Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2000 20:07:44 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Steve Sanford Subject: American Wigeon in Talbot Co! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit What's so exciting about that you say? Well, it was my first "close-out" in five years! For years now, I've had (i.e. seen) an American Wigeon in every MD county except Talbot. Going over to Talbot Co to not see a Wigeon has become a regular ritual. I decided to do it again today (2/27) since I was aching to do a short Eastern Shore birding trip. After not seeing any Wigeon in various inlets and ponds in the NW corner of Talbot Co, I went down to the place that had always seemed so perfect for them, but had failed to provide them in roughly 15 to 20 visits: The Easton sewage lagoons. FINALLY! There were 3 American Wigeon in the lower, more natural pond where the Ruff was last summer. HALLELUJAH! After a while, I heard some wigeon toots above me and 6 more Wigeon joined the original 3. And a little later 8 more flew east over the pond without stopping. Overall, the notable birds at the Easton sewage lagoons were: 17 American Wigeon 2 Shovelers 1 Green-winged Teal about 10 L Scaup 2 fly-over Pipits 1 Horned Lark 100-200 Canada Geese. (I didn't see any Short-eared Owls there, as I have once or twice in the past, but it was midday. I've had four species of owls there over the years.) (The lagoons are about 5 miles SE of Easton off North Dover Rd at the end of the road to the landfill.) Some other notable sightings, mainly in the NW part of the County, especially at or near Leeds Creek and Miles River, were: 1 Wood Duck (adult male) ~ 100 Lesser Scaup 3 Canvasbacks (Skipton Creek) ~ 100 Ruddy Ducks ~ 200 fly-over Tundra Swans ~ 2000 Canada Geese ~ 1000+ Grackles Alas, though, I still missed Brown Creeper in Talbot today, which I need for a close-out on that species. So the ritual visits will continue. That's what "close-out" means. Steve Sanford tanager@bcpl.net Randallstown MD County listing is like going to the House of the Risin' Sun. "It's been the ruin of many a poor birder, and God, I know, I'm one." ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================