Date: Mon, 9 Jul 2001 06:52:20 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Carol Erwin Subject: Re: Ruddy Duck brood at Hurlock Sewage Ponds MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii MD Birders, Well, it looks like my imagination might have gotten away from me last week. Harry Armistead went out to Hurlock yesterday to take a look and found a female Wood Duck with 5 young in the NW pool (plus 4 more young w/o an adult in the NE pool that may have been part of the same brood). She did a distraction display around the entire pond as Harry drove around it. Harry reported 5 male and 1 female adult Ruddies in NW pond, 1 male and 2 females in the NE. Ruddy Duck brood may still be out there, or perhaps actually a family of Wood Ducks. Will try to get back out there anyhow for another look myself so it can be laid to rest. Good birding, Carol Carol Erwin (301) 497-5713 office (301) 497-5675 fax cerwin@usgs.gov Carol Erwin To: MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM Sent by: Maryland cc: Birds & Birding Subject: [MDOSPREY] Ruddy duck brood at 07/06/2001 01:53 PM Please respond to Maryland Birds & Birding I am relatively new to the list, as well as new to the area. I keep close tabs on the Osprey though have never posted before. Harry Armistead asked me to post my sighting, so with a nervous twitter in my stomach... On Monday evening, on a side trip during my folks visit to the eastern shore, Mom and I drove over to Hurlock Sewage Ponds. It was coming on dusk. We flushed a female Ruddy Duck with a brood of 8 hatchlings from the shore of the northwestern pond. We were ~40 yards from the hen and brood when they flushed into the water. The hen did a wonderful display to distract us from her brood by flapping her wings and skimming just above the water creating a ruckus of noise including splashing water and quacking. The young, after one briefly attempted to imitate the hen by flapping tiny wings, swam away from us and met the hen a couple of minutes later in the distance. The drake was also seen hanging around the brood, though the entire family was elusive. It was getting dark by this time, including the hen and brood, I counted ~18 Ruddy ducks. If someone from the list would like to go out and confirm this sighting it would be fantastic. I am told by Harry this may be a state first, or at least a rarity for nesting. I am fairly confident, but another look would be good. I apologize for my late posting. Good birding, Carol Erwin Carol Erwin (301) 497-5713 office (301) 497-5675 fax cerwin@usgs.gov ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================