Date: Thu, 3 Jul 2003 16:12:18 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Sharon Schwemmer Subject: Green herons Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Hello birders, Today, around 1:45, as I was pulling onto the loop drive around Town Mall in Westminster, MD, I glanced up at a bird I thought to be a crow. Suddenly, it was a Green-backed Heron, and just as suddenly, was accompanied by 3 others. They had just come up from the containment pond area at the end of the mall closest to Rt. 27. Back down they went and I just as quickly turned into the rarely used 2nd parking lot on the right. I found the pond very flooded, more water in it than I've ever seen. They were cruising up and down the area, and landing here and there. By the time I got my small, spare pair of bins on them, there was only one in sight at a time. Both birds I saw through bins (same bird?) were adults. The others were calling from vegetation that hid them. I'm assuming that this was a family group, as they are usually solitary (?). Also observed was a N. Rough-winged Swallow, Catbirds, m. and f. Red-winged Blackbirds, and I heard a Tufted Titmouse. Not too bad for a rainy stop at the mall. Sharon Schwemmer Hampstead, MD sharons@carr.org ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================