Date: Mon, 14 Apr 2003 05:34:13 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Norm Saunders Subject: Lower Eastern Shore Weekend MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Saturday, April 12, started off with rain and heavy overcast with morning temps at about 40F but ended up being sunny and in the 60s. A trip to the OC jetty in the am turned up good numbers of scoters in the lee of the jetty and at least 3 Red-necked Grebes still present. Here=92s the full inlet/jetty list: Forster's Tern 15 Great Black-backed Gull 5 Bonaparte's Gull 3 Black Scoter 6 Ruddy Turnstone 12 Peregrine Falcon 1 Double-crested Cormorant 25 Herring Gull 15 Ring-billed Gull 2 Surf Scoter 35 Lesser Yellowlegs 1 Red-throated Loon 6 Common Loon 3 Red-necked Grebe 3 From here Fran and I meandered over to our Somerset County atlas blocks, which suffer from that problem which is so prevalent on the lower shore=97fe= w roads, masses of posted private property, and no park or other public access for most of the area. Still, birding from the roadsides, with some patience, may turn up a fair number of species later in the season. What we turned up today: Dividing Creek NW Turkey Vulture 8 Canada Goose 25 American Kestrel 6 Wild Turkey 1 Rock Dove 25 Mourning Dove 4 Northern Flicker 2 Pileated Woodpecker 1 Blue Jay 6 American Crow 5 Tufted Titmouse 6 Carolina Wren 4 Northern Mockingbird 2 European Starling 25 Palm Warbler 6 Northern Cardinal 8 Common Grackle 50 Princess Anne NE Turkey Vulture 9 Canada Goose 25 American Kestrel 5 Laughing Gull 150 Rock Dove 15 Mourning Dove 8 Downy Woodpecker 2 Blue Jay 6 American Crow 3 Tufted Titmouse 6 Carolina Wren 1 American Robin 6 Northern Mockingbird 6 European Starling 15 Palm Warbler 2 Northern Cardinal 3 Red-winged Blackbird 8 Common Grackle 50 House Sparrow 25 Leaving our relatively unproductive atlas blocks we drove to the Deal Island marshes for the following: Double-crested Cormorant 15 Great Egret 35 Snowy Egret 10 Great Blue Heron 35 Little Blue Heron 3 Tricolored Heron 1 Glossy Ibis 3 Turkey Vulture 6 Canada Goose 17 American Black Duck 15 Northern Shoveler 12 Red-breasted Merganser 3 Bald Eagle 4 Greater Yellowlegs 8 Lesser Yellowlegs 1 Common Tern 6 Forster's Tern 15 Least Tern 2 American Robin 8 Yellow-rumped Warbler 5 Seaside Sparrow 3 Red-winged Blackbird 100 Eastern Meadowlark 1 Common Grackle 25 Finally, our yard list for the day included: Pied-billed Grebe 1 Great Blue Heron 1 Great Egret 1 Snowy Egret 1 Little Blue Heron 1 Green Heron 1 Black Vulture 2 Turkey Vulture 3 Canada Goose 12 Mallard 6 Ring-necked Duck 3 Osprey 3 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 Merlin 1 Mourning Dove 8 Belted Kingfisher 1 Northern Flicker 2 Blue Jay 2 Fish Crow 5 Tree Swallow 15 Carolina Chickadee 3 Tufted Titmouse 1 Brown-headed Nuthatch 3 Eastern Bluebird 2 American Robin 6 Brown Thrasher 2 Yellow-rumped Warbler 1 Pine Warbler 1 Eastern Towhee 3 Chipping Sparrow 2 Song Sparrow 1 Swamp Sparrow 1 White-throated Sparrow 4 Northern Cardinal 3 Red-winged Blackbird 5 Common Grackle 30 Boat-tailed Grackle 2 Brown-headed Cowbird 3 House Finch 5 American Goldfinch 6 House Sparrow 8 Sunday, April 13, we set aside for yard work (sigh). Nonetheless, we were able to enjoy a good selection of birds from the yard. Notable were large skeins of loons, geese, and cormorants winging northward and the total absence of Ring-billed Gulls from the ponds. Here are the day=92s sightings= : Common Loon 45 Pied-billed Grebe 1 Double-crested Cormorant 50 Great Blue Heron 15 Great Egret 3 Snowy Egret 1 Black Vulture 3 Turkey Vulture 6 Canada Goose 150 American Black Duck 6 Mallard 10 Osprey 3 Bald Eagle 1 Clapper Rail 1 Laughing Gull 2 Herring Gull 5 Great Black-backed Gull 3 Mourning Dove 8 Belted Kingfisher 1 Downy Woodpecker 1 Northern Flicker 2 Blue Jay 6 American Crow 3 Fish Crow 8 Tree Swallow 10 Carolina Chickadee 4 Tufted Titmouse 5 Brown-headed Nuthatch 5 Carolina Wren 1 Eastern Bluebird 4 American Robin 4 Brown Thrasher 1 European Starling 3 Pine Warbler 1 Eastern Towhee 3 Chipping Sparrow 3 Field Sparrow 1 Song Sparrow 3 Swamp Sparrow 1 White-throated Sparrow 12 Northern Cardinal 6 Red-winged Blackbird 15 Common Grackle 50 Boat-tailed Grackle 2 Brown-headed Cowbird 4 House Finch 6 American Goldfinch 8 =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 =========================================================================