Date: Sun, 9 Nov 2003 10:59:19 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Walter Ellison Subject: Sandy Point State Park trip 8 Nov. MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hi All, The Howard County and Kent County Bird Clubs came together Saturday for = a joint trip to Sandy Point State Park at the west terminus of the Bay = Bridge. Cool temperatures and a persistent strong northwest wind = dampened bird activity masking a decent post-cold front migrant wave. = Our groups covered all of the park's habitats and were rewarded with 49 = hard-won bird species, we even saw three butterfly species in the = blustery cold (questionmark, buckeye, and orange sulphur).=20 Highlights of the trip were sea ducks featuring 2 hen Black Scoters, 31 = Bufflehead, a hen goldeneye, and a hen Hooded Merganser, winter = landbirds including a Red-breasted Nuthatch in the white pines next to = the picnic area, 2 Winter Wrens, a sapsucker, and both kinglets. The = wastewater treatment plant west of the park HQ road produced a Gadwall, = Wood Duck, coot, and a nice flock of songbirds including the day's best = find - a young male Black-throated Blue Warbler. Our complete list follows below: 60+ Canada Geese; 1 Wood Duck; 1 Gadwall; 24+ Mallards; 1 Greater Scaup; 60+ = 2 Black Scoters; 31 Bufflehead; 1 Common Goldeneye; 1 Hooded Merganser; = 5 Double-crested Cormorants; 6 Black Vultures; 12+ Turkey Vultures; 1 = Accipiter (sp); 1 Red-tailed Hawk; 1 American Coot; 12 Laughing Gulls; = 50+ Ring-billed Gulls; 4 Herring Gulls; 8 Great Black-backed Gulls; 5 = Red-bellied Woodpeckers; 1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker; 3 Downy = Woodpeckers; 6 Northern (Yellow-shafted) Flickers; 4 Blue Jays; 4 = American Crows; 2 crows (sp); 9 Carolina Chickadees; 7 Tufted Titmice; 1 = Red-breasted Nuthatch; 1 Brown Creeper; 4 Carolina Wrens; 2 Winter = Wrens; 5 Golden-crowned Kinglets; 4 Ruby-crowned Kinglets; 3 Hermit = Thrushes; 1 American Robin; 1 Brown Thrasher; 150+ European Starlings; 1 = Black-throated Blue Warbler; 4 Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warblers; 2 = Eastern Towhees; 1 Field Sparrow; 3 Song Sparrows; 4 Swamp Sparrows; 33 = White-throated Sparrows; 2 Dark-eyed (Slate-colored) Juncos; 11 Northern = Cardinals; 20+ Red-winged Blackbirds; 2+ Common Grackles; 2 American = Goldfinches. 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 =========================================================================