Date: Sun, 2 Dec 2001 13:23:52 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Stan Arnold Subject: Blackwater NWR (DoCo) & Fran Uhler Nat. Area (PGCo) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi Folks, The Howard Co. Bird Club did an all day trip to Blackwater NWR yesterday (Sat., 1 Dec), and though we didn't score any rarities, the 70 species seen were pleasing. Duck numbers were quite low on this very warm spring-like day, but some other birds were seen in good numbers. Highlights were the hundred or so pipits in a large flock along Egypt Rd, the dozen or so Brown-headed Nuthatches on the refuge, and the three Short-eared Owls well studied in spotting scopes along Shorter's Wharf Rd. in very good light for about 40 minutes before sunset. Along with the thousands of Canada Geese and Snow Geese, waterfowl included Tundra Swan (ca 20), Gadwall (6), Am. Wigeon (4), Am. Black Duck (hundreds), Mallard (hundreds), N. Shoveler (4), N. Pintail (ca 100), and Green-winged Teal (a dozen or so). The shorebird list included Black-bellied Plover (one heard only), Killdeer (ca 75), Greater Yellowlegs (4), Lesser Yellowlegs (1), Dunlin (7). Other birds of interest were Pine Warbler and N. Bobwhite, both seen along the Marsh Edge Trail. This morning (Sun., 2 Dec), Joan DeCarli and I birded Fran Uhler Natural Area in PG Co. It was very birdy from 7 to 9 a.m., and hosted six species of woodpecker (RB, Sapsucker, Downy, Hairy, Flicker, Pileated), and other expected, but nice to find, birds such as Brown Creeper, Hermit Thrush, Fox Sparrow, and Red-shouldered Hawk. Stan Arnold Glen Burnie blackrail@earthlink.net ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================