Date: Mon, 8 Jul 2002 13:50:30 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Walter Ellison Subject: Atlasing in Caroline County MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi All, The weather finally got less infernal allowing more than four or five hours in the early morning for atlas work - this improved my physical comfort as I sought birds, and the birds actually stayed somewhat active and visible after 10:00 AM. I worked in my three Caroline County blocks in the Goldsboro Quad concentrating on the SW block on Saturday and spending six hours afoot on Nature Conservancy land in the CE block on Sunday (permission required because the preserve has delicate habitat). All three blocks have a good mix of woodland and farm fields. Witness Kentucky Warblers and Vesper Sparrows in all three blocks. There are still quite a few fledglings about but many are now too mobile and independent to count as confirmations. Also note that all of the swallows are now beyond safe dates - sigh, can't "count" those Tree Swallows and Bank Swallow I had yesterday. I was pleased to locate a Great Blue heronry in Virginia pines yesterday and glad that it was on Conservancy property. Most of the nests were empty but one still had a big nestling standing on it. Other highlights - finding an empty mud turtle shell, seeing a ruminative box turtle pop out of the grass along a woodland path, a gray treefrog sleeping on a damaged Nature Conservancy boundary sign (oh for a camera!), finding sufficiently recent turkey sign (recently molted feather and tracks in a dusty road) to add it to the block without seeing one, hooting up a Barred Owl in the SW block, and confirming Blue Grosbeak in all three blocks, all FY - thank goodness they like to feed big green grasshoppers to their kids. I'm also grateful for the advice from the White-eyed Vireos - "Check! Ya gotta 'nother tick!" Seems like the most common tick species in the Henderson, MD area is the Lone Star. Good Atlasing, Walter Ellison MD/DC Atlas Coordinator - MOS 23460 Clarissa Rd Chestertown, MD 21620-3645 410-778-9568 rossgull@crosslink.net "A person who is looking for something doesn't travel very fast." - E. B. White ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================