Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2004 22:12:08 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: "George M. Jett" Subject: Phoebe YES!, and Oh Northern Gannett Comments: To: SMAS Comments: cc: Miliff@aol.com, BlkVulture@aol.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Folks My quest for finding a 2004 Eastern Phoebe (#122) in Charles County = came to an end yesterday. A bird I had expected to find in January = alluded me until Monday. Once I saw the bird on the railroad tracks = along Middleton Road, I found two additional birds doing some atlas = scouting along Budds Creek Rd. Go figure! =20 A very low tide, because of the north wind, held promise at Allen's = Fresh. I did find one Pied-billed Grebe, about twenty Greater = Yellowlegs, three Killdeer, about 20 Tundra Swan, and 30+Green-winged = Teal. Bald Eagle, Osprey, Turkey and Black Vulture were also present. = I did not find any Wilson's Snipe, Least Sandpiper, or Dunlin which = could easily be here this time of the year. =20 I headed to Cobb Island with the north wind and found lots of scoters, = Ruddy Ducks, scaup sp., but all were way out in the middle of the choppy = Potomac River. Saturday we had a nice flock of scoters close in to = shore. I was hopeful for easier viewing with the wind holding them from = migrating. I did find one adult Northern Gannett (#123) fighting the wind off Cobb = Island only to turn and head south. Gannett is probably an annual = occurrence in small numbers near Cobb Island, and can get up the river = as far as the Harry Nice Bridge (were Rt. 301 crosses into the evil = empire of Virginia). =20 The other species of note around the Cobb Island and Rock Point was = about 90 Horned Grebe. The wind, chop, and limited access to private = property around the island limited my ability to get a good count, and = search for an Eared Grebe. It is only a matter of time until I put this = species on the county list. They travel the river, and I need to be at = the right place at the right time. Today with the winds settling down, I went to Westmoreland State Park, = in Virginia to get to a better vantage point of the Potomac River. Most = all the birds from yesterday had settled down on the river, but about = 1/2 mile south of Charles County in St. Mary's County. The tide was = also low which may have had something to do with where they were. I = could see thousands of Ruddy Duck, and even more thousands of scaup sp. = A few scoters were scattered in the rafts. I was able to locate one = Black Scoter in both St. Mary's and Charles Co. While watching the = river flow, about 70 Surf Scoters flew from the south to the north = heading to the breeding grounds way up north. =20 About six Red-throated Loons were feeding, mostly in Charles Co. I also = had one Northern Gannett fly from Charles to St. Mary's, probably = heading back out to sea. The odd thing was I found no grebe species at = all. Maybe they were up the Wicomico River on the MD side. =20 I stopped briefly at George Washington's birthplace with less luck. = About 60 Canada Geese and maybe forty Bufflehead were the highlights on = the river . The 30+ Gadwall were still in the fresh water pond just = before the river if you take the burial grounds road. =20 I recommend putting out the hummingbird feeders this weekend. I heard a = third hand report of a fly by bird in White Planes late last week but = was unable to confirm the sighting. The early date may still be March = 28, but birds don't read Yellow Books. Mine is out. Still waiting for that Red-necked Grebe. George =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =========================================================================