[MDOsprey] Warbler bonanza at Ft Howard

Steve Sanford (tanager@bcpl.net)
Sat, 11 Sep 1999 17:04:07 -0400


Today 9/11/99 at Ft Howard Park (Baltimore Co where the Patapsco meets
the Chesapeake) I had the big fallout of fall warblers I've been missing
for years:   not a great variety (10 species) but big numbers, too
active and packed together to accurately count but here are some
approximations:
Chestnut-sided                    25
Magnolia                            15
Redstart                             10
Blackburnian                       3
Black&White                      8
Blk-thr Green                      8
Blk-thr Blue                        3
Ovenbird                            1
Yellowthroat                       1
Wilson's                              1

There were also about 5 Swainson's Thrushes. It was often very difficult
to decide which of the warblers to focus on. I wish I had that problem
more often, like some of you closer to the Potomac seem to have all the
time.

Ft Howard is a nice, easy-to-bird park that ought to be birded more
often. It has quite a variety of tress, both old and young, with lots of
paths and sub-paths, and balconies in the form of old fortifications
with stairs and fences. I have mainly birded it the spring, and it's
usually quite decent then, too. Note, as far as I know it is effectively
closed from about Oct 1 to March 1.

I was also trying to do some hawk watching on the theory that this
should be geographically the fall counterpart to Ft Smallwood. But alas,
there were virtually no hawks there and at North Point St Park where I
gave up around 1 PM. Only one fairly obvious migrant hawk: a Kestrel
heading steadily south at North Point. Otherwise, just a Sharpie and a
Coopers Hawk that seemed to be hunting locally. This is about the same
as I've found in the past when I've looked for migrating hawks in that
area.

Incidentally, I saw 14 Bobwhites at the roadside at North Point Park
just beyond the turn off for the east parking area. Finally I spent
about 45 minutes at SW area park with only two each  of local-type
Red-shoulders and Red-tails.

Based on Kevin Graff's last posting perhaps I should have stuck it out
until later in the afternoon but my easy-chair was calling me. It will
be interesting to compare my results with Kevin's. If he and the other
field-trippers who are there today get a lot today this might help
clarify where the hawk highway is. Kevin's house is in NW Baltimore
city, a little bit closer to the fall line than the areas where I was
today.

Steve Sanford
Randallstown, MD