Date: Mon, 1 Apr 2002 10:11:20 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Parke H John Subject: Cecil Bird Club's Mount Harmon Trip MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii This Sunday, April 7, 2002, the Cecil Bird Club will be having a field trip to southern Cecil County. Specifically Mount Harmon Plantation and Grove Neck Sanctuary. This trip is good for all returning migrant bird life and last year we had a very good trip. Mount Harmon Plantation encompasses many acres of fields, marshes, ponds and is on the upper reaches of the Sassafras River. From their web site: (http://www.kentcounty.com/mtharmon/) Mount Harmon Plantation is a delightful, relatively small plantation located on Back Creek, a small branch off the Sassafras River. It is on the peninsula on the north side of Back Creek before McGill Creek. The usual tour of Mount Harmon by land starts with the long wooded driveway. As the woods clear at the approach to the house one is immediately impressed by the fact that the home is almost surrounded by water. There are gardens, nature trails and, along the water, the early tobacco shipping barn. If, perchance, you approached Mount Harmon by water - of course the only way during its truly active life - you would have been greeted with the view of a lovely brick home on an impressive knoll. The Mount Harmon Plantation began in 1651 as a land grant of 350 acres to Godfrey Harmon by Caecilius Calvert, the second Lord Baltimore who was then owner of all of "Maryland". Mount Harmon was a typical frontier plantation of colonial times. It was an isolated and self-sufficient economic unit producing tobacco which was shipped directly to England. In exchange, it received many of its necessities and luxuries. As the forests were cleared and cultivated areas increased Mount Harmon prospered. During the 19th century the farming gradually declined and its acreage diminished. The manor house at Mount Harmon is a three-story brick structure built about 1730. It stands on a knoll virtually surrounded by Back Creek and McGill Creek. On early maps the area was known as "World's End". The house is an excellent example of Georgian architecture. A thorough restoration was carried out in the 1960's and the house has been furnished with American, English, Irish and Scottish antiques of the 1760 to 1810 period. There are guided tours of the house, kitchen (of course, a separate building), boxwood gardens, tobacco Prize house, and the wharf. In addition, there are nature trails for you to enjoy. Meeting Place: Big Elk Mall, Dunkin Donuts parking lot . Time: 8:00 am (full day, we should be back by 4:00 pm, bring lunch). Suggested equipment: spotting scope, appropriate inclement weather clothes, water repellent boots (it will involve walking). Conveniences: none Admission: none Questions: call Parke at 410-506-3874 day or 410-287-6037 evening. Email is pjohn@wlgore.com. Parke. ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================