Dans Rock Bird Count (2022)

MBP is excited to kick off the Dans Rock Bird Count, our first morning flight count in western Maryland!

For the first time ever, there will be concurrent morning flight counts on the Atlantic coastal plain (Cape May, New Jersey), at Turkey Point at the top of the Chesapeake Bay, and now in the Appalachian region at Dans Rock in Allegany County. (That's right, Maryland has two fall bird counts in 2022!) With each successive year of these counts, the value will compound and teach us more about bird migration, bird populations, and how birds respond to all the dynamic variables that affect them along the way. We are excited to continue increasing our understanding of their amazing journeys.

The iconic Dans Rock Overlook is located south of Frostburg at the highest point in Allegany County, Maryland. The count will document fall bird migration here from August 1st through November 30th.

Please welcome our lead counter for the 2022 season, Carl Engstrom!

If you would like to support this effort, please donate via the link above. You can monitor updates via Trektellen and eBird as well as via the MBP special projects blog and on social media (MBP on Facebook and Instagram).

Meet the Counter

◆ Carl Engstrom

Growing up in central Pennsylvania, Carl has spent his whole life exploring and birding the Appalachians. He is a recent graduate of Penn State and has loved birds for as long as he can remember. He always trys to spend as much time observing them as possible. Birds have provided him the opportunity to travel to some amazing places and allowed him to work from the saltmarshes of New Jersey to the mountains of Montana over the last few summers. Visiting Cape May in the fall gave Carl his first taste of morning flight and it has been a phenomenon that has held his interest ever since. Being the counter for the first year of this count with Maryland Biodiversity Project is an incredible opportunity and one that he looks forward to taking on.

Read more about the Count on the MBP blog page.