Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 12:37:41 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Chris Starling Subject: Turkey Point (Cecil) 9/24) -JAEGER Greetings, I spent most of Wednesday 9/24 at the Turkey Point Hawk Watch. It started out as a slow day but things picked up as noon approached. Raptors seen included Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, Osprey, Red-tailed Hawk, Broad- winged Hawk (2), Merlin, Peregrin Falcon, and Bald Eagle. Also seen were 9 Black Vultures. The most interesting bird of the day was surely the Parasitic Jaeger that circled over the Hawk Watch for 60-90 seconds. I got great looks at the bird with both 9X binos and 45-60X Scope. I am 100% sure of its ID. the bird appeared from the Elk river side of the feild and soared over the middle of the field approx. 200 feet above the ground before truning east and flying towards the C&D canal (6 miles up stream). the bird seemed disoriented and unsure about its path of flight. At first (from a distance) I thought the bird was an Osprey (siloette) based on wingshape and wing span but as the bird approached I could see its clearly gull-like features. The bird had disproportionatly long angled wings for it's relativly small body. It was mostly dark in color but had some biege coloring on it's abdomen. The bird was clearly made for soaring the open ocean. Aside from that the woods were some-what happening with passerines. those included the following: Ovenbird, Yellow-breasted Chat, Magnolia Warbler, Northern Parula, Black and White Warbler, Blue-headed Vireo, Yellow- throated Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, White-eyed Vireo, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Pileated Woodpecker, and an Empid sp. flycatcher. Good Birding, Chris Starling North East, MD PS: this marks the third Jaeger seen in Cecil County since last Friday. i hope they find their way soon.... ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================