Date: Thu, 7 Nov 2002 12:57:28 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Chris Starling Subject: Birding Cecil County 11/6/02- Fox Sparrow! Greetings: I awoke Wednesday to a rather cloudy, drizzly day in North East. Once I realized that a front had passed through, I decided to head to Turkey Point and check out the Hawk Watch. Arriving around 8:30 I did a little birding during the walk to the Hawk Watch. Nothing particular really caught my eye. I did notice a lack of Blue Jays and a large number of Robins and Eastern Bluebirds pushing south. Also I saw the usual large group of White- throated Sparrows at the first turn in the dirt road that leads to the Hawk Watch- more on that later. Upon reaching the Hawk Watch I settled in for the cool morning ahead. Raptor counting was painfully slow as only 1 Sharp- shinned passed during the first hour and a half. Don and Judy Bayard joined me during the 9 o'clock hour. I did notice a large number of Turkey Vultures moving through. Between 10 and noon we managed to count 49 raptors with more Sharpies, Red-tailed, Northern Harrier, Bald Eagle, Broad- winged, and Cooper's making fly bys. I left Don and Judy at the watch and proceeded back to the car tallying 34 species on the way including a high fly over of 6 Snow Goose. It was at the before mentioned turn in the road were I chanced upon a puddle being utilized as a bath by a handful of Sparrows (mostly White-throat and a few Songs) and Cardinals. I watch this for about 5 minutes when a larger sparrow leaped out of the briar and began to bath. The first thing I noticed was its size and its peculiar reddish color. I then noticed its breast- an unmistakable FOX SPARROW. I watched for a few more minutes until it flew out of site. A new MD bird for me. I then left Turkey Point and headed across the bay to the Perryville Town Park which is adjacent to the Perry Point VA Hospital and is bordered on two sides by Mill Creek/Furnace Bay and the Susquehanna Flats. I immediately found the usual water fowl that I have been reporting; Ring- necked Duck, Ruddy Duck, Mallard, A. Black Duck, A. Widgeon, Gadwall, L. Scaup, D.C. Cormorant, A. Coot, Bufflehead, Pie-billed Grebe, and Canada Goose. These species were not in huge numbers (except Ruddy and Canada Goose). I then drove through the park adding A. Kestrel to my raptor list. Gaining better viewing points into Furnace Bay, I noticed huge numbers of unidentifiable waterfowl. Thousands of ducks were in the bay along with a dozen Tundra Swan. I have got to find a way to access Furnace bay, I'll let you know what I find. Also noted were Forster's Tern and the usual gulls (including Laughing). After leaving the Perryville area I headed to The Conowingo Dam in search of gulls and Mergs. I didn't find any mergs but did see approx. 1000 D.C.. Cormorant. Black Vultures were in high numbers also with 36 being counted. Gull species were generally low but numbers were good. Gulls seen were; Ring-billed, Herring, Great Black-backed, Laughing, Bonaparte's, and Forster's Tern. More Bonaparte's than expected with about 150 being tallied. Also of note at the dam was large numbers of Bald Eagles. In the hour that I was there I counted 53 Bald Eagles 75% of them were immature. All in all it was a good day birding with sky conditions ranging from clear to thick clouds. Very blustery and generally winter-like at the dam. the reservoir was rolling with 2-4 foot waves! 61 Species were tallied for the day. Here is a breakdown if your interested... Water birds: (21 species) Turkey Point- Snow Goose (6) Canada Goose (12) Perryville- Pie-billed Grebe (3) American Coot (50) Tundra Swan (12) Canada Goose (125) Mallard (22) American Black Duck (16) American Widgeon (6) Gadwall (18) Lesser Scaup (8) Ring-necked Duck (29) Ruddy Duck (150) Bufflehead (14) D.C. Cormorant (1) Forster's Tern (36) assorted Gulls (10) G.B. Heron (2) Belted Kingfisher (6) Conowingo Dam D.C. Cormorant (1000+) Ring-billed Gull (50+) Herring Gull (50+) Great-black backed Gull (22) Laughing Gull (6) Bonaparte's Gull (150+) G.B. Heron (3) Raptors: (9 species) Turkey Point Sharp-shinned Hawk (16) Cooper's Hawk (1) Red-tailed hawk (16) Northern Harrier (3) Broad-winged Hawk (2) Bald Eagle (4) Turkey Vulture (24) Perryville American Kestrel (1) Conowingo Bald Eagle (53) Black Vulture (36) Sparrows: Turkey Point White-throated (50+) Song (5) Fox (1) House (1) Other notables: Gray Catbird (1 Perryville) both Kinglets (many everywhere) Cedar Waxwing (50+ Turkey Point) Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (1 Turkey Point) Brown Creeper (1 Conowingo) Hope that didn't bore you too much! Good birding, Chris Starling North East, MD ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================