Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2004 08:29:03 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: "Lovelace, Glen (DelDOT)" Subject: Oak Grove Area 2004 update Comments: To: DE-Birds MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Hello All, 2004 got off to a good start at Oak Grove. I spent about 5 hours on Jan 1 doing a mini Christmas Count in my one mile circle. The highlight was the birds attracted to the puddles in the large field in the southwest corner of Oak Grove Rd and North Oak Grove Rd. Tundra Swans had been collecting in this field in ever increasing numbers since late November. This culminated in counts of 880 on 12/31, 1100 on Jan 1 and 1430 on Jan 3. Each count was a new high count for the area and more swan than I have ever seen in one spot. At first, the swans stayed for the day and left at dusk. But during the height of the numbers, I heard swans from that field at 10 PM. Also present on Jan 1 were 3 Lesser Yellowlegs (1st January record), 31 Wilson's Snipe (1st January record and high count) and 266 Killdeer (high count). Other good birds were Phoebe, Palm Warbler (2nd Jan. record) and Brown Thrasher (3rd Jan. record). A total of 46 species for the day. I was busy with CBC's on Jan 3 and 4, so the next opportunity was over the weekend. I braved the cold for a while on Sunday morning. As expected, all of the swans and shorebirds listed above got frozen out. Bird activity was consistent in small pockets, but numbers and variety were hard to come by. The best birds were 2 Phoebes and 3 Palm Warblers all actively feeding, but I have no idea on what on such a cold day. Also 2 Swamp Sparrows at the pond on the farm. They are now regular winter residents. A small flock (~1500) of Snow Geese on North Oak Grove Rd opposite the end of Kinder Rd was too far out in the heat waves to find anything better. It always seems odd to me to have to battle heat waves when it is only 25 degrees. Good Birding, Glen Lovelace III Seaford, DE ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================