Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 20:31:21 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Kevin Dodge Subject: help for upcoming Eastern Shore trip Hi everyone - For many years, I've taken my Garrett College Wildlife Biology class to the Shore to see many of the waterfowl and other waterbird species we've covered in class but don't have a prayer of seeing (during the winter, if ever) in Garrett County. Our typical trip over Presidents' Day weekend consisted of Bombay Hook and nearby areas Friday, the Bay Bridge-Tunnel and Chincoteague Saturday, and west Ocean City pond, the OC Inlet, and Blackwater Sunday. Because we started our spring semester a week later this year, and then got delayed further due to an entire week of snow- cancelled classes, we're not heading east till the weekend of 27-29 February. I don't know whether some of our usual spots are still iced up and/or whether the late date might mean a different distribution of birds than we're used to. I've monitored the reports from the Shore for the last couple of weeks, but I'd still appreciate any suggestions folks are willing to provide for where we should go to get the biggest bang, variety- wise, for our time. Keep in mind that most of my students have never done much birding before, so I'm less interested in a spot where a prolonged look through a scope might turn up a speck of some less common species. That would be enough to sour some of my gang on ever wanting to go birding again! Rather, I'm looking for places that will offer a good variety of waterfowl and other waterbirds that are fairly easy to observe through binoculars or scopes. Please respond offlist (kdodge@garrettcollege.edu), unless you feel your thoughts might be of interest to others. Thanks!! Kevin Dodge Greater Bittinger Metropolitan Area Garrett County, MD ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================