Date: Sun, 28 Mar 2004 20:40:36 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Stan Arnold Subject: N. AA County; Woodcock behavior Comments: cc: Charles Kucera , Paul Canner , Steve Schwemmer , "Elaine T. Bullock" , Mark Hollis MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi Folks, Some birding today within my local atlas blocks in Anne Arundel County produced a few new arrivals, and some birds not often seen in these semi-urban environs. Of note were: Andover Overlook (BWI) and Equestrian Center: Cooper's Hawk--going to the ground for a kill, but coming up empty-taloned E. Phoebe singing Field Sparrows --some singing and some chasing each other Sawmill Park, Glen Burnie: Fox Sparrow (a kingfisher here on Wednesday was a first for me) Cabin Branch Park, Ferndale: Downy Woodpecker--excavating a cavity Brown Creeper Golden-crowned Kinglet--2 Yellow-rumped Warbler Pine Warbler--3 singing (now if they will just stay for a month...) Fox Sparrow N. Cardinal--female carrying nesting material I had displaying woodcocks here on Thursday evening South shore of Patapsco River up from Snyder's Restaurant (including Halethorpe Ponds 9&10) Wood Duck--pair (pond 9) Hooded Merganser--drake and two hens (pond 9) Brown Creeper--2 along river Hopeful of continuing this season's incredibly fortuitous string of woodcock sightings into a new quarterblock of the Relay NE atlas block, Charlie Kucera and I went across the Patapsco River bridge from Snyder's Restaurant into Baltimore Co., and followed a grassy path eastward along the north bank of the river. It looked like good habitat, and we soon discovered that indeed it was, as the peents began to compete with the traffic noise from I-695 and the BW Parkway. We ended up getting as good a show as we've seen anywhere this season, and we've seen a lot. Many birds were vocalizing, and we witnessed multiple flight displays, and even had a bird fly a complete circle around us. At least two birds landed on the grassy path, and we were able to get our flashlights on them. What was noteworthy, however, is that one of these birds raised his wings (as Count Dracula would raise his cape, Charlie suggested), and walked down the path away from us, dipping from side to side. Now, woodcocks are pretty funny looking birds to begin with, but watching this dumpy avian form swagger down the path with wings outstretched was a sight to behold. I suppose we would have found it histerical if we weren't both so amazed by a behavior that neither of us had witnessed before. Apparently this was all part of the ritual to impress a female, who must have been watching with admiration from some vantage point nearby. Who needs a TV with all of this entertainment so close to home. Except for the weather, it was not a terribly exciting day, but sure ended on a good note. Stan Arnold Glen Burnie dy.dx@earthlink.net ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================