Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2002 16:42:23 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Greg Downing Subject: Re: Zoo birding MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Speaking of the National Zoo, if anyone is down there please check out my good friend Arthur Morris's exhibit called "On a Wing and a Prayer, The Migratory Birds of North America" It will only be up through April. Oh, and the zoo is a great place to bird, but be careful in the spring as there are so many night herons overhead that you have to watch out for flying whitewash..... Greg Downing Manchester, MD NPN Field Editor/Avian Gallery Moderator www.naturephotographers.net gregdowning@mindspring.com http://gregdowning.imageculture.com (portfolio) www.gdphotography.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Denise Ryan" To: Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2002 4:06 PM Subject: Re: [MDOSPREY] Zoo birding > Next time I head over there (it is just a few blocks away from my home), I > am taking a detailed map. I noticed dozens of old nests all over the > greater waterfowl pond area (sometimes a half dozen per tree). I've got to > make notes for Spring breeding surveys before the leaves come out. > > On a side note, the water fowl habitat is close to the Giant Pandas and the > new baby Elephant (born Nov. 2001). > > -----Original Message----- > From: Mark S. Garland [mailto:mark@NJAUDUBON.ORG] > Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2002 3:52 PM > To: MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM > Subject: [MDOSPREY] Zoo birding > > > I have to chime in on birding at the National Zoo. Years ago, the late, > great Claudia Wilds used to lead an annual field trip to study the > waterfowl there. More than a few of the waterfowl slides I teach with > were taken at the zoo's old waterfowl pond. And soon, in early spring, > the Black-crowned Night-Herons will be nesting above the Bald Eagle > aviary. Sheesh, I feel a twinge of homesickness. > > Cheers all, > > Mark S. Garland > Senior Naturalist > Cape May Bird Observatory > Northwood Center > 701 E. Lake Dr. > PO Box 3 > Cape May Point, NJ 08212 > (609) 884-2736 > mark@njaudubon.org > www.njaudubon.org > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Maryland Birds & Birding [mailto:MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM] On > Behalf Of Denise Ryan > Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2002 12:12 PM > To: MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM > Subject: Re: [MDOSPREY] Pintails > > Speaking of Pintails, I know this may seem kind of lame to some, but > some > fun birding can be had at the National Zoo. > Last Monday on MLK Day I was off of work but without a vehicle. I took > off > to the zoo to visit the wetlands exhibit and really enjoyed getting > close to > the captive water birds. Honestly, it was the first time that I saw the > courtship behavior and vocalizations of several kinds of species. I > especially enjoyed the croaking of the Hooded Mergansers and the calls > of > the Pintails, which this novice birder had never heard before. There > are > also several pairs of Barrow's Goldeneye. > > There were two especially active Hooded Mergansers competing for a > female > that were a lot of fun to check out. Who needs binoculars when you are > standing over them on the board walk. The zoo makes for a pretty good > water > foul study spot for the beginner. > > You can really do a nice comparison between the species and relative > sizes. > For example, any field guide would have told me how big a Bufflehead is, > but > it did not register in comparison with a Mallard until you see the two > side > by side with all the others. > > I also enjoyed the small group of Smews and the plentiful Wood Ducks > which I > have been unable to locate yet this year outside of a captive > environment. > I plan to make more visits to enjoy the group again soon. > > Of course there are also foreign species that are fun to check out as > well, > especially the Mandarin Ducks. > > ======================================================================= > 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 > ======================================================================= > ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================