Re: Cinnamon Teal at Eastern Neck
Steve Sanford (tanager@bcpl.net)
Fri, 27 Nov 1998 20:02:38 -0500
I, too, saw the pair of Cinnamon Teal, at Eastern Neck NWR today (Fri
11/27) around 1:30 pm. They were quite visible, and (dare I say) not
very shy, at the southeast end of the bridge into the refuge. The male
was gorgeous in the sunlight.
Thanks a lot, Marshall, for the review of Cinnamon Teal in MD and their
countability. I saw that one in the late 80's but, based on hearsay,
had assumed it was not countable until I read your summary. Although the
Eastern Neck birds were apparently less shy when I saw them than when
you saw them, they did move away slowly, and they never ran up and asked
for popcorn. Being a doting pair would also seem to support their wild
status.
The overall assemblage of waterfowl at Eastern Neck was probably the
best I've seen there, and one of the best I've seen in or near Maryland,
especially for numbers and visibility, for a while. Here's some of what
I saw, with very rough estimates of numbers:
Tundra Swans ~500-1000
Pintail ~ 500
Wigeon ~500 (most were in the cove east of the entry road about 1/4 mile
south of the bridge)
Canvasbacks ~200 (same location)
Bufflehead ~ 20 (off the boat launch area)
Common Loon 2 (same as above)
Ruddy Duck ~100
Black Ducks ~hundreds
Mallards ~100
Scaup (Greater?) ~50 (at HQ)
Bluebirds were abundant on the approach road and by the headquarters.
The HQ area is only open on weekdays. This was the first time I was
there. You get a good distant view of downtown Baltimore from that
angle, and surprisingly, of Towson's tall towers (I assume it's Towson).
On the way back I stopped at Remington Farms, which had mainly Canada
Geese on the water. At the turn-around area there were about 25
White-crowned Sparrows, mainly immatures.
Steve Sanford
tanager@bcpl.net
Randallstown, MD