Date: Fri, 19 Apr 2002 17:51:24 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Stan Arnold Subject: Ho Co/AA Co birds MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi Folks, A few more hours spent in the atlas block today. Beginning at the crack of dawn in the southwest quadrant of my block in the Avalon area of Patapsco Valley State Park were many N. Parulas and La. Waterthrushes, previously reported, with the only new arrival being a YELLOW-THROATED VIREO, singing heartily. While SWAMP SPARROW and FIELD SPARROW aren't that unusual, they seemed a bit out of place along the park roads, where the wooded terrain rises sharply from the road surface. An afternoon visit to the far southeastern corner of my block in Anne Arundel Co. was quite productive. I visited the two westernmost Halethorpe Farms Ponds, on park property, and among arriving warblers were a flitting (yellow) PALM WARBLER, three singing NORTHERN PARULAs, and four singing PROTHONOTARY WARBLERs. When I heard the first two Prothonotarys, I didn't see them, so I began spishing, and within seconds one of them flew straight at my face, then perched within ten feet. This little guy was curious, and gorgeous. Other intersting birds included my first RED-EYED VIREO of the year, and a pair of BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERONS. Also, following the recent heat wave, I thought a DARK-EYED JUNCO was a good find. The two ponds had several pairs of Canada Geese, of which one pair had four goslings which I estimate to be five to seven days old. While the local Red-bellied turtles usually slide into the water from their basking logs at the first sign of human intrusion, a big fat Snapping Turtle draped its flabby legs around a hefty log, and ignored my presence. On the way home from the block, I stopped off at the storm-water pond off of Andover Road to see if the HORNED GREBE, reported by Adam Smith, was still there. It was. The bright solid golden patches on each side of the head really stood out. Also at the pond, on the far side, was a female duck (probably mallard), and two sets of ducklings of different sizes. The pond is fenced, and I couldn't walk around to the other side for a better look. Directions to the pond: if proceeding northbound on Aviation Blvd (which wraps around two sides of BWI), where the road makes a 90 degree bend to the left, turn right onto Andover Rd. Go a few tenths of a mile, and where Broadview Blvd turns to the right, pull off to the left, across from it (this is just prior to the light rail track). Walk the BWI trail a very short distance back to the pond. I think this pond may be in the atlas block of Larry Zoeller's father, but I'm not sure. Stan Arnold Glen Burnie blackrail@earthlink.net ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================