Date: Sun, 16 Nov 2003 18:17:58 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Walter Ellison Subject: Kent County 11/16 - Eared Grebe, Ross's Goose, et al. MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hi All, There has been a rash of suberb rarities to the east and north Kent = County over the last few weeks, so Nancy and I sallied forth this = afternoon in hopes of finding something very good. We had to settle for = the usual good birds, but that's good compensation for the effort after = all. At Great Oak Pond we found a loafing goose flock at noon - this pattern = of occurrence seems to be pretty reliable, although not guaranteed - = there were 1200 Snow Geese (30 blues) accompanied by a single juvenile = ROSS'S GOOSE. Also present were two Gadwall, a Richardson's Canada = Goose, and 29 Bonaparte's Gulls among others. Five young Bald Eagles = came by and put all of the Snow Geese into the air, for a while it was = like being in one of those paperweights that create a blizzard when = shaken (our son Ian's imagery). We then went to the John Hanson Rd Ponds. There we found an adult winter = plumaged EARED GREBE, presumably the same bird first seen in late = September. Although the bird does spend a lot of time under water and = looks superficially like the abundant Ruddy Ducks it's hard to figure = out why it has only been seen once (on 18 Oct.) between now and late = September. Perhaps it has an alternative pond or ponds where it likes to = feed and rest in the immediate area. From Chestertown we headed southwest to some of the south Kent County = landings. There was a good selection of lower Chester River birds at = Cliffs City Landing including 18 Common Loons, a Horned Grebe, 25 Common = Goldeneye, 80 Long-tailed Ducks (they're back), and 3 Forster's Terns. = On our way north from Cliffs City we had a nice flock of 7 Wild Turkeys = on Walnut Point Rd. At Broad Neck Landing we had a couple of nice raher = late birds - a Gray Catbird and a House Wren. We had at least 15,000 Canada Geese for the day with large flocks at all = of the places listed above. One of these at Broad Neck had a white neck = and head, and two at Chesapeake Farms had mostly white bodies and the = usual black stocking neck and white chin strap. One is seldom far from = the brassy music of geese in Kent County once we enter the colder months = of the year. So Long For Now and 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 =========================================================================