs. 
72 knr), and which was combed by more than three times as many observers, 
yielded only 75 species in last year's Christmas count. 
All Participants in SERC Winter Bird Count 
« 
Jim Lynch 
Results of 1989 Count 
