After a stretch of birding away from the coast last week, Week Nineteen saw a return to coastal birding, kicking off what will be a month-and-a-half of birding along or relatively near the Atlantic Ocean. Before I could get back to the coast, however, I first needed to work my way out of mountainous West Virginia and down through western “Mountain Maryland”. Rather than making my way straight to Maryland I elected to head first into Pennsylvania, and rather than sticking in Maryland for my originally allotted days I decided to spend a day in the nation’s Capitol and then dip out a day early to get started on birding Delaware.
Following the incredible warbler spectacles of birding in West Virginia during Week Eighteen, on Monday morning I concluded by birding in West Virginia. Despite visits to the incredible scenic Valley Falls State Park and decent activity on the way to and while at Pricketts Fort State Park, my birding on the 5th was one of few days this year in which I didn’t add a single new state bird, leaving West Virginia at 129 species – a rather low final tally considering my incredible start to the state. To be fair, that total is more a result of a combination of a lack of effort and a couple days of rain rather than a good indication of the birding available.
On Tuesday, though my birding picked up as I headed north into Pennsylvania with the intention to track down as many warblers as I could, especially those that are unlikely to be around when I return to the state in late August. My efforts paid off as I drove a series of roads around and within the Forbes State Forest, including the Quebec Run Wild Area and Sumey Road Area. During my few hour loop of birding the region some of my notable pickups included Golden-crowned Kinglet, Magnolia Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, Prairie Warbler, and Black-throated Green Warbler – many of which will be far harder to pick up come late August when I am in the less-mountainous portions of the state. With 61 species picked up during those first few hours I will be in prime position to reach 100 on my way back southwest through the state during the lull of birding activity that accompanies breeding season.
From the Sumey Road area I headed back southwest until I crossed first through the northeast corner corner of West Virginia and then into Maryland. Right off the bat in Maryland I picked up a handful of pretty good birds including a Bobolink shortly after crossing state lines, and along Good Hope Road I had multiple Common Raven and a singing Tennessee Warbler. The highlight of my first day in the state, though, was undoubtably shortly after Good Hope Road when, while driving with my windows down, I heard a buzzy insect-like call that drew my attention. Upon stopping and turning off my engine I heard the sound again and confirmed my initial suspicion: Grasshopper Sparrow!
Eventually I made my way to Swallow Falls State Park, a very scenic park that that hosted a solid variety of birds, including both Louisiana Waterthrush and Northern Waterthrush, Magnolia Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, and Black-throated Blue Warbler. From Swallow Falls I started making my way northeast, first stopping briefly at Deep Creek Lake State Park and then heading to Big Run State Park. While there wasn’t much at either stop, Big Run Road on the way to Big Run SP was absolutely packed full of singing warblers, including a Canada Warbler.
On the 7th I continued my birding in the Maryland panhandle with a visit to Green Ridge State Forest, first birding a series of roads on my way there and then spending a considerable amount of time in the State Forest property itself. First, along 15 Mile Creek Road, I heard a calling Yellow-billed Cuckoo and got great looks at a super cooperative Worm-eating Warbler, plus heard singing Cerulean Warbler and got looks at a Cape May Warbler. Then, as I made my way into the north portion of the main chunk of the property there were several Hooded Warbler, Northern Parula, Pine Warbler, and Acadian Flycatcher.
Once I departed Green Ridge I continued southeast to Hagerstown, where at the Valley Mall I stopped at Starbucks to spend the rest of the day finishing up last week’s blog post and a few other odds-and-ends I needed to take care up. While at the mall’s plaza I did manage to pick up a few new Maryland birds, as Rock Pigeon, Fish Crow, and Chimney Swift all flew overhead. Once I was done working on my laptop I continued on to Frederick to spend the night at the Cracker Barrel parking lot there, putting myself within a relatively short drive of Washington D.C., which at 8pm google maps said was only about a forty minute drive away.
Originally I hadn’t planned to make my way to D.C., however a few months back I was reached out to by a south-Maryland area birder named Emily Wiggans, and once I got closer to her neck of the woods I reached out to make plans to bird together. She suggested meeting up in Washington D.C., and so I figured what the heck, I might as well dip into the federal district. Then, much closer to my time in Maryland, another D.C. birder by the name of Evan Clark found my blog and shot me a message that he would love to meet up for some birding if I found myself in the Capitol. So, with contacts to meet up with I rose early on Thursday morning and put Rock Creek Park into google maps, and what had been a 40 minute drive the night before was now twice that – gotta love traffic!
