Date: Sat, 4 May 2002 16:49:52 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Elliot Kirschbaum Subject: Patuxent North Tract 5/4/02 Mime-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Nancy and I birded the North Tract of Patuxent NWR this morning. Highlights include Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Wild Turkey, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Purple Martin, lots of Wood Thrush, Nashville Warbler, Summer Tanager, and Orchard Oriole. If you go to New Marsh and follow the trial as it swings to the right around the pond, you will see a small deciduous tree very near the edge of the water, in which an Orchard Oriole appears to be building a nest. Now if you stand between the tree and the pond, and fix your binoculars intently on the place where you saw the oriole rustling leaves, and then take one or two steps backward to try and obtain a better view, you will find the you have stepped into a thorn bush that is hanging out over the water. Having thus disrupted your balance you will, in apparent slow motion, sit down in the thorn bush and do a complete backward somersault into the pond. I not only know the above to be true, but that after you emerge from the pond, clothing and equipment relieving themselves of large quantities of pond water, you will carry with you throughout the remainder of you day's birding and lunch at Chevy's, not only the memory of the experience, and various cuts and scratches, but the distinctive aroma of the pond as well. I am still laughing, and I hope you will too. The complete species list is as follows: Great Blue Heron Black Vulture Turkey Vulture Canada Goose Mallard Osprey Sharp-shinned Hawk Red-shouldered Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Wild Turkey Mourning Dove Yellow-billed Cuckoo Chimney Swift Ruby-throated Hummingbird Red-bellied Woodpecker Pileated Woodpecker Great Crested Flycatcher Eastern Kingbird White-eyed Vireo Yellow-throated Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Blue Jay American Crow Purple Martin Tree Swallow Barn Swallow Carolina Chickadee Tufted Titmouse Carolina Wren House Wren Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Eastern Bluebird Wood Thrush American Robin Gray Catbird Northern Mockingbird Brown Thrasher European Starling Blue-winged Warbler Nashville Warbler Northern Parula Yellow Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Pine Warbler Prairie Warbler Black-and-white Warbler American Redstart Worm-eating Warbler Ovenbird Common Yellowthroat Yellow-breasted Chat Summer Tanager Scarlet Tanager Eastern Towhee Chipping Sparrow Field Sparrow Song Sparrow White-throated Sparrow Northern Cardinal Blue Grosbeak Indigo Bunting Red-winged Blackbird Brown-headed Cowbird Orchard Oriole House Finch American Goldfinch House Sparrow Plus Monk Parakeet at Red Clay Road Elliot Kirschbaum Baltimore, MD USA mailto:ekirschb@bcpl.net ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================