Today while taking a mid-day break, I spent some time scanning both shores
of Gunpowder Neck in Harford County.
The surprise of the day was my earliest Tree Swallows for the upper bay. I
counted 53 fly by along the shore of the lower Bush River. There were many
more swallows further out. A conservative estimate would be 75-100! Also,
at the same location, I had a mid-day displaying Woodcock. I�ve never heard
of them displaying in the middle of the day (is this uncommon?) �maybe
something was harassing it (fox, etc.)� (???).
Another unexpected sign of spring was my FOS Eastern Phoebe. This guy/gal
was foraging along the brush and rotting lumber of a flooded woodlot near
Maxwell Point.
Interesting waterfowl included Common Mergs, Ruddy Duck, and Lesser Scaup
on the Bush (along with a lone Bonaparte�s Gull). Variety and numbers were
higher on the Gunpowder side �as is usually the case. Near Watkins Creek I
had a dozen or so Tundra Swan, 10 Mute Swan (ugggh), a scattering of Scaup
sp. Ruddy Ducks, and a lone Goldeneye out on the river proper. Also here
was a tightly packed group of dabblers huddled together in the gale blowing
off the river. The dabblers included -in order of abundance: Mallard, Black
Duck, Green-winged Teal (20+ flew in while I was there), Gadwall, A.
Wigeon, and Pintail.
Lastly of note near Watkins Creek on the Gunpowder, was a handsome first
winter Lesser Black-backed Gull and a herring-type gull that really had/has
me considering Thayer�s Gull. However, my experience with this species is
almost nil, so I am not about to call it. The bird �an adult, was
strikingly white �especially under the wings when it flew. Its head was
heavily streaked like an adult winter LBGU and it had almost no discernable
black in the wingtips. �I was actually thinking Iceland or Glaucous until I
finally saw that the wingtips were in fact daintily marked with a few black
specs�In the end, I�m leaning towards Herring based on the bird�s size. At
30-40 yards, it seemed equal in size to the few Herring Gulls that were
around. Unfortunately, my camera�s battery was dead. Maybe I�ll be able to
relocate it tomorrow�
-almost forgot: I had two American Tree Sparrows as well as three Chipping
Sparrows in the Lauderick Creek area.
Stay warm and good birding,
Chris Starling
North East, MD
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