Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2001 16:15:49 EST Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Matt Hafner Subject: Little Gulls and Eared Grebe on Susquehanna River MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Today, Dave Powell and I made a tour of the Susquehanna River. After dipping on the Eared Grebe in PA, we made it to Bald Friar Rd in Cecil county. Here we found our own Eared Grebe. The bird flew in from the south and landed in the middle of the river. It appeared to still be in mostly winter plumage. The bird then flew over towards Haford Co. where it stayed for the rest our time there. Though, the bird did disappear twice for atleast 10 minutes each time. There were also atleast 5 Horned Grebes present. The other highlight at this spot was an adult Little Gull that flew by in a flock of Bonies. The birds were headed upriver and when they were almost out of view, circled and landed. We had excellent views of the bird in the water for several minutes. The bird then flew away with the Bonies giving great views. Needless to say, we were very pleased. Next we stopped at Mt. Zoar Rd. This section of the river had only Mallards and 1 American Wigeon. We arrived at Port Deposit, opposite the river from Lapidum Landing, and saw that the Surf Scoters and Long-tailed Ducks were still present, as was a large Bonie flock. As I watching the Surf Scoters, another Little Gull flew into my scope view and landed next to the Scoters. The bird was easy to lose in the choppy water and I only saw it once more in flight. Above the dam it was very still. A male Greater Scaup was with some Mallards near the docks. Perryville Community Park had some nice flocks of birds. Large flocks of Lesser Scaup and Ring-necked Ducks were present. 2 female Common Goldeneyes were with the Bufflehead. Also a distant flock of Gadwall and Wigeon was actively flying around. Tydings Marina had flock of Gadwall, Wigeon, Scaup, Ring-necks and Canvasback. The best birds here though were 4 Pectoral Sandpipers on the flats. Rather early I believe. We then went to Lapidum to get a different perspective on the birds we saw from Port Deposit. The Surf Scoters and Long-tailed Ducks remained and Dave saw the Little Gull briefly before it landed over by Cecil County. 3 Red-breasted Mergansers were also present. A very, very nice day overall. Matt Hafner Bel Air, MD (spring break) ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================