Date: Sun, 28 Mar 2004 16:01:17 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Walter Ellison Subject: Kent Co Bird Club Owl Prowl MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hi All, I have no idea where that "Love is" post came from. I am currently = adding a spyware blocker to my arsenal. If the rest of the list didn't = see it disregard my raving. At any rate, the Kent County Bird Club had its first - and by virtue of = the results certainly not last - Owl Prowl at Eastern Neck NWR. Thanks = are gratefully extended to Meg Walkup and the other staff at the Refuge = for hosting us at the Lodge and allowing access beyond the Refuge gate = after hours. Things started slowly after a short introductory program at = the Eastern Neck Lodge last night. We heard a Killdeer in the middle of = fields near the Refuge maintenance area, but no owl. A young Bald Eagle = passed over in the gloom, those youngsters keep such late hours compared = with their staid elders. We went on to the small pond along the road to = headquarters. Here we were assaulted by the full force of the frog = chorus including thousands (it seemed) of peepers, hundreds of leopard = frogs, and a handful of Fowler's Toads. In spite of the racket we heard = a male Great Horned Owl hooting in the distance. We next went to the Wildlife Trail where we walked a short distance into = the woods. A red-morph Eastern Screech-Owl arrived silently in response = to my tape and was spotted against the moonlit sky by a woman to my = right (sorry I can't remember your name). The bird proved amazingly = tolerant of flashlighting and stayed in sight for about five minutes. It = eventually withdrew to deeper cover and proceeded to loudly and = petulantly serenade us with volley after volley of tremolos and = whinnies. We wrapped up the evening at the intersection of the main road and = Bogle's Wharf Road trying to get some rails in the brackish marsh. After = a short burst of Peter Mann's MP3 player we had two distant rails sound = off. One rail gave the seldom-heard "kicker" call several times. We also = heard the distant quavering call of another screech-owl. It's great to = send folks home satisfied with their experience. I hope future Owl = Prowls go as well as this one. Good Birding, Walter Ellison 23460 Clarissa Road Chestertown, MD 21620 phone: 410-778-9568 e-mail: rossgull@crosslink.net "A person who is looking for something doesn't travel very fast" - E. B. = White (in "Stuart Little") =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 =========================================================================