Date: Thu, 21 Mar 2002 13:25:10 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Sherry Peruzzi Subject: Barred owl near Wilde Lake - Ho. Co. MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT My husband Ken and I took advantage of the break in the weather today to walk the path in Columbia along Wilde Lake and the stream that feeds it. Just west of the big hill above the lake we heard a Barred Owl call. (Didn't hear any reply, though.) One Pied-billed Grebe, one Ring-necked Duck and 19 Ruddy Ducks (many in breeding plumage) were on the lake, along with a single Canada Goose. At the west end of the lake, near the bridge, an Eastern Phoebe was showing off in a tree on the bank, a Yellow-rumped Warbler flitted at the edge of the woods, a Golden-crowned Kinglet hopped around in the branches, and a White-breasted Nuthatch called. A little further up the stream a Dark-eyed Junco was taking a bath, a Brown Creeper checked out various trees looking for lunch, a flock of Cedar Waxwings twittered overhead, and the woods rang with the songs of White-throated Sparrows, Song Sparrows, Carolina Wrens, Northern Cardinals and Mourning Doves. We heard a Winter Wren in the woods but couldn't find it (Helen Zeichner had reported one there about a half-hour earlier.) Among the other usual suspects were Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Downy Woodpeckers, Blue Jays, and Red-winged Blackbirds. I hope the early arrivals aren't harmed by the hard freeze forecast for Friday and Saturday nights. The low Friday night will be in the lower 20's. Sherry Peruzzi Columbia, Howard County ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================