Eventually I arrived at the park, where I made my way to the Maintenance Yard parking area to meet up with Emily. Seemingly an insignificant spot, the Maintenance Yard nearly had as many birders as birds due to the impressive numbers and diversity of warblers and more. Before even leaving the parking lot we’d picked up Blackpoll Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, American Redstart, Northern Parula, Magnolia Warbler, and Chestnut-sided Warbler. Throughout the rest of our walk we got fantastic looks at Scarlet Tanager and Swainson’s Thrush, as well as great pickups in an overhead Cooper’s Hawk and a pair of Purple Martin, as well as a heard-only Yellow-billed Cuckoo.
Just before we reached the two hour mark of our time birding the area Emily and I found ourselves at 49 species for the morning, and decided we wanted to make a serious effort to reach 50. Despite others present having seen and heard Blackburnian Warbler, Downy Woodpecker, Black-throated Green Warbler, and more, however, the two of us were totally unable to track down the last needed bird in about a half-hour effort, and eventually called it quits as Emily needed to get to work and I needed to head towards my next stop.
On my way from Rock Creek Park to the Kenilworth Botanical Gardens to meet up with Evan Clark I spotted a handful more birds, including most notably a Nashville Warbler singing from a tree along the road as I was stuck in traffic – a somewhat odd place for one, but I guess in migration through urbania birds take what they can get.
Upon arriving at Kenilworth Evan called me to give me directions to where he was out on the trails by the river, and on my way out to meet him I heard singing White-eyed Vireo, Warbling Vireo, and Orchard Oriole. Once I tracked him down along the river we quickly began to tally up new birds; Spotted Sandpiper, Solitary Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs, and Barred Owl were amongst the highlights of our time together. Eventually we parted ways and I headed back to the river to track down Cliff Swallow, spotting a Black Vulture and hearing Acadian Flycatcher on the way. Then I headed back to my car and drove over to the adjacent Kenilworth Park – a separate portion of the same eBird hotspot that is more of a typical city park with ballfields and a track, where I managed to find Savannah Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, and Blue Grosbeak but I dipped on the Bobolink and Yellow-breasted Chat that had been hanging out in the park earlier in the day.
From Kenilworth I made my way down the river to East Potomac Park, where at Hain’s Point I spent a while watching the river for any waterbirds that I wouldn’t have been able to track down elsewhere in the city. My time there paid off as, in addition to the somewhat expected Ring-billed Gull, American Herring Gull, and Double-crested Cormorant I also spotted a Common Loon, a late Lesser Scaup, and a fly-by Greater Yellowlegs. Also present in the park were a continuing Willow Flycatcher and some other new bids in Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Brown Thrasher. With Hains Point brining me to 96 species on the day I decided to head back to Rock Creek Park, where with both a second visit to the Maintenance Yard and some time spent in the rest of the park I managed to find the four birds I needed to reach 100 despite the rain.
Following a second night spent in the Hagerstown Cracker Barrel parking lot I got back to birding in Maryland, though on Friday it was a rather slow day defined by pouring rain. Despite the rain, though, I managed a solid productive walk at the Soldiers Delight Natural Environmental Area, which hosted several singing Prairie Warbler and some other great birds such as Scarlet Tanager, Summer Tanager, and Yellow-breasted Chat. Most of the rest of the day was spent inside to stay away from the rain, but I did head into Baltimore to the Bachman Sports Complex to locate a pair of Mississippi Kite that have nested in the spot the past several years.
While Friday had been a relatively slow day, Saturday the 10th would be one of the best days I’ve had so far along the east coast thanks largely to a walk at the Swan Creek Wetlands that I was invited to tag along on by Tim Carney, who was leading the walk as part of a the Baltimore Birding Weekend. While we waited for the full group to assemble at the normally-inaccessible property’s parking lot we got off to a great start, spotting Least Tern, Blue Grosbeak, and Common Raven. Once the full group of 23 had arrived we headed out for a four-hour trek through the coastal wetlands facility, and soon the birds were stacking up. Bank Swallow, Wilson’s Warbler, and Peregrine Falcon were some of the most noteworthy early birds before we reached the marsh and tallied Little Blue Heron, Virginia Rail, Sora, and Seaside Sparrow. Eventually we headed up the massive dikes that encircled the facilities ponds, and on those ponds were a large group of Ruddy Duck and loads of shorebirds, the highlights of which included Semipalmated Plover, Black-bellied Plover, Short-billed Dowitcher, Pectoral Sandpiper, and White-rumped Sandpiper – the last of which was a first-of-year bird that I had a realistic chance of missing this year had Tim not spotted it.
