Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2003 09:33:21 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Walter Ellison Subject: Kent Bird Club trip to Horsehead and Kent Narrows MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hi Everybody, Six intrepid birders - Stan Arnold, Cathy Carroll, Elise Kreiss, Peter = Mann, and Bill Mechlin braved the icy wind to see birds at the Wetland = Institute at Horsehead in Grasonville and among the floating ice cakes = at Kent Narrows. No doubt about it you really feel alive, albeit = uncomfortable, on a brisk winter's day outdoors. We found 51 bird = species including 15 waterfowl and 7 raptors (counting the vultures). = Unfortunately there were no grebes at Kent Narrows (as also noted by = Danny Poet for Saturday), but a drake Redhead, 10 Gadwall, excellent = looks at Long-tailed Ducks ("south southerlies"), the hen Hooded = Merganser, 5 coots, and a rather cold looking Killdeer provided = considerable compensation. We caught up with Elise at Horsehead where = she had gotten a decent head start on us finding the trip's only = cowbirds, Rusty Blackbird, and Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Our walk around the = preserve produced 34 species highlighted by a wild pair of Wood Ducks = among the mixed wild and pinioned fowl at the visitor's center; 6 more = Killdeer; 4 Fox Sparrows - mostly located by voice, one even sang a = couple of times; a Northern Harrier; a great look at a female = kingfisher; and 50+ Tundra Swans. Some of the best observations were of = "mundane" birds such as the hordes of ground-feeding Yellow-rumped = (Myrtle) Warblers along the leeward path edges, and some really = resplendent Swamp Sparrows in great light. The wind played havoc with = the content of our list as many birds were laying low, witness the lack = of titmice, crows, and most woodpeckers on the cumulative listing below. Trip List: Great Blue Heron; Black Vulture; Turkey Vulture; Canada Goose; Mute = Swan; Tundra Swan; Wood Duck; American Black Duck; Mallard; = (BlackXMallard hybrid); Gadwall; Canvasback; Redhead; Lesser Scaup; = Long-tailed Duck; Bufflehead; Common Goldeneye; Hooded Merganser; Ruddy = Duck; Bald Eagle; Northern Harrier; Sharp-shinned Hawk; Red-tailed Hawk; = American Kestrel; American Coot; Killdeer; Ring-billed Gull; Herring = Gull; Great Black-backed Gull; Belted Kingfisher; Downy Woodpecker; = Northern Flicker; Blue Jay; Carolina Chickadee; Carolina Wren; = Ruby-crowned Kinglet; American Robin; Northern Mockingbird; European = Starling; Yellow-rumped Warbler; Fox Sparrow; Song Sparrow; Swamp = Sparrow; White-throated Sparrow; Dark-eyed (Slate-colored) Junco; = Northern Cardinal; Red-winged Blackbird; Rusty Blackbird; Common = Grackle; Brown-headed Cowbird; House Finch; House Sparrow.=20 Good Birding, =20 Walter Ellison MD-DC Atlas Coordinator - MOS 23460 Clarissa Road Chestertown, MD 21620 phone: 410-778-9568 e-mail: rossgull@crosslink.net "A person who is looking for something doesn't travel very fast" - E. B. = White (in "Stuart Little") =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =========================================================================