Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2000 10:17:47 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Henry Armistead <74077.3176@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: short-ears, Le Conte's, rufous MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sat., Dec. 2, 2000. At Blackwater N.W.R. George Armistead and I came across a mixed species foraging guild that included a dozen Ruby-crowned Kinglets near the new HQ. 13 Bald Eagles in sight simultaneously for a total of c. 17. 2 female Common Mergansers opposite Pool 1. 2 imm. White-crowned Sparrows at the Visitors Center, a good fall for them. 5 Fox Squirrels (super poos). Elliott Island Road, 2:45-5 P.M. 9 Short-eared Owls, often in broad daylight, including one 50 feet away at "Gadwall Bend". What a beauty. As George said once: "Giant moths are aloft." 5 eagles, incl. 2 ad. at their nest just s. of Savanna Lake. Also: 8 Blue-winged Teal, a Black-bellied Plover, a dowitcher (sp.) and 2 Great Horned Owls. No Snow Geese, grackles, or doves today. Sun., Dec. 3, 2000. We spent the day in coastal Worcester County with Marshall Iliff. Overcast, c. 24-35 degrees. Some kind of north wind @ 20. In short, colder than a well-digger's fanny. Vaughn W.M.A. Sparrow city, 10 species, incl. 1 Le Conte's Sparrow, 2 Blue-winged Teal, 9 female hoodies, a screech owl, 20 or so Hermit Thrushes, also a few catbirds, thrashers, Fox Sparrows, a phoebe, hundreds of robins, 2 sharp-tailed sparrows (sp.), and very close views of 3 Rusty Blackbirds. Some nice flocks of green-wings. During the hunting season probably not a good idea to go here except on a Sunday. Bishopville. 1 Rufous Hummingbird (banded earlier and determined to be an ad. female), a phoebe, an Osprey, and 2 Great Egrets, the latter 2 species spotted high overhead by Marshall and in definite migration. After such a terrific weekend it was nice to start home under a clearing sky, feasting on pemmican teriyaki and Wawa chilled French vanilla capuccino (my 4th of the day, ea. w/ 19% daily value of saturated fat), with the Nutcracker (von Karajan/Vienna Philharmonic) and a concerto for flute and harp by Mozart on the Salisbury classical station, and great skeins of Snow Geese flying east across Route 113 from the spectacular sunset. Any skein of snows is a great one. One down near Girdletree today had a very small white goose very likely a Ross's but we did not see it well enough to say for sure. Trespassing. We were disappointed when we phoned to be turned down by the household hosting the Cambridge Rufous. I've been corresponding with one of the persons involved with the book "Elliott Island". I have been told in a nice, un-hostile way that down there some of the marsh owners really are tired of birders tramping through their marsh without asking permission. I know in the future I am going to try to do my bogtrotting in the large sections which are part of Fishing Bay W.M.A. There really is a need to be more sensitive and sensible about these things. Mea culpa, at times and I hope not youra culpa, too. Best to all.-Harry Armistead, 523 E. Durham St., Philadelphia, PA 19119. 215-248-4120. ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================