Date: Tue, 4 Apr 2000 02:23:46 EDT Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Mark Hoffman Subject: Maryland/Worcester County March Big Day-Part 2-The AM MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable THE DAY: We headed north on Rt. 13 out of Pocomoke City. We were going to=20 head up to the Colbourne area along the northern part of Nassawango Creek,=20 but I missed Rt. 113, so we entered God's Country via Dividing Creek Road an= d=20 Somerset County. You would not believe the grief received by "Mr. Worcester=20 County" every time he had to look at a map! Hey, this was a new route for me= =20 as well =E2=80=A6 We decided to night-bird the area north of the Pocomoke River and west of Rt= .=20 12 (=3DPocomoke State Forest/North) instead. Our first stop was along=20 Nassawango Road just north of the country club at 2:42 a.m. It was bitterly=20 cold, although with my long-johns and flannel-lined pants and gloves, not=20 unbearable. I think Marshall and Jim were dressed for a May (or June?) run.=20 Any Whip-poor-will with any sense would still be in Florida, and certainly=20 none was willing to announce its presence. We made five stops, most in=20 reliable whip spots, but netted only Eastern Screech-Owl and Barred Owl. We=20 left the forest at 3:18 a.m. We arrived at Truitt's Landing at 3:41 a.m. In response to the King Rail tap= e=20 at first all was quite, but then suddenly a roar of Rallidae brightened our=20 spirits. Three species - King, Virginia and an early Sora. We tried hard for= =20 blacks, as they have been recorded here in winter, but dipped. Great Horned=20 Owls were calling to round out the easy owls. We left Truitt's at 4:30 a.m.=20 and a quick stop at Cherrix Rd. @ Boxiron Creek was quiet. We then went to=20 the end of Taylor's Landing Road to listen for Barn Owls. They have nested i= n=20 the Vaughn WMA area just to the south, and I have heard fly-overs in this=20 general area several times. Late-March is also prime time for migrating (and= =20 calling) Barn Owls. A Clapper Rail called once for the marsh just to the=20 south, unique for the day, which Marshall missed as he was screened by the=20 car, but the no Barn Owls were heard. We left at 5:00 a.m. to start the dawn= =20 chorus. Starting at 5:05 a.m. we birded the Vaughn central area. Just as we started=20 out, a gobbling turkey north of the parking lot was a good one to get out o= f=20 the way. The thicket area, that held thrasher, catbird, House Wren and Fox=20 Sparrow during Christmas was relatively unproductive, as we only scored the=20 thrasher. We quickly headed for the marsh. The usual Marsh and Sedge Wrens=20 cooperated, but the sharp-tailed sparrows were frustrating. Finally we were=20 able to claim 1 Nelson's and 3 (sp.). I spotted Royal Tern fishing out over= =20 the bay that would prove to be unique, but a hoped-for bittern (of either=20 species) failed to materialize.=20 We headed back, working the field edges and thickets. Yellow-throated Warble= r=20 and gnatcatcher cooperated, and a single Fox Sparrow spotted by Marshall=20 along the field edge would prove to be unique for the day. Winter Wren (our=20 only as well) also called, but we missed a number of passerines that would=20 continue to haunt us throughout the day (sapsucker, waxwing, Ruby-crowned=20 Kinglet, catbird, House Wren)` We worked the area favored by the Harris's Sparrow in late-December/January=20 but if still present, it was not cooperating. The Le Conte's Sparrow area wa= s=20 totally flooded out, and we were headed back to the car when Marshall spotte= d=20 an accipiter which landed on the edge of a woods in clear view, an immature=20 bird. Despite the clear shot, we were somewhat perplexed. Jim said something= =20 about the bold and broad white supercilium, while its short tail just seemed= =20 out of place. At better angle showed broad dark chevrons on the white=20 undertail coverts. A Northern Goshawk! Simply amazing. County bird for both=20 Marshall and Jim and only my second. Only 3 or 4 prior county records.=20 Despite some misses, we were pumped by the gos, and left Vaughn at 8:14 a.m. We arrived at Blades Road (a great area for swamp-forest species along the=20 Pocomoke) at 8:28 a.m. It was very quite, but we did add White-breasted=20 Nuthatch, Louisiana Waterthrush and Red-shouldered Hawk. This spot has=20 produced Black-and-white Warbler for me on both April 2 (1994) and 5 (1998),= =20 but we could produce none today. Other possibilities, like Purple Finch or=20 Rusty Blackbird, for which this area is very good in late-March, failed to=20 materialize as well. We left at 9:08 a.m. We then headed for the former Stockton Chicken Plant arriving at 9:20 a.m.,=20 where House Wren, catbird and Purple Finch were seen on the CBC. The gate wa= s=20 locked, however, and our frustration showed. We need to find some passerine=20 flocks and find them quickly. We worked George Island Landing Road (adding=20 our only Black Vultures of the day), the boat ramp (adding Great and Snowy=20 Egrets, and Boat-tailed Grackle). Given the many need landbirds, we changed=20 our original plan at this point. Instead of starting the trek north, we woul= d=20 work frequently productive landbirds spots along the southern boarder of the= =20 county. We made a circuit of Greenbackville, Swan Gut, Big Mill Pond and=20 Steel Neck Roads, but the only passerine we could net were Barn Swallow and=20 Brown Creeper. Jim spotted the latter from the back seat of the car =E2=80= =A6 the car=20 was parked at the time! On the waterbird side, Big Mill Pond produced=20 Pied-billed Grebe and Stockton Marsh had a Glossy Ibis. We wrapped up this=20 leg at 10:48 a.m. We arrived at the Vaughn/North area (the large ponds off of Taylor's Landing= =20 Road) at 11:00 a.m. We got our first big slug of puddle ducks (Gadwall,=20 Blue-winged Teal) and were buoyed by seeing the previously located Le Conte'= s=20 Sparrow, leaving at 11:23 a.m. We worked north to Figgs Landing, which had=20 been so productive on 3/22, but it was dry and the shorebirds gone. Public=20 Landing added Common Loon but no goldeneye or scaup. Public Landing Pond,=20 were I have had luck with Northern Pintail in late-March, had teal only, and= =20 we were doomed to miss the pintail. Even greater disappointment set in when we checked the flooded fields that=20 had been so productive the day before. No shorebirds. Since it was low tide=20 on the bayside, the working hypothesis (per Iliff) was that the birds were=20 out feeding in the marsh ponds. Hoffman favored the "a Merlin was here=20 recently" scenario. Another turkey in an open field off Rt. 12 was a very=20 temporary amusement. We left at 12:04 p.m. After quick gas and lunch stop in= =20 Snow Hill, we left at 12:19 p.m., refueled for the run to Ocean City. ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================