Date: Wed, 5 Jun 2002 00:19:33 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Shireen Gonzaga Subject: Fresh Fields birding MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT I stopped at Fresh Fields this evening around 6:30pm to get groceries (located at Mt. Washington in Baltimore City. Jones Falls River runs in front of it) to look for the waterthrush and possible Tennessee Warbler reported by Peter Lev back on May 26th. Here's what I saw: Mallard Mallard Mallard Mallard Common Grackle Mallard Common Grackle Common Grackle Mallard Mallard Mall ... wait! That's not a Mallard! It was the most gorgeous Yellow-crowned Night Heron I'd ever seen. Striking smooth grey. Crisp facial patterns. Lovely pale yellow crown. And those silly white feathers sticking out the back of its head. He/she strutted around quite regally, hunting for food in the water. And folks, there are some seriously big, fat, juicy crawfish to be had in that river (just in case you don't want to pay the Fresh Fields prices)! I watched it for about 20 minutes or so in total awe. It is an incredibly graceful bird, a Fred Astaire. He was an accomplished crawfisher, catching a total of 9 big crawfish while I watched him, missing only 3-4 attempts. A few times after eating, he'd dip his bill in the water, as if to wash it. Or maybe for a drink, I'm not sure. Hunting for crawfish was a joy to watch: he would spot his prey, bend his knees ever so slowly and deliberately, with his gaze fixed on the doomed critter, and suddenly! with lightning speed, he'd grab the crawfish. If it was a really big one, he'd take it to a dry area and attempt to stuff it down his throat by throwing it up and catching it several times to get it aligned along his bill. If he did this in water, and the crawfish dropped from his bill, it could swim away. Fred's a smart bird -- how many of you would think to do that? Oh, before I forget, I also heard a Yellow Warbler. Well, I realize this was not some hot rare bird, not like seeing a Long-billed Curlew at Fresh Fields or -- heaven forbid -- another Kelp Gull. It was just a simply delightful experience that I wanted to share with you. Next time you're at Fresh Fields, check the river. Fred may be fishing. :-) cheers, shireen -- Shireen Gonzaga Baltimore, MD ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================