Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2004 20:16:09 -0800 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Kevin Graff Subject: Oxygen Pond, Baltimore Co., MD, 2/2/04 In-Reply-To: <008d01c3e9ff$06777450$6601a8c0@HERKY> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Hi all, Went on a lunch break at 2pm between deliveries in Dundalk/Edgemere area yesterday Most unusual day with more bird species and one rare blackbird never been seen in this area before. The Brewer's was seen in good view on roadside. I stop the truck on shoulder and waited few minutes before the blackbird/grackle flock landed in woods just few feet from passenger side of my company truck. This male has yellow eyes, purplish gloss on head and upper body above the shoulder, greenish gloss on its body and part of wing coverts, shorter/thicker bill. It was still there with the flock when i left to make more deliveries. This flocks may not stay long as it may disperse from one location to another across southeast Baltimore County. I had a grackle flocks few weeks ago during Mid-Winter Bird Count at Rocky Point Park which is on other side of the river from Oxygen Pond. It is really hard to find any unusual blackbirds with massive flocks. I didn't expect to see a Brewer's. I had seen Rusty few times in winter. It's a good thing I stop by there for lunch break. Oxygen Pond, Reservoir Rd and Peninsula Expressway in Sparrows Point. 2/2/04 Weather: PC, 36 degree, SSE 5 mph pond remain ice free 7 Pied-billed Grebe 4 Double-crested Cormorant 8 Great Blue Heron 262 Canada Goose 4 Mute Swan 1 Wood Duck 4 American Wigeon 2 American Black Duck 28 Mallard 2 Green-winged teal 11 Canvasback 10 Redhead 6 Ring-necked Duck 101 Lesser Scaup 37 Hooded Merganser 81 Ruddy Duck 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 105 American Coot 2 Bonaparte's Gull 41 Ring-billed Gull 2 Herring Gull 2 Great Black-backed Gull 5 Rock Pigeon 2 Red-bellied Woodpecker 1 Downy Woodpecker 2 Northern Flicker 1 Northern Mockingbird 9 European Starling 31 Song Sparrow 20 White-throated Sparrow 2 Northern Cardinal 4 Red-winged Blackbird 2 Rusty Blackbird 1 BREWER'S BLACKBIRD (woods along Reservoir Rd.) 118 Common Grackle 6 Brown-headed Cowbird 926 36 species Every year I usually get about 17/18 species at this pond for CBC and Winter Bird Count until in mid Jan 2004 during winter count, I had 24 species and keep getting better. Word of advice: It's safer to go there on weekend because of heavy 18-wheelers traffic on weekday. Kevin Graff Jarrettsville, MD & Ocean City, MD ocean_city2001@yahoo.com __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free web site building tool. Try it! http://webhosting.yahoo.com/ps/sb/ ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================