Date:         Wed, 17 Jan 2001 11:01:06 -0500
Reply-To:     Maryland Birds & Birding <MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
Sender:       Maryland Birds & Birding <MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
From:         Dan Eberly <daniel.eberly@GSA.GOV>
Subject:      Ducks
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

I made the rounds of some of my favorite duck watching locations recently.
On Saturday I went to Point Lookout and was rewarded with close views -
particularly of Black and Surf Scoters.  There was a large raft of Surf
Scoters stretching along the Bay side of the park.  On the left side of the
fishing pier was a close group of Black Scoters  and on the right side and
right-center of the pier,  moderately far out,  were groups of White-winged
Scoters (I usually seem to see them at the same approximate location every
year) The other species were around the Fishing Pier and in the raft of
Surf Scoters.  I did not see the Eider. The list was:

Common Loon - About 5
Horned Grebe - Several
Canvasback - 100+
Greater Scaup - Good numbers
Oldsquaw - Good numbers
Black Scoter - About 15
Surf Scoter -100s
White-winged Scoter - About 15
Common  Goldeneye - Good numbers
Bufflehead - Good numbers
Red-breasted Merganser - Several

On Sunday afternoon, I visited Black Hill (Montgomery County)  and that has
been covered previously by others. I did see about 10 Common Goldeneyes
(from the bridge --  on the northernly side --  and Visitor's Center) and 3
Common Mergansers (from the bridge --  on the northernly side), but, sadly,
did not see any Redheads.

On Monday afternoon, I visited North Beach and had very close views of
Greater Scaup and Canvasback (150+) at the open area opposite the entrance
road to North/Chesapeake Beach and behind Chaney's Restaurant.  There is a
large raft  of mostly Greater Scaup along the Boardwalk at North Beach  and
along the roadway just north of the Boardwalk  Further out is a raft of
ducks that included Surf Scoters. I did not see  the Red-necked Grebe.  The
list was:

Common Loon - 1
Horned Grebe - Several
Canvasback - 150+
Greater Scaup - 100s
Lesser Scaup - 4
Oldsquaw - several
Surf Scoter - Distant but decent numbers
Common Goldeneye - Several
Bufflehead- Good numbers
Red-breasted Merganser - 4
Hooded Merganser - 2
Ruddy - 100+
Coot - About 25

Happy birding, Dan Eberly
Bethesda, MD

=======================================================================
To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com
with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey
=======================================================================
=========================================================================