Date: Sun, 7 Sep 2003 16:04:08 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Walter Ellison Subject: Kent Bird Club Pickering Creek Trip MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hi Everybody, It was a beautiful day for a bird trip and Pickering Creek proved an = excellent choice for a destination. Five of us, Parke John, Bill = Mechling, Nancy Martin, Ian and Walter Ellison, journeyed south from = Chestertown. The wetland impoundments held much of our attention as we = found seven waterfowl species, highlighted by Gadwall, shoveler, and = Blue-winged Teal, and ten shorebird species, including Semipalmated = Plover, Western and White-rumped sandpipers, there. We were also = entertained by six Bald Eagles of various ages, a young Northern Harrier = seen from the blind on the entrance road, and a fly-by Merlin. Also very = entertaining were the butterflies, especially at the Children's = Imagination Garden where a horde of Red-spotted Purples and assorted = other butterflies were feeding on fermenting pears on the ground. We had = 62 bird species for the trip, and 24 butterfly species. Full lists are = presented below. Birds: 4 Great Blue Herons; 1 Great Egret; 1 Mute Swan; 2 Black Vultures; 12 = Turkey Vultures; 7 Wood Duck; 1 Gadwall; 1 American Black Duck; 22 = Mallards; 8 Blue-winged Teal; 1 Northern Shoveler; 3 = Green-winged Teal; 1 Osprey; 6 Bald Eagles; 1 Northern Harrier; 1 = Merlin; 1 Semipalmated Plover; 4 Killdeer; 2 Greater Yellowlegs; 25 = Lesser Yellowlegs; 1 Solitary Sandpiper; 6 Semipalmated Sandpipers; = 3 Western Sandpipers; 9 Least Sandpipers; 1 White-rumped Sandpiper; 2 = Pectoral Sandpipers; 1 Rock Pigeon; 1 Mourning Dove; 10 Chimney Swifts; = 2 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds; 1 Belted Kingfisher; 4 Red-bellied = Woodpeckers; 4 Hairy Woodpeckers; 1 Northern Flicker; 2 Pileated = Woodpeckers; 2 Eastern Wood-Pewees; 1 Traill's (Alder or = Willow) Flycatcher; 1 Great Crested Flycatcher; 1 White-eyed Vireo; 1 = Red-eyed Vireo; 4 Blue Jays; 2 Purple Martins; 24+ Tree Swallows; 8+ = Barn Swallows; 2 Carolina Chickadees; 3 Tufted Titmice; 2 White-breasted = Nuthatches; 2 Carolina Wrens; 2 American Robins; 2 Gray Catbirds; 5 = Northern Mockingbirds; 5 European Starlings; 1 = Black-and-white Warbler; 1 Common Yellowthroat; 2 Field Sparrows; 3 = Northern Cardinals; 3 Blue Grosbeaks; 1 Indigo Bunting; 40 Bobolinks; 4 = Red-winged Blackbirds; 1 Eastern Meadowlark; 6 American Goldfinches. Butterflies: Tiger Swallowtail (yellow & black); Black Swallowtail; Cabbage White; = Clouded Sulphur; Orange Sulphur; Summer Azure; Pearl Crescent; Question = Mark; Eastern Comma; Red Admiral; American Lady; Common Buckeye; = Red-spotted Purple; Viceroy; Tawny Emperor; American Snout; Monarch; = Appalachian Brown; Common Wood-Nymph; Silver-spotted Skipper; = Long-tailed Skipper; Least Skipper; Northern Broken-Dash; Dion Skipper. Good Birding, =20 Walter Ellison 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 =========================================================================