Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2001 10:07:56 -0800 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: K Lambert Subject: Woodcock walk In-Reply-To: <20010312.063952.-198521.2.willocreek@juno.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Hi folks, A brave few souls ventured into the cold and dark on Sunday morning to looks for Woodcocks at Wooton=92s Landing. The low temperatures kept the frogs quiet. The moon, just on the waning side of full, was bright enough that we didn=92t need any flashlights. We immediately heard woodcocks calling on the ground and the whistle in their wings as they flew through the air. As we walked down the road toward the woodcocks, the geese & ducks on the pond were clearly displeased with our presence, announced themselves loudly and took off. We couldn=92t see them, but they knew exactly where we were. Amongst the Canada Goose honks, Mallard quacks and Wood Duck whistles, we managed to hear an American Wigeon. Closer to dawn, we actually saw a Woodcock as it came in for a landing. Last year at about the same time of year, there were a few more and we thought we were going to need an air traffic controller. As soon as it was light enough to see color, the woodcocks disappeared into the marsh grasses, never to be seen again that morning. We spent another hour or so kicking up too many sparrows to count. The Field Sparrows were starting to sing their bouncing ball song. The Song Sparrows were trilling all over the place. A splendid adult Bald Eagle posed on a snag. Some Wood Ducks on the pond decided to stick around and let us ogle over their colors. It was a very nice way to see the dawn. If anyone wants to do this next Sunday March 18, I'm leading a trip for the Anne Arundel Bird Club. They are leaving the park & ride at Harry S Truman Parkway in Annapolis at 4 AM. Happy birding, Kathie Lambert Harwood, MD kbert59@yahoo.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Auctions - Buy the things you want at great prices. http://auctions.yahoo.com/ ========================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ========================================================================= ===========================================================================