Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2000 19:56:49 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Stan Arnold Subject: THREE GWF Geese in Caroline Co. MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi Folks, I joined a Montgomery Co. MOS birdwalk today (11/18) led by Don Messersmith. The locale was Sandy Point State Park (AA Co.) followed by Blackwater NWR (Dorchester Co.). Between locations, I headed out on my own for a bit, to check out Marshall Iliff's report of GWF Goose off of Rte 309 in Caroline Co. The goose flock had moved slightly, and was found in the ponds on the east side of Rte 213, immediately after exiting from US 301 towards the south. The shoulders are fairly wide here, making it easy to pull off and observe. The geese were mostly standing by the edge of the water, allowing the bright orange legs of three white-fronts to stand out like neon signs. I only saw the bill of one of the birds, and it was orange. This particular bird had broad black bars across the belly. The second GWF had narrower, and less delineated bars across the belly. The third had a largely plain belly, with a few black blotches on it. This makes four different GWF geese that I've seen this week in MD, the other being the Howard Co. bird. Some of the highlights from the bird walk, and from other locations: Sandy Point State Park: COMMON LOON OLDSQUAW/Long-tailed Duck HOODED MERGANSER--three female plumaged birds ON THE BAY. It seemed pretty unusual to see these birds on the brackish water. I've always associated them exclusively with fresh water. SANDERLING--9 on one of the jetties BONAPARTE'S GULL--about 50 just off shore SNOW BUNTING--a flock of five flew overhead Pond off of Rte 309, near Star, Caroline Co.: AM. WIGEON AM. BLACK DUCK N. SHOVELER GREEN-WINGED TEAL LESSER SCAUP RUDDY DUCK BALD EAGLE--1 adult Hurlock WWTP, Dorchester Co.: TUNDRA SWAN--200 SNOW GOOSE--500 BALD EAGLE--1 adult BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER--2 Blackwater NWR: GREAT EGRET--still plenty around; we saw 10 or more BB PLOVER--10 off of Key Wallace Dr. GREATER YELLOWLEGS--5 DUNLIN--1000+ LEAST SANDPIPER--2 off of Key Wallace Dr. Stan Arnold Anne Arundel Co. blackrail@earthlink.net ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================