[MDOsprey] 1.85-3 Yellow-headed BBs in Harford Co.
rick (rblom@blazie.com)
Mon, 27 Dec 1999 20:58:12 -0500
On Sunday evening a group of us watched, in amazement, as what was
apparently all the blackbirds in Cecil County and southeast Pa. flew over
Conowingo Dam in the late afternoon, presumably heading for a roost. Our
careful assessment was that about 1.5 million birds passed in fifty
minutes. The river of birds stretched from horizon to horizon, with very
few breaks. Approximately 80% were Common grackles, the rest Red-winged
Blackbirds, with a few Brown-headed Cowbirds and starlings thrown in.
During the flight I was able to positively identify one adult male
Yellow-headed Blackbird (no. 253 for the county this year). A second bird,
which was seen by others but which I did not get on until it was goinf
away, was almost certainly another (I was 85% sure). A third bird I did not
get on at all. So, statistically speaking, there were between 1.85 and 3
Yellow-headeds in the flock, unless we missed some, which seems impossible
(yeah, right).
I have seen large flocks of blackbirds passing the dam before, but
this is at least five times the largest flock I have seen there.
Rick
There are two kinds of statistics, the kind you look up and the kind you
make up. -- Rex Stout
Rick Blom
rblom@blazie.com
4318 Cowan Place
Belcamp, Maryland 21017
(410)575-6086