No, this is not an April Fools email.
Wife Ann and I had a nice walk this morning from Pennyfield Lock to Blockhouse Point on the C&O Canal in Montgomery County. Hoping for early migrants, we found many of the same birds that Lucy Uncu reported including a Common Raven.
About 11:00, as we were looking at beautiful Green-winged Teal in the second impoundment upstream from Pennyfield, I looked up and saw several Turkey Vultures circling. Ann looked up and pointed out that one bird had a white patch near the wingtips. As we focused on that bird, we quickly realized that it was not a Black Vulture, being larger with much longer wings and tail. We also realized it was clearly larger than the accompanying Turkey Vultures, and immediately thought �eagle.� Having seen many immature Bald Eagles, I was struck by how different this bird looked. The underside of the wings looked uniformly dark brown except for a prominent white patch near the end of each wing at the base of the primaries. The body and head looked entirely dark brown. The tail was two-toned, with a wide dark band at the tip and an equally wide white band between the dark band and the base of the tail. For an immature Bald Eagle I would not expect the large white patch at the base of the primaries, and I would expect other white markings underneath the wing and on the body, which this bird didn�t have. As the eagle flew out of sight, we looked in our National Geographic Guide at the Bald Eagles and then at the Golden Eagles and realized our bird was a very good match for the immature Golden Eagle. Reluctant to claim a Golden Eagle from our brief look and limited experience with the species, we came home and looked at many raptor guides, all of which had illustrations or photos of immature Golden Eagles that matched our bird well. To be doubly sure, we reviewed all the other raptors as well and did not find another option that fit these field marks. So we�re counting a new Maryland species for us.
Our complete list from eBird is below. In addition to the Golden Eagle and Raven, notable birds for us were two singing Rusty Blackbirds and a flock of N. Rough-winged Swallows.
C&O Canal, Pennyfield Lock, Montgomery, US-MD
Apr 1, 2013 10:20 AM - 12:55 PM
Protocol: Traveling
1.4 mile(s)
Comments: Pennyfield Lock to Blockhouse Point.
36 species
Canada Goose 2
Wood Duck 2
Green-winged Teal 22
Ring-necked Duck 200
Common Merganser 2
Double-crested Cormorant 3
Great Blue Heron 4
Black Vulture 1
Turkey Vulture 8
Golden Eagle 1 The bird was viewed circling overhead with several Turkey Vultures. It was noticeably larger than the TVs and held its wings flatter. The underside of the wings looked uniformly dark brown except for a prominent white patch near the end of each wing at the base of the primaries. The body and head looked entirely dark brown. The tail was two-toned, with a wide dark band at the tip and an equally wide white band between the dark band and the base of the tail. Bird did not bank to allow a view of the upper side. Ruled out Black Vulture due to larger size, longer wings, and longer, two-toned tail. Ruled out hawks due to large size of bird and coloring and shape of wings (long with uniform width, not pointed or tapered). Ruled out immature Bald Eagle by the distinct large white patch at the base of the primaries and the lack of other white markings underneath the wing and on the body. Did see two immature Bald Eagles later in the same walk.
Bald Eagle 3
Red-shouldered Hawk 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 3
Downy Woodpecker 4
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 1
Pileated Woodpecker 4
Eastern Phoebe 4
Blue Jay 8
American Crow 3
Common Raven 1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 4
Tree Swallow 5
Carolina Chickadee 19
Tufted Titmouse 12
White-breasted Nuthatch 7
Carolina Wren 23
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1
Eastern Bluebird 4
American Robin 1
Song Sparrow 8
White-throated Sparrow 21
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 1
Northern Cardinal 15
Rusty Blackbird 2
American Goldfinch 3
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