S. Worcester County-03/24/99

MHoff36100@aol.com
Thu, 25 Mar 1999 22:44:00 EST


Worcesterians --

I did my (second) annual effort to best Worcester County's arrival date record
for Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (March 28), on Wednesday, March 24. Personal
conflicts prevented an attempt closer to the March 27th target date. 

Although I dipped on the gnatcatcher (overcast skies and threatening rain
probably didn't help), I had a nice day nonetheless. Results as follows, all
in southern part of the county.

POCOMOKE STATE FOREST AREA (including Millville Road, Old Furnace Road, Forest
Road, Whitesburg Road/Pusey Branch, Fleming Mill Road/Dividing Creek, Sand
Road, Snow Hill Pond, Nassawango Road and Pond) 0635-1200

Pied-billed Grebe-1
Great Blue Heron-61*see below
Turkey Vulture-9
Canada Goose-20
Wood Duck-4
Mallard-4
Northern Pintail-2
Green-winged Teal-4
Red-should. Hawk-2
Red-tailed Hawk-1
GOLDEN EAGLE-1*see below
American Kestrel-1
Wild Turkey-2
Killdeer-4
Mourning Dove-1
Red-bellied Woodp.-6
Downy Woodpecker-12
Hairy Woodpecker-4
Northern Flicker-2
Pileated Woodp.-1
Eastern Phoebe-2
Blue Jay-1
American Crow-35
Fish Crow-14
Carolina Chickadee-46
Tufted Titmouse-21
White-br. Nuthatch-3
Br.-head. Nuthatch-6
Brown Creeper-1
Carolina Wren-6
Winter Wren-2
Golden-cr. Kinglet-24
Ruby-cr. Kinglet-3
Eastern Bluebird-11
Hermit Thrush-5
American Robin-5
European Starling-25
Yellow-rump. War.-31
Pine Warbler-46 
Eastern Towhee-3
Chipping Sparrow-45 (all in one flock)
Song Sparrow-1
Swamp Sparrow-2
White-thr. Sparrow-70
Dark-eyed Junco-60
Northern Cardinal-14
Red-wing. Blackbird-4
Common Grackle-30
Br.-head. Cowbird-14
American Goldfinch-5

*I stopped at the Whitesburg Road/Pusey Branch intersection, to see if the
Great Blue Heron colony I found last year was still active. I had been there
about 5 minutes without seeing a heron, when suddenly about 60 flew out from
the distant pines swaking. I thought maybe I had scared them, but then a
couple of minutes later I spotted an eagle coming towards me low over the
forest. I glassed the eagle and was amazed to see that it was a beautiful
immature Golden Eagle! A real Worcester County rarity. The eagle circled over
the road for several minutes, and I could drool over the neat white tail
based, white primary bases (much more conspicuous below), the overall uniform
dark chocolate brown coloration, and even a tawny wash across the nape. 

The bird flew back to the rookery (the herons still flying around) and then
appeared to land in one of the nest trees. I was screen and could not see
exactly what happened, but can only surmise the bird might be predating on a
heron nest (assuming they had eggs already). The eagle remained in the trees
about 15 minutes. I got my camera and when it left it made another pass over
the road and I got a roll of photos. It then disappeared to the South.

This was only the second (or perhaps third, but that's another story) Golden
Eagle I have seen in Worcester County (missed in both '92 and '94) and my data
base only shows 9 prior county records.

BAYSIDE LANDINGS (Public, Figg's, Scott's, and Taylor's, including areas and
ponds in between) (1230-1350, 1515-1525)

Common Loon-1
Horned Grebe-24
Dbl.-cr. Cormorant-2
Great Blue Heron-2
Great Egret-3
Canada Goose-60
Am. Black Duck-4
Mallard-11
Northern Pintail-3
Green-winged Teal-95
Lesser Scaup-15
scaup (sp.)-60
Bufflehead-150
Red-br. Merganser-8
Osprey-3
Northern Harrier-3
American Kestrel-1
Laughing Gull-2
Herring Gull-22
Forster's Tern-23
Fish Crow-2
American Robin-1
Song Sparrow-6
East. Meadowlark-20
Boat-tailed Grackle-15
House Finch-1

VAUGHN WMA PONDS (1410-1515)

Great Blue Heron-1
Great Egret-2
Snowy Egret-1
Turkey Vulture-10
Canada Goose-60
Tundra Swan-1
Gadwall-2
Mallard-10
Northern Shoveler-20
Green-winged Teal-30
Osprey-1
Northern Harrier-1
Red-tailed Hawk-2
American Kestrel-1
American Coot-6
Killdeer-2
Greater Yellowlegs-1
Least Sandpiper-20 
Herring Gull-5
Rock Dove-2
Downy Woodpecker-1
American Crow-3
Fish Crow-2
Tree Swallow-1
Br.-head. Nuthatch-2
American Robin-4
European Starling-50
Yellow-rump. War.-10
Field Sparrow-2
Savannah Sparrow-20
Red-wing. Blackbird-100
East. Meadowlark-1
Common Grackle-200

Evans Road Sparrow Spot (1605-1625)

No unusal sparrows.
House Wren-1*

*probably a winter holdover as opposed to any early migrant.


LIBERTYTOWN SEWAGE PONDS (1635-1640)

Tundra Swan-1
Mallard-2
Ring-necked Duck-10


Regards,

Mark Hoffman
Mhoff36100@aol.com