EURASIAN C-D NO, MONK PARAKEET YES

rick (rblom@blazie.com)
Fri, 18 Sep 1998 20:25:54 -0400


        Knowing it was pointless, I nonetheless spent seven hours in Havre
de Grace today looking for the Eurasian Collared-Dove. I started at the
lighthouse and worked outward on foot in widening circles. I covered every
street and alley at least twice for at least ten blocks, returning
periodically to the lighthouse. Afterward, I drove the rest of the town,
stopping at alternate intersections and scanning. Listening would have been
good, but despite seeing 125+ Mourning Doves, I did not hear a single dove
call.
        The experience had its pleasures, however. I was reminded of the
benefits of town birding. I found at least eleven active feeders, saw a lot
of birds, mostly House Sparrows but also catbirds, towhees, swifts, and two
warblers, Magnolia and Black-throated Green. I also had a new experience
for me in Maryland: I saw as many Psitaccids as Parulids. I found a blue
Budgerigar in a flock of House Sparrows in a back yard behind the hospital,
and a Monk Parakeet in the back yards at the east end of Pink Lane, which
is one block up from the lighthouse. I have no idea what to make of the
species in Maryland.
        I also spent two hours checking the flats at the marina in 30
minutes doses. The flats were very extensive all day and there were large
numbers of gulls and terns, but shorebirds were almost non-existent.
Highlights were:

Killdeer                6
Lesser Yellowlegs       2
Pectoral Sandpiper      2
peep sp.                9 (I didn't bother trying...)
Laughing Gull           8
Ring-billed Gull        275
Herring Gull            20
Great Black-backed Gull 75
Caspian Tern            145
Forster's Tern          400
D.C. Cormorant          60
Great Blue Heron        28
Pied-billed Grebe       26

        The doves were hard to find most of the day, but came out onto the
wires late, giving me about 20 minutes to race around checking. There is a
large roost near the WaWa. If anyone else has lost their mind and is
thinking about checking this report, I would suggest the first hour of
daylight.

Rick

"Lack of education is an extraordinary handicap when one is being
offensive."  Josephine Tey

Rick Blom
rblom@blazie.com
Bel Air, Maryland