Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2001 21:53:45 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Les Roslund Subject: Talbot County Birds - 01 Oct MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit The weather change has brought in some nice birds. This morning a dozen or more White-throated Sparrows were along my driveway. Close down the road there were several Red-breasted Nuthatches. In early afternoon, using a large walnut tree in my yard that has shed nearly all the leaves there were: 3 Flickers, 2 Red-bellied Woodpeckers; 2 Downy Woodpeckers; and the new arrivals - two Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers (1adult; 1 immature). Later in the afternoon - in front of the house in a different walnut tree - several Yellow-rumped Warblers, one Phoebe, and one Palm Warbler (first in the yard this season). A Song Sparrow showed up in my garden and a female Kingfisher lit on the now vacant Osprey platform beyond my pier. And as evening approached - small flock after small flock of Canada Geese passed over the yard - including one flock of 20 containing a single Richardson's Goose. Saw the same 20 fly downstream above Leeds Creek, and in a few minutes return upstream, giving great views of the 'little guy'. One 'late afternoon' bird left me puzzled - it was a dove or pigeon, seen as silhouette only because of the lighting; large and chunky bird (as compared to Mourning Dove), notably wide tail that was sharply square at the end; single bird, flying purposefully in a straight line near tree line above Leeds Creek. Viewed from the rear, as the bird flew away from me, the wingbeat was slower than that of a Mourning Dove, and more powerful, and not as 'fluttery' as that of a Rock Dove. First sighting brought to my mind that this was some sort of Wood Pigeon, but I quickly remembered that Tunis Mills was not Latin America. Does the behavior of the Eurasian Collared Dove fit any portions of the above? I would have expected a Collared Dove to have been light enough in color for me to see, but silhouette was all that was visible. Local folks - keep watch. Comments from others would be welcome. Les Roslund/Talbot MOS Hotline Lroslund@bluecrab.org Talbot County Easton, MD ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================