Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2001 20:58:30 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Mike Callahan Subject: Heavens to Mergus MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hello Fellow MDOSREYers, Heavens to Mergus or M & M's in Charles County Birding as the orange pink hue came over Nanjemoy Creek between 5:00 and 5:30 pm this evening I observed some interesting birds and behavior. A pair of Common Mergansers were on the Creek with the male was behaving in a way that lead me to believe it was courtship related. He would flap his wings on the surface and dip the just into the surface of the water. This appeared to make him move across the surface at a steady pace much like a competitive swimmer. using the butterfly stroke. Mean while the female followed but kept her distance and swimming in a normal fashion. Was this a courtship display? At the same time a flock of about eight Red-breasted Merganser dove one after another after a school of fish. Likely chasing the school of Yellow Perch that are starting to run now. Nice to see both near by for good Id comparisons. One Harrier hunted the marshes. Large numbers of Red-winged Blackbirds have been frequenting our feeders for the past few days. Very large flocks of Common Grackles have been frequenting fields. Students commented on how black the sky looks when they flew off. Adult Bald Eagles have been courting and are very vocal over the past week. Due to the extremely mild temperature a large Red-bellied turtle swam along the shore today. A flock of several hundred American Robins worked fields along both sides of MD 6 at Grayton. I had to stop counting near 200, but it appeared that twice as many were present. Oh Myotis! The mild temperature brought bats out of hibernation this evening too. On my way home between 5:30 and 6:00 pm I observed at least 6 different small bats flying over various locations along MD 6 between Nanjemoy and Pisgah. Perhaps Little Brown Bats. Naturally, Mike Callahan Laurel, Howard County, MD raptorsrule@juno.com ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================