Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 18:49:45 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Bill Hubick Subject: Re: Cattle Egrets in Anne Arundel County; North Point & Terrapin Park sightings In-Reply-To: <000c01c37ac2$57cb4810$692d3244@S0027066535> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Hello everyone, I also saw three CATTLE EGRETS in Anne Arundel County. They were at North Point State Park yesterday (9/13), feeding in the last field on the left before you to turn to park in the main parking lot. Other noteworthy sightings at North Point were a winter plumage SPOTTED SANDPIPER, two RUBY-THROATED hummingbirds vying for dominance of a Trumpet Vine covered tree, and the first V-formation of migrating Canada geese I'd seen so far. Today at Terrapin Nature Area, highlights were two late GREEN HERONS, four SNOWY EGRETS (first I've noted personally in Queen Anne's County--I thought it interesting that one was feeding on a breaker out on the Bay), four BLUE-WINGED TEAL, two female GREEN-WINGED TEAL, and another RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD. [The following are off-listserv topics. Extensive digression -- read on only if you have time and interest :) On Red Foxes at North Point -- One of the most interesting events at North Point yesterday (9/13) was a pup red fox standing in the road just as I started my hike. It wandered around lazily, would lay down, get up and dig at something, walk a few feet, lay down again. After watching it for about 15 minutes and snapping a few pictures, I moved on. Even for a pup, it wasn't nearly afraid enough of me. As I continued along the road, it maintained a short distance from me, but didn't want to fully retreat into the woods. Its mother came out once, horrified to see me that close, and tried to drag the almost fully grown pup into the woods. It wasn't interested, but after a while got the idea and left. I had maintained a healthy distance the entire time as I walked along the road, but was surprised by its lack of fear. I later found out the reason for this. People have been feeding them. On my return trip, a walker with whom I'd briefly spoken told me he saw someone feeding them. As I walked back, I saw the mom and pup eating pieces of white bread, then saw another car drive up and toss bread. I later reported this to a park ranger, but he said there's not much they can do, that they will eventually probably have to relocate the foxes. Such a shame -- not only does this behavior make wild animals dependent on people (a particularly bad thing in the case of predators), but it greatly increases the chances of a beautiful animal being hit by a car, or of someone being bitten. I'm sure everyone on this listserv shares my feelings on the subject, but I thought it was worth sharing the story. On Chimney Swifts at Hampden, Baltimore -- My girlfriend and I watched the Chimney Swifts come home to roost this past Wednesday, our first time witnessing this amazing spectacle. I expected an exciting show, but was absolutely amazed by the funneling of the thousands of birds. My thanks to the Baltimore Bird Club members who discussed the event with me, and who explained the location of that roost. At one point, a woman stopped her minivan and said, "Oh my god, what's going on?" We told her, and she stopped to watch the rest of the activity. She couldn't stop talking about it, and said it was the most amazing thing she'd ever seen. She lived two blocks away all her life. To anyone who has not seen this natural event, I HIGHLY recommend seeing it soon, before they take their show on the road to the Amazon River Basin :) I had some questions about Chimney Swifts. If anyone knows the answers and has time to share, I'd appreciate it. Some of them are more or less rhetorical -- How do all of those birds funnel in and not knock down half the nests in the chimney?!? Do they always return to the same nest within the chimney? What happens if one bird's nest is knocked down (that night)? Since their sleeping habits are so specific, where do they sleep during their southerly migration? Surely they don't know a good roost at every stopping point! Do they travel communally? OK, I think that's most of them. Such interesting birds :) Take care! Bill Hubick Linthicum, Maryland bill_hubick@yahoo.com At 09:16 AM 9/14/2003 -0400, you wrote: >I spotted three (3) Cattle Egrets on the settlement ponds at Arundel >Crossing Business Park in Odenton this morning. They were on the first >pond directly across from the Suddath building. > >Harvey Welsh >Severn, Md. >yzkrem@comcast.net > >======================================================================= >To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com >with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey >======================================================================= ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================