Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2000 10:10:00 -0400 Reply-To: bott@erols.com Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Bonnie Ott Subject: Howard highlights MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Yesterday's walk at Daniels (Patapsco State Park) was sheer perfection. The evening was as lovely as I can recall. To have a summer night that is so blissfully cool and free of insects was a delight. Everything was so lush and green. Walking along the river with the carpet of maidenhair fern was like being transported to another world. We were enchanted when we found stands of Indian Pipe, gleaming ghostlike in the twilight. The birds were a treat- a Green Heron fishing along the riverbank= . We watched him catch and eat a crayfish. A mother Wood Duck with a large brood in tow. She brought them close to us so we could admire their subtle colors. Scarlet tanagers were numerous. A flaming male graced us with wonderful looks as he gleaned for insects right above our heads. A Louisiana Waterthrush bobbing among the branches of a felled tree over the water. A family of Phoebes with soft brown young, all flicking their tails. In the deepening twilight we called for the Screech Owl. We were startled when we heard a VERY close response. It was so near that we all were unsure at first if another birder was somewhere, hiding and fooling us. We then could hear more distant calls and concluded that they MUST be real owls. If someone had run and moved positions we would have heard them crashing through the brush! The mist settled on the river as we walked back in the twilight.= A duo of Great Blue Herons glided down the water before us. As we left the woods, one stood silent at the crest of the dam, a dark shape against the rushing water. Bonnie Ott Ellicott city ========================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ========================================================================= ===========================================================================