Before we ended the day at Swan Creek we made a loop along the ocean that produced a bunch more great birds including Common Tern, Caspian Tern, Lesser Scaup, Greater Scaup, Savannah Sparrow, and a Semipalmated Sandpiper; once again the last of those birds was a first-of-year bird, though unlike White-rumped there was practically no chance I would somehow dip on Semipalm. When we finally did wrap up I spent a while chatting with Tim and Scott Houston – the walk’s other guide – and the two of them gave me a handful of suggestions on how to spent the rest of my time in the state, both agreeing that my best bet was to beeline straight to Ocean City for some seawatching. With their expert advice sounding like a solid plan to me I hopped in my car and headed onto the Delmarva (a name which while saying I realized is a clever combination of the names of the three states which occupy the peninsula, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia).
It didn’t take long for my heeding of their advice to pay dividends, as shortly after setting up my scope to scan the Ocean City Inlet – specifically Skimmer Island – birds like Black Skimmer, Great Black-backed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Royal Tern, and American Oystercatcher began to add up. Once I felt like I’d made the most of what Skimmer Island had to offer I headed south to Assateague State Park, where in addition to the park’s famous “wild horses” (which seemed about as tamed as I can imagine a wild horse being, though I didn’t chance approaching them for more reasons that just the rules prohibiting doing so) I also spotted a few new Maryland birds in Great Egret, Sanderling, and Ruddy Turnstone.
Finally I closed out my day – and my time in Maryland – with a return to the Ocean City Inlet, this time viewing first from Sunset Park and then taking a short walk to get another vantage point on some of the break walls, one of which held Purple Sandpiper – a fantastic bird which joined Black Scoter, Brant, and Forster’s Tern as my last birds for the state, brining my final Maryland number to 151.
Week Nineteen, which started with a relatively slow day, would then be closed out on one of the best day’s of birding I’ve had all year as I kicked off birding in Delaware. After sleeping in a bit later than planned on Sunday morning I made my way north from Rehoboth Beach (where I had spent the first of several nights at the Cracker Barrel parking lot) towards the renowned Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge. First, after missing my turn to head to the refuge proper, I spent a short while at Deep Branch Road, there picking up some great birds including Prothonotary Warbler, Prairie Warbler, and Summer Tanager. Eventually I continued on to the refuge itself, where I spent a short while along the entrance road before going for a long walk along several trails at the main portion of the refuge. The birding at Prime Hook was indeed prime, with highlights including Clapper Rail, Black-bellied Plover, American Golden-Plover, Short-billed Dowitcher, Greater Yellowlegs, Willet, Lesser Yellowlegs, Dunlin, Pectoral Sandpiper, Marsh Wren, Seaside Sparrow, Orchard Oriole, Baltimore Oriole, Canada Warbler, Scarlet Tanager, and Blue Grosbeak.
Eventually I headed back towards Rehobath Beach and made my way to Cape Henlopen State Park for a mixture of birding-by-car, hiking, and seawatching. Henlopen quickly propelled me past the century mark for Delaware, making it just the 4th state in which I hit 100 species my first day (5th region, counting D.C.) and eventually bringing me to 118, tying West Virginia for that top spot. Hosting both land birds like Brown-headed Nuthatch, White-throated Sparrow, Bobolink, and Common Raven as well as waterbirds such as Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Bonaparte’s Gull, Red Knot, American Oystercatcher, Piping Plover, Red-throated Loon, Red-breasted Merganser, and Royal Tern, my time at Henlopen was a fantastic way to end my first day in what would become one of my favorite state’s I’ve birded this year over the next couple days.
Delaware reaching 100 species made it the 24th state to do so this year, officially marking the half-way point of my journey to see 100 species in each of the Lower-48 states throughout 2025. In Week Twenty the fantastic birding would continue in The First State, including a visit to the state’s other legendary coastal National Wildlife Refuge producing my highest ever single-checklist species count – one that would almost match the 118 seen on the 11th in just a few hours. But that’s a story for next week and this post is already about 28 hours late, so in the meantime: Happy Birding!
eBird Trip Summary:
First and foremost - thank you to anyone who chooses to support me in this insane adventure of mine. When I initially had this idea and began planning I didn't even consider the possibility that others would want to support me, but I am extremely grateful to those who have reached out to do so. For those who are interested in supporting me, I have set up a Patreon, which can be accessed by clicking the logo to the left (or you can send me a message via the contact page). Again, thank you for your incredibly generous support!
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Follow me on my journey to see 100 species in every Lower-48 State during 2025, experience some of the incredible places and events in American birding, and meet and bird with as many local birders as possible along the way.
Posts will be made every Wednesday (I will try to have them out by 5pm, but situationally they might be a bit later) and will cover the previous Monday through Sunday. Additional posts will be made periodically with no set schedule.
