Date: Sat, 29 Dec 2001 22:50:08 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Denise Ryan Subject: Snowy Owl at Bombay Hook I decided to wander out to Bombay Hook today and found the Refuge log had two postings for a Snowy Owl for 12/29 at 2:10 and 3:30 at Bear Swamp. Since I was there at 9:30 am this morning, 12/29, I can only assume that there had been a mistake on the date and the authors meant to log the date as 12/28. So, perhaps there will be an owl there on Sunday morning. Anyway, confirmed sighting today at 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. at Bear Swamp sitting on a log on some ground in the middle of the impoundment. Word of mouth around the impoundment was that the owl had been hunting yesterday afternoon. The owl had heavy barring on the breast and brown primaries. This morning he was resting, preening and watching the other birds. He did not leave his perch while I was there and had been there for a 1/2 hour prior to my arrival. He seemed to be in good health and not stressed, but I am no expert. There is plenty to eat at Bombay Hook so maybe he'll stick around for the season if the sound of gun fire does not scare him away. Sorry about the late posting, I just got home. Other highlights -- Several Dark morphs of Snow Goose among the many hundred present Pintail ducks +50 Green-winged Teal - 2 Blue-winged Teal - 2 Hooded merganser - 2 Northern Harrier - 1 immature Red Tailed Hawk - 2 Kestrel - 2 Buffleheads Turkey Vulture - 1 Blue Heron - 5 Great Egret - 1 Tundra Swan - 20+ 1/3 immature Black ducks Mallards Canada Goose 1000+ Northern Shoveler - 1 Goldfinch Red Bellied Woodpecker Cardinal Redwinged Blackbird 25+ I also made a quick stop by Eastern Neck, which was not as fruitful as I left my scope at home (how could I do that???!!!) So, the distant water foul were indistiquishable after sorting out the many Snow Goose, Canada Goose, Tundra Swans and Buffleheads. However, I did get some nice land birds. Yellow Rumped Warbler - Audubon's - 1 Yellow Rumped Warbler - Myrtle - 12+ Eastern Bluebird - 1 Northern Mockingbird - 7 Blue Jays (calling) Carolina Chickadee Cardinal Bald Eagle - calling I am heading out to Blackwater on Sunday. If you see a dirty white Honda with DC plates, give me a wave. Denise Ryan Washington, DC ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================