May 23rd, 2012

On Friday I had asked Sean to send me an update on the number of species seen and heard at Laurel Creek so far. He sent me his total of 87 species, his last 3 being Common Yellowthroat, Red-eyed Vireo, and Alder Flycatcher. I gave him a call later that day to discuss unrelated items, and while on the phone he yelled “Ruby-throated Hummingbird!”, species number 88 for him.

I had 96 species in the same timeframe, but have since detected 4 additional species, including Yellow Warbler, Red-eyed Vireo, Eastern Wood PeeWee, and Alder Flycatcher. As of today my total is now an even 100. There is a good chance that Sean has also added a couple of species since Friday.

This past weekend would have brought the last rush of migrants through, but not being on the properties we no doubt have missed between 5-10 species that are sure to be missing from our lists by the end of the calendar year.

Last year I did not reach 100 species until May 30th, but many of the species that got me to that point have already been seen this year. I do not yet have Ruby-throated Hummingbird for my list, but with the migration 95% over, the challenge will now be to find a species that is breeding, but we did not yet hear them (like Winter Wren for both of us), find a roaming unmated male starting in June, or await the eruptive winter species and keep our fingers crossed.

The numbers are very close for both of us… Black-billed Cuckoo anyone?