Date: Sun, 8 Feb 2004 21:57:04 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Robert Churi Subject: St. Mary County birding Comments: To: _SMAS Group MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Finally a weekend of non frigid weather. I think we've had 5 weekends in a row of exceptionally cold (at least for me) weather prior to this. Started Saturday (Feb. 7) afternoon at Abell's Wharf Road near Leonardtown. Greeted by a Meadowlark perched on a telephone wire, later by a flock of 6 in the grass. An Am. kestrel was also perched on the wires. A little further down near the ponds were at least three N. Harriers cruising. Most of the ponds were totally iced, one had an open area of about a hundred feet populated by two male Hooded Mergansers and 5 females. In the pine trees along the road were White-crowned Sparrows (just as reported previously by Stan Arnold). Two adult Bald Eagles flew overhead while two Great Blue Herons managed somehow in the ice. One of the distant ponds was half open water, we drove over to it on Foxes Point Lane. Had a pond full of Redheads and Ring necked Ducks (couple dozen each). Also a few Mallards, Canada Geese, Gadwal and Am. Wigeons. Returned Sunday near dusk to checkout the owls (thanks to Stan Arnold and Marty Cribb) for defining where and when. Two Short-eared Owls showed up about 4:45 surveying the ponds, then both spiraled up several hundred feet and disappeared. A third owl was cooperative and hunted the local fields and ponds, posing several times on leafless trees. We left about 5:45 as the sun was setting and the owl still posing. Bob & Carol Churi Owings ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================