Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2001 16:25:30 -0600 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: marty cribb Subject: western shore uncommon species MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hello Everyone, Going back over my notes of the last few months I = realized that on a daily basis I see a species which is very uncommon on = the "western shore" except at Point Lookout and St Georges Island in St = Marys Co. Even at those two locations Boat-tailed Grackles are only seen = a few times a year if at all. This large showy and vocal bird is = abundant here on Smith Island and in the Crisfield area of the mainland. = Perhaps 500-600 birds are present here all winter on the Island split up = into small flocks of about 20-25 birds each. They feed in the shallow = waters around the towns at low tide and the exposed mud flats are where = the largest concentrations take place. When the tide is up they will = form small flocks and forage in the villages on lawns and other short = grass areas. I have on occasion seen them working small tidal pools or = ponds in the open marsh feeding much like shorebirds. They communicate = constantly with one another thru a series of whistle, grunts and mewing = sounds that are very reminicent of it's close relative the Great-tailed = Grackle so common in some areas of Texas. Another interesting = observation is the lack of Common Grackle in areas where Boat-tailed = Grackles are numerous. I found this same thing to be true in Texas with = the Common Grackle quite rare in areas that had high populations of = Boat-Tailed and Great-tailed Grackles. This also seems to be true with = Fish Crow & American Crow and American Crow and Chihuahuan Raven in = South Texas. On a nice sunny morning recently here on the Island I = happend to hear the not unpleasant songs and calls from the Grackles. = Lest you all think I've gone over the edge you have to take into account = the lack of other birds singing here on Smith Island. The large feral = cat population seems to have taken a toll of any song birds that may = wish to linger here and spend a quiet winter. We recently had a few days = of relative "springtime" and it made me start to think about migration = of songbirds as well as my migration back to Point Lookout. Good = Birding, Marty Cribb, Smith Island, Md =20 ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================