[MDOsprey] Waterfowl + at 4-mile run
Paul (cheep@erols.com)
Mon, 06 Dec 1999 23:07:47 -0500
I had the day off (Monday, 12/6), so I stopped by the mouth of 4-mile
run to survey the waterfowl. Numbers have been quite high over the past
few weeks, and have actually gone down a bit (mostly Ruddies). Here's
what I saw today (numbers are very rough estimates):
25 PIED-BILLED GREBE
4 DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT
100 MALLARD
50 AM. BLACK DUCK
5 RING-NECKED DUCK
40 CANVASBACK
1 REDHEAD (ad. male, may have been a female in there too, but they
were distant and sleeping, so I could have passed it up)
50 LESSER SCAUP (I id'd about 50%, and all of these were Lessers. I'm
assuming, though it's probably not a safe assumption, that they're all
Lessers)
2 BUFFLEHEAD (in the middle of the river)
1 RED-BREASTED MERGANSER (ad. male)
500 RUDDY DUCK (down from the 5,000+/- that were there 2 weeks ago)
1,250 AM. COOT (again, a rough estimate - they're in one huge, tight
flock off the tip of the airport).
In addition, there have been 2 adult BALD EAGLES hanging out over the
past few weeks. Last time I saw them they were sitting next to each
other on an Osprey nest. Today there were side by side on a log.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if they actually stayed to nest? Will let you
know if they continue.
Also, I stopped by LBJ to look for warblers, but only found a few
chickadees.
Best regards,
Paul Pisano
cheep@erols.com