Date: Tue, 5 Feb 2002 15:28:58 EST Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Jim Stasz Subject: Lower Eastern Shore, Saturday 2/2 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi Folks! On Saturday before dawn I started birding on Wye Landing Rd. , Talbot Co. and was unsuccessful in finding any owls for the Atlas. This trip was also a scouting trip so I could check some put-in locations for my kayak later in the season. The Wye Landing launch is is an excellent position to check areas in Talbot and Queen Anne's from canoe/kayak that may not be accessible from land. Talbot County: At dawn I tried to hoot up Barred Owl where Rt. 662 crosses Mill Creek below Wye Mills. Although no owls responded, a couple of Winter Wrens and a Red-headed Woodpecker took offense to my calling. A few stops along the back way to St. Michaels [662 to Todds Corner Rd. to Unionville Rd, then south across the Miles River Bridge] produced low numbers of the typical winter birds. A quick look from the boat landing in Clairborne produced 2 Bonaparte's Gulls, 49 Mute Swans, and 40 Long-tailed Ducks. From Blackwalnut Point, with a good telescope and a lot of imagination, you can see Great Cormorants perched on Sharpe's I. Lighthouse. Waterfowl included 600 Long-tailed Ducks, 20 Surf Scoter, 9 White-winged Scoter, and 1 Black Scoter. Among the few landbirds located in the pines were 2 Brown-headed Nuthatches. Heading back north the mudflats at Back Creek Park [north side of Knapps Narrows] held 11 Killdeer, 7 Sanderling, and 16 Dunlin. Dorchester: From Talbot I headed to Beulah Landfill to check out the gulls. I recommend parking at the bottom of the ramp onto the landfill and walking up [less likely to get something to puncture a tire]. The previously reported first-winter plumage Glaucous Gull allowed me to walk to within 30 feet before it started to walk away. The first-winter Thayer's Gull made a brief flyby when a passing Bald Eagle spooked all of the gulls in the area. Caroline County: The back roads of Caroline County offer many roadsides locations for birding. The route this time followed Possum Hill Rd., Line Rd., Noble Rd., and Hrynko Rd. just north of Federalsburg. Once again low numbers of the usual winter species were found. The high point was a stop at the boat landing of Smithville Lake which netted 11 Mallards, a pair of Hooded Mergansers, a male Ring-necked Duck, a male American Wigeon, and new for my Caroline County List [Close Out #159], a female Gadwall. Wicomico County: I ended Saturday on Old Route 50 in the Nanticoke River marshes east of Vienna. This is one of my favorite spots for sunrise or sunset, depending on if I am starting or ending a day of birding. If you want dabling ducks in Wicomico County, this is a must visit location. The tally included 300 Mallards, 60 Green-winged Teal, 16 Northern Pintail, 4 American Wigeon, and 2 Wood Ducks [in late Summer, dusk may produce upwards of 400 Wood Ducks]. Only a few thousand Red-wings, a few hundred starlings, and 20 or so Common Grackle headed to roost. 2 Sharp-shinned Haqwks did their best to get an evening snack. A King Rail responded to a tape [King Rails are resident here]. Finally, after sunset and just as dusk was giving way to night, a Barn Owl cruised across the marsh. As with the Calvert and Carroll Winter Bird Counts, passerine, raptors, and waterfowl seemed to be in very low numbers in the areas covered. Good Birding! Jim Jim Stasz North Beach MD jlstasz@aol.com ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================