Hi Everyone,
I just returned from 2 full and fun days of birding between Montgomery and
Garrett Counties. Jim Green already posted our main highlights from
Wednesday (20 March 2013), and I'll soon post a summary from yesterday.
But first...
On multiple occasions on Wednesday, Jim and I couldn't help reminiscing
about our western Maryland run during March 2011. During those couple
days, migration and weather conspired to provide particularly exciting
birding. So this morning I looked up our post from the second day of that
trip in the MDOsprey archives; it occurred to me that some other folks
might also like to read it (see below), especially since the time of year
is pertinent.
Newer birders, or those new to MD and DC birding in particular, may not
know about the rich lode of birding history preserved in the MDOsprey
archives (www.mdosprey.org). A great way to learn about our region's birds
is to read through these archives. And I have to say that I think a huge
part of the fun of our pastime is in the learning. As Bill Hubick has
advised--in MDOsprey posts no less--a great way to anticipate seasonal
birding opportunities is to read posts from previous years for a given
week. Bill has also commented on the enjoyment to be had in revisiting
great days from the past through these archived posts. And of course there
are nuggets to be mined from MDBirding too--like the excellent recent post
about snipe and dowitchers from Jim Stasz. Thanks, Jim!
With many, many thanks to Norm Saunders for all the great years of MDOsprey
and to Jared, Bill, and Matt for our new communication platform, here is
our MDOsprey post from 24 March 2011. Hope you enjoy!
Ron Gutberlet
Salisbury, MD
<rlgutberlet...>
MDOsprey post from 24 March 2011:
Hi Everyone,
Jim Green and I didn't think we could top our run from Montgomery to
Allegany on Tuesday, but of course we gave it our best shot on Wednesday
(23 March 2011) as we birded Garrett County and then worked our way back
east. With certain species like Horned Grebe, Bonaparte's Gull, and a
variety of ducks clearly on the move, the inclement weather made for a very
exciting day!
We had a great start at Broadford Lake in Garrett Co, with the following
highlights:
Gadwall--6
Redhead--2
Red-breasted Merganser--13
Wild Turkey--8 (including a displaying tom)
Ring-billed Gull--15
Bonaparte's Gull--2
The feeders at the Discovery Center on Deep Creek Lake had 2 Pine Siskins.
Thanks to Mikey Lutmerding for tips on feeders throughout the county!
Stops along the shore of Deep Creek Lake yielded:
Greater Scaup--4
Redhead--3
Common Loon--2
Horned Grebe--12 (including a tight group of 9 in various stages of molt)
Meadows Lake had a female Redhead among 53 Ring-necked Ducks.
Our last stop in Garrett Co was Piney Reservoir, which provided much fun:
Wood Duck--14
American Wigeon--10
Lesser Scaup--5
Common Goldeneye--2
Hooded Merganser--6 (and seen at most stops today)
Common Merganser--6
Horned Grebe--1
Pied-billed Grebe--4
Double-crested Cormorant--1
Great Blue Heron--2
Osprey--1
Things got really interesting when we hit Allegany County around 3 pm. The
Mason Rd Pond held a pair of Blue-winged Teal, and then we arrived at Rocky
Gap to find the lake just full of birds! This was by far the most exciting
birding we've had here. Evidently the foggy conditions with intermittent
rain had caused a variety of ducks and other waterfowl to stop in. We had
12 species of ducks, 2 species of grebes, and 2 species of gulls.
Especially interesting was a flotilla of 10 Long-tailed Ducks diving in
near unison; the group included 2 males with full tail plumes. Just before
we left, a single Double-crested Cormorant flew in from the south and
landed on the north end of the lake. Here are the duck, grebe, and gull
numbers:
Mallard--48
American Black Duck--2
Green-winged Teal--4
American Wigeon--1
Gadwall--10
Lesser Scaup--51
Greater Scaup--1
Ring-necked Duck--5
Long-tailed Duck--10
Bufflehead--2
Red-breasted Merganser--9
Ruddy Duck--7
Horned Grebe--9
Pied-billed Grebe--2
Bonaparte's Gull--23
Ring-billed Gull--1
As we moved on to Washington County, we found little variety at Little
Pool. Although it wasl only about 5 pm, the sky was darkening with low
gray clouds and a few sprinkles. As we reached Ft Frederick and Big Pool,
heavy rain appeared likely. We paused briefly at the entrance to Ft
Frederick to look over some blackbirds and were happy to see that the flock
included about 40 Rusty Blackbirds. We then hustled out onto the towpath
at the east end of Big Pool to see what we could see. Hopes were high
after Rocky Gap, but the rain began and prevented effective scoping. We
were soaked and hurried back to the car. We needed a place to scan from
the car while we waited out the rain. Jim suggested Blair Valley Lake, and
that paid off with 2 Ring-billed Gulls and 2 Herring Gulls. The rain had
subsided so we returned to Big Pool to see what we could do with the
remainder of our light. Time was short, but a few great surprises remained:
Common Loon--4 in breeding plumage spotted by Jim!
Horned Grebe--7
And finally, we had a flock of 32 Bonaparte's Gulls fly down the length of
Big Pool--east to west--as the sky darkened one last time. We hurried back
to the car, pelted by hail as lightening flashed in the distance. Dramatic
conclusion to a great 2 days! We visited 5 counties during this time and
saw Bonaparte's Gulls and Horned Grebes in every one; I hadn't seen
Bonaparte's in ANY of these counties before this trip.
Oh, and Jim spoke with Brad Lanning who had 21 Red-breasted Mergansers, 11
Greater Scaup, and several Buffleheads at Greenbrier Lake (Greenbrier St Pk
in Washington Co) late Wednesday afternoon. I might just have to stop by
there in the morning...
Have fun,
Ron Gutberlet
Salisbury, MD
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