Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 21:20:57 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Les Roslund Subject: Birds of Talbot County MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable This morning here at Tunis Mills several small flocks of Canada = Geese (47, 74, and 27 birds) passed by, flying high, and heading due = north. Most had left long ago, so this looked like a final series of = departures - perhaps of the geese that will be nesting at the sites most = distant from us, to the north. In the past few days, new arrivals here have included Tree Swallows, = one Fox Sparrow, one Chipping Sparrow, the Laughing Gulls, and hordes of = grackles, redwings and cowbirds at my feeders. The Brown Thrasher that = has been resident here all winter has been singing beautifully in the = early morning hours. At night several (three) Great Horned Owls use a = walnut tree within 20 feet of our bedroom for their perch while = serenading each other and being answered by another pair that we hear = calling from about 1/2 mile away. Over at the Pickering Creek Audubon Sanctuary activity on the = Bluebird Trail is getting started. Nest building is underway in at = least seven boxes, with one holding a very close to complete nest as of = Tuesday. In the wet spots of the farm fields seven Common Snipe were = seen. The feeders over there had three Purple Finches and a Red-breasted = Nuthatch. Quite a few Golden-crowned Kinglets were also present on the = grounds. Two Rough-winged Swallows were seen near the sanctuary. An = Eagle Nest, visible from the pier (but just barely, and it will = disappear when leaves come out) clearly has activity going on this year. = We believe successful fledging occurred there last season (for the = first time, as this is a new nest site). Wood Ducks are present at Pickering Creek, and also seem to be = hanging around my nest box on Leeds Creek. One pair of Bluebirds spends = time at two of my boxes. One of these days they will have to make their = decision. Springtime - a lovely season indeed! Les Roslund Lroslund@bluecrab.org Talbot County Easton, MD=20 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =========================================================================