Date: Sat, 8 Feb 2003 09:23:17 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Shireen Gonzaga Subject: Re: Bombay Hook MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT > Is there a good guide to Bombay Hook that would advise > on the best time of year, day (obviously, not today) to go > there and the good places to see birds etc? 1. best time of year. shorebirds: mid-April to end of May, August to early-October waterbirds: November, December, February, March Worst time of year is June. The only things in abundance are green flies and other biting critters. 2. Best time of day. Impoundment observing is best in the mornings because you're facing away from the sun looking west. After 12:00 pm, sun glare becomes a problem. For salt-marshes, where you face east, afternoon and evenings are best because the sun has crossed into the western half of the sky. 3. Best places to see birds. During shorebird season, impoundment levels are low (except for Bear Swamp), and there are lots of shorebirds to be seen, especially during high tide. (Water levels are lowered to create habitat for them, but if there is heavy rain 1-2 days before your visit, the refuge may not have had time to get the water level down.). Call ahead to ask about impoundment water levels. The salt marsh is very good for shorebirds during low tide. (Note: to see sanderling, red knot and ruddy turnstone, go to a beach. These guys don't hang out in impoundments and mudflats.) Waterbirds are fairly abundant in impoundments (water levels kept high to create habitat for them), but call the refuge to ask about variety and numbers before heading out there. (Sometimes, they're not around....) Bombay Hook NWR tel #: 302-653-6872. Good luck, shireen Shireen Gonzaga Baltimore, MD ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================