Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2004 19:19:17 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Michael Bowen Subject: Blue Mash trail, 3/18 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Intrigued by the enthusiasm of Tom Marko and Rick Sussman, I paid a visit for a few hours midday today to the Blue Mash trail surrounding the old Laytonsville landfill in Montgomery County. After this short visit, I share their enthusiasm. The eastern section reached from the parking lot on Zion Rd. has more habitat diversity and interest than the part to the south and west of the landfill, reached from a parking lot just off Rt. 108, but the whole place promises to be very good in the forthcoming migratory period, and a nice change of pace for those of us who normally gravitate straight to the C&O Canal. Here's what I saw today; numbers are approximate and are subject to plus-or-minus 20% error, to shield them from attack by all you amateur and professional statisticians out there: PIED-BILLED GREBE 1 CANADA GOOSE 10 WOOD DUCK 1 hen GREEN-WINGED TEAL 8 AMERICAN BLACK DUCK 2 MALLARD 4 GADWALL 2 AMERICAN WIGEON 2 RING-NECKED DUCK 20 BUFFLEHEAD 30 HOODED MERGANSER 8 TURKEY VULTURE 2 RED-SHOULDERED HAWK 1 RED-TAILED HAWK 1 AMERICAN KESTREL 2 WILSON'S SNIPE 6 (probably many more than that out there) MOURNING DOVE 2 RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER 2 EASTERN PHOEBE 1 BLUE JAY 10 FISH CROW 2 CAROLINA CHICKADEE 2 AMERICAN ROBIN 20+ NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD 2 EUROPEAN STARLING 20+ YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER 1 NORTHERN CARDINAL 6 EASTERN TOWHEE 8 FOX SPARROW 20 SONG SPARROW 20+ WHITE-THROATED SPARROW 10 WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW 1 imm. DARK-EYED JUNCO 6 RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD 6 I like the fact that the ponds in this area are fenced off, so that wintering and breeding water birds have some measure of protection from the walking public. (The chain-link fences are clearly not a barrier to deer or Red Fox, both of which species I saw inside them today!) There's a large field on the west side that looks like it would be attractive to Meadowlarks - if it's not mowed until later in the summer. Does anyone know what the grass cutting plans for this area are? I also noted that the swath cut for the trails on the west side is much, much wider than really needed for a foot trail, even one used also by horses. The habitat in this area would be enhanced by just letting things grow on either side of a mown trail. Mike Bowen Bethesda D. H. Michael Bowen (Mike) 8609 Ewing Drive Bethesda MD 20817-3845 Tel/Fax: (301) 530-5764 e-mail: dhmbowen@yahoo.com ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================