Date: Thu, 31 Oct 2002 20:27:03 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Steve Sanford Subject: Big push of raptors MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Gail Frantz and I went hawk-watching and leaf-peeping today along the Washington-Frederick County line from Monument Knob (Washington Monument State Park) to Pen Mar High Rocks (a mile or two south of the town of Pen Mar, almost in Pennsylvania). Red-tails were really pouring through, often in loose groups of 2 to 5 birds. In my sporadic hawk-watching I have never seen so many Red-tails heading unambiguously south. It was almost like a good Broadwing day. We are not counters, but I would say we saw maybe 40 to 60 Red-tails from about 10 to 11:30 at Monument Knob (where at least one person IS keeping counts). Prior to our arrival at Monument Knob, two folks had a good look at a Golden Eagle. Several Harriers, a few Sharpies, and a Kestrel passed by the Knob while we were there. Also there were dozens of Turkey Vultures heading hard south and lesser numbers of Black Vultures. The sky was almost never empty. Dozens of Juncos also seemed to be moving through in a southerly direction. The pattern was similar during about 45 minutes at Pen Mar High Rocks in the afternoon. In that area there were lots of branches down due to ice. Some of the ice was still falling. Forecasted west and northwest winds hold promise for the passage of more raptors for the next few days. The lake at old Fort Ritchie had 2 Buffleheads, a Ruddy Duck, and 2 Pied-billed Grebes. Leaf-color was good and perhaps only a little past peak. Steve Sanford tanager@bcpl.net Randallstown MD Baltimore County ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================