Conowingo Dam
rick (rblom@blazie.com)
Mon, 16 Nov 1998 06:27:02 -0500
This report covers three days at Conowingo Dam.
On Friday, November 13, I spent four hours above and below the dam
in the afternoon. The highlights were:
Common Loon 3
Pied-billed Grebe 5
Double-crested Cormorant 10
Tundra Swan 154 [flyovers, arrival: 3 flocks over my
house in Belcamp the night of Wednesday, Nov. 11]
Mallard 100
American Black Duck 25
Green-winged Teal 1
Bufflehead 64
Osprey 1
Bald Eagle 9 [2 adult; 7 imm]
Forster's Tern 15
On Saturday, November 14, I spent most of the day above and below the dam
with Gene Scarpulla. As noted in an earlier post, the highlight was an
adult Franklin's Gull. Others birds:
Common Loon 4
Pied-billed Grebe 5
Double-crested Cormorant 4
Great Blue Heron 40
BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON 2 [1st in several months]
Tundra Swan 30
Canada Goose 50
Mallard 100
American Black Duck 25
Green-winged Teal 4
Northern Pintail 1 [male]
American Wigeon 6
Gadwall 10
Canvasback 1
Oldsquaw 1
Bufflehead 30
Hooded Merganser 1 [female]
Common Merganser 4 [female: arrival]
Turkey Vulture 40
Black Vulture 60
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Osprey 1
Bald Eagle 15 [3 ad; 12 imm]
American Coot 35
Killdeer 7
COMMON SNIPE 2 [2nd record for dam]
FRANKLIN'S GULL 1 [winter adult, below dam]
Bonaparte's Gull 50
Ring-billed Gull 500
Herring Gull 25
Great Black-backed Gull 50
Gull sp: 1000 [well upriver]
Forster's Tern 3
Winter Wren 5 [2 singing]
On Sunday, November 15, I returned to the dam with Bryan Monk and Paul
O'Brien. We were there from 9:00 a.m. - about 3:30 p.m. We did not look
above the dam. There was no Franklin's Gull. Highlights include:
Double-crested Cormorant 7
Great Blue Heron 30
Canada Goose, Mallard, Black Duck as before
Green-winged Teal 6
American Wigeon 3
Pintail 2
Gadwall 6
Common Merganser 1 [male]
Vultures and red-tail as before
Bald Eagle 17 [4 ad; 13 imm]
Killdeer 10
COMMON SNIPE 1
WILSON'S PHALAROPE 1 [We whiffed this one, not being sure what
it was until nearly 12 hours later. We are collectively 95-99 per cent
certain of the identification now.]
LAUGHING GULL 5 [1st in several weeks; adults]
Bonaparte's Gull 10
Ring-billed Gull 300
Herring Gull 20
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL 1 [adult; 1st in some time]
Great Black-backed Gull 50
Forster's Tern 2
Winter Wren 3
The lower gull numbers reflect in part our decision not to check
the lake above the dam because the birds seemed to be well upriver and
because it was very windy and choppy. The shorebird was a mess. Seen for a
few seconds it was orginally passed off as a Spotted Sandpiper. It was on
the rock bars below Roland Island. Seen better several minutes later, it
confounded us because it seemed to have a slightly decurved bill, although
in every other respect it seemed right for a winter-plumaged or
first-winter male Wilson's Phalarope. It was seen feeding in the water by
the rocks for about four minutes and briefly in flight. The bill caused us
to detour into the possibility of Stilt Sandpiper for some time, and the
issue was not resolved until late that night, after looking at numerous
references. This is the first record of a phalarope of any kind for Harford
County, and nearly a record late date for Maryland. Paul O'Brien also saw
the bird and may post his own view.
Rick
"Everywhere I go I'm asked if the university stifles writers. My opinion is
that they don't stifle enough of them. There's many a bestseller that could
have been prevented by a good teacher." Flannery O'Connor
Rick Blom
rblom@blazie.com
4318 Cowan Place
Belcamp, Maryland 21017
(410)575-6086