Date: Mon, 9 Dec 2002 10:36:21 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Dan Eberly Subject: Seneca, Saturday 12/7 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I took a morning walk northerly along the towpath. The scenery was beautiful with the snow covered landscape and the various mammal tracks in the snow - also apparently mist rising from the water had frozen on the trees. Don't know the actual identification of the mammals but assume they were Fox and Raccoon plus a probable Otter. I found it interesting that the mammals would walk along a snow covered log rather than on the ground. The birding included 3 or 4 Red-headed Woodpeckers above mile post #24 (opposite the first wooded island in the Potomac when walking from Seneca - a usual spot), a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, both Kinglets, Bluebirds (exploring holes in the trees), a Myrtle Warbler, a Hermit Thrush and Brown Creepers. Back home, I had a juvenile Cooper's Hawk sitting in a tree and chasing sparrows about 20 feet from me. Regarding the backyard Goshawk ID, Juvenile Cooper's Hawks tend to have a rusty-brown coloration about the head, including the back of the head (my Cooper's had a very distinct rusty-brown color), and Goshawk tend to have a more buffy color to the head. The streaking on the breast of a Goshawk is usually denser than a Cooper's and the Goshawk's breast tends to have more buffy undertones (my Cooper's was white). The back of my Cooper's was brown with some white spotting where a Goshawk would tend to have brown with some buffy or honey coloration. A week ago I walked the paved hiker/biker path bordering Black Hill Park and had nice views of Red-headed Woodpeckers (usual spot), 3 Common Goldeneyes, Hooded Mergansers, Ring-necked Ducks and Buffleheads. Happy Birding, Dan Eberly Bethesda ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================