Date: Sun, 24 Mar 2002 21:04:20 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Sherry Peruzzi Subject: Centennial - Howard County MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT My husband Ken Board and I took advantage of the break in the weather to bird Centennial Park today. Highlights in the Wildlife Management Area at the west end of the lake were two Common Snipe and a Spotted Sandpiper on the mudflats, and a female American Wigeon near the bridge. One female Hooded Merganser, 7 Ring-necked Ducks and a Great Blue Heron were also present, and calling Red-winged Blackbirds were everywhere. In the center of the lake, near the concession dock, were 3 Lesser Scaup, a male and two females. Also present, resting on an island, was a very strange-looking bird, apparently some kind of domestic goose or cross. It was slightly smaller than the Canada Geese a few feet away, and had a large, blood-red knob above its bill, like that of a Common Shelduck, but considerably bigger. It actually looked like nothing so much as a cross between a goose and a chicken! Further east, a single Pied-billed Grebe was feeding, while 9 Tree Swallows swooped over the lake. At the Wood Duck Pond were two Northern Flickers, 9 Yellow-rumped Warblers, and a Chipping Sparrow. It's sad to see so many trees bulldozed along the sewer lines, but the new roads do provide great access to the woods on the north side of the lake, providing good views of an Eastern Phoebe, a White-breasted Nuthatch, and a Northern Mockingbird, who was singing loudly. Red-bellied, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers were also present. The Hermit Thrush was in its usual place in the woods near the top of Waxwing Hill, a Red-shouldered Hawk soared overhead, and a male Carolina Wren sang to a female, who answered with her buzzy call. We saw one other bird, which we couldn't identify positively. It looked a lot like a catbird, with slate-gray plumage and a black cap, and was catbird size and in catbird-type habitat -- a low shrubby thicket next to a stream. But its breast was very pale pearl gray, and it had an additional black mark, a slightly curved line, on the side of its head. We weren't able to see the undertail coverts. Can anyone tell us what this was? 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 ======================================================================= =========================================================================