Hi All,
Although yesterday started chilly and a bit breezy and clouded up to a
humidly chilly sort of day, the birding was good. Waterfowl were the
stated target of the day and we accumulated 20 species in visits to the
Chestertown treatment plant as seen from John Hanson Rd., St. Paul's
Millpond and the Chesapeake Farms HQ pond off Ricaud's Branch Rd., and
Eastern Neck NWR. Good counts included about 280 shovelers, 80
Ring-necked Ducks, and 100 Ruddy Ducks at John Hanson Rd.; about 200
pintail and 250 Green-winged Teal at Chesapeake Farms; and at least 70
Gadwall,100 black ducks, and 150 Lesser Scaup at Calfpasture Cove at
Eastern Neck Island. We also had a few recently arrived Tundra Swans
(13), on time, at Eastern Neck.
The best finds of the day were among the last as we found two BROWN
PELICANS at 2:00 PM in the channel between Kent Island and E. Neck. I.
as seen from the platform at the Bayview-Butterfly Trail at the refuge.
Mike Bowen spotted the bird first. It was north-northeast of Love Point
on Kent I. and slowly headed towards us and the Chester River Sound -
perhaps as much as 4 miles away at first. The bird eventually passed
inside of Love Point in Queen Anne's County waters and ended up as close
as a mile away on the Kent County side of the line. As the bird passed
southward flapping ponderously and frequently gliding on bowed wings it
started to land on the water. At that point we noted *another* young
pelican on the water about 0.6 miles to the southwest of the platform.
This bird gave good, if somewhat backlit, views for about 10 minutes
before it lumbered off for Love Point and deeper waters. Thank you to
Mike Bowen for posting these sightings yesterday to e-bird.
Among the other good birds of the day were a late juvenile/first winter
ROYAL TERN on the tide flats at Eastern Neck Narrows as three of us left
the island (Louisa Duemling, Nancy, and me); a distant single hen BLACK
SCOTER in the Chester River as seen from Bogles Wharf, 2 each of
Canvasback and REDHEAD at Calfpasture Cove among the scaup and
ring-necks; 12 Bonaparte's Gulls at John Hanson Rd. (over the back
pond); and 20 American Pipits at John Hanson Rd. We also were
mercilessly teased by 5 backlit and high-flying swallows at the
butterfly garden. Based on morphology and a single white flash below,
probably Tree Swallows, but maybe they were more exotic...
Our bird species total for the day was 74. Not a bad outing at all.
Good Birding,
Walter Ellison & Nancy Martin
23460 Clarissa Rd
Chestertown, MD 21620
410-778-9568
Observing Nature is like unwrapping a big pile of presents every time
you take a walk.
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