Date: Wed, 28 Mar 2001 20:55:14 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Sherry Peruzzi Subject: Ho Co: Wilde Lake MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Here's still another Howard County lake report with the highlights of our walk along Wilde Lake and its feeder stream this afternoon. On the lake were 12 Ruddy Ducks, 2 Pied-Billed Grebes, 4 Hooded Mergansers, 14 Ring-Necked Ducks, and 3 Lesser Scaups. (Perhaps the three Scaups were the ones that Bonnie saw on Centennial Lake earlier in the day, because they were not there on our outward bound leg in mid-afternoon, but had arrived by about 5:00.) There were also numerous Ring-Billed and Herring Gulls as well as the immature Great Black Backed Gull that has been hanging around the lake for a couple of months (neither of the adult Great Black Backs was present). Also around 5:00 we saw 4 Great Blue Herons, two on the north shore right near the path and another on each of two of the small islands. As we walked along the stream we saw a flock of Cedar Waxwings come flying in and settle down for a rest in a group of trees on either side of the stream. They looked gorgeous in the bright sunlight, and their soft contact calls filled the air. A chorus of caws attracted our attention, and we looked up to see a Bald Eagle sailing lazily in circles completely unmindful of the crows zooming around it, even when one struck its wing. The harassers soon gave up and left except for one persistent crow who continued for a few more minutes until it finally gave up also. We watched the eagle continue its majestic circling for about five more minutes, until it was almost out of sight and we were distracted by a Red Shouldered Hawk flying over. On the way back we saw a Pale Adult Robin pulling worms from the ground along with two normal American Robins in the backyard of the house next to Carol Newman's home on Green Mountain Circle. All together we found 35 species today, which is a good day for us two novice birders. Sherry Peruzzi & Ken Board Columbia, Howard County bookworms@home.com ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================