Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2000 13:49:57 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Mike Callahan Subject: Easter Birding MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hello fellow Ospreyers, I went on my annual Easter Sunday Birding trip this morning and was joined by Bob & Melinda Elvander. It was a great day to hunt for birds rather then Easter Eggs, and boy did we have some great finds. This years trip was to the Piney Orchard Nature Preserve in Anne Arundel Co. Our first treasure find was to hear an American Bittern calling. It only called once and we never saw it, but what a treat. Tree Swallows fighting over a Wood Duck fell into the pond still fighting in the water. A Pied-billed Grebe foraged the pond as well did a lone male Woody. We came across a heronry with at least 17 Great Blue Heron nests. Prairie, Black and White, N. Parula, Myrtle, and Palm Warblers were among the warblers we could hear singing. The following two birds were highlights of the morning and are a great find in any Easter Basket. We observed a what appeared to be the female Coopers Hawk eating a bird near the nest. After passing through the woods with the nest, we were treated to a fairly close kettle of about 7 Broad-winged Hawks that gave great views for Id. This must have been a good morning for Broad-winged movement. Just before noon I saw a kettle of 17 BWHA low over Bowie State University. They moved out of site as fast as I saw them come in. I hope you had great holiday weekend filled with Good Birding and had as much fun as I did. Naturally, Mike Callahan ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================