Hi Everybody,
I wish spring migration would put on some brakes to let me write a bird posting on time. No such luck - so I shall produce a newsletter of sorts including a report on the Kent County Bird Club's Beginner's Walk at Eastern Neck NWR Saturday last.
24 April:
A nice day for an outing. We located 41 bird species on the walk highlighted by one of the overwintering Red-headed Woodpeckers on Duck Inn Trail, a young bird almost in adult plumage; two Yellow-throated Warblers; a pair of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers working on their nest in a white oak sapling; and a persistently singing Swamp Sparrow in the brackish marsh along the Duck Inn Trail. We also had great looks at the "regulars" such as Red-bellied Woodpecker, Osprey, and Eastern Towhee. The best bird found on Saturday preceded the trip. Peter Mann had a point-blank view of a handsome TRICOLORED HERON near the north end of the Island just south of the bridge across Eastern Neck Narrows. Good birds observed after the trip included a speeding Merlin harassed by Tree Swallows, and a Red-throated Loon seen from the platform on the Bayview Butterfly Trail.
25 April:
Peter Mann and I did a morning of birding in the northern part of Millington WMA in northeast Kent County. We had 64 species during our tour of Black Bottom Rd, lower Waecker Rd, and Massey. These included Yellow-throated Vireos, Blue-headed Vireo, American Coot, a singing Scarlet Tanager, Worm-eating Warbler, a one-year-old Cooper's Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, a Blue Grosbeak on MD-330 just east of Massey, and a NASHVILLE WARBLER. The latter and the coot were off the gated wood roads running east from the second WMA lot on the right coming from the south on Black Bottom Rd. There are two ponds in this area and some good overgrown clearings.
26 April:
I guided Lydia Schindler and Gemma Radko around Eastern Neck NWR as long-range scouting for MOS Conference trips in June. Things were a bit gray and the sky started dripping mid-afternoon. Waterfowl have pretty much departed Eastern Neck but we had decent numbers of Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warblers accompanied by 3 Blue-headed Vireos, 3 territorial Yellow-throated Warblers (2 on Boxes Pt. and 1 at Duck Inn), a Prairie Warbler, Black-and-white Warblers, Northern Parula, and a singing WORM-EATING WARBLER. The latter was noteworthy because it does not appear on the Refuge's published check-list. We also had 2 Least Terns at Bogle's Wharf, a handsome male Orchard Oriole at Tubby Cove, and a singing Blue Grosbeak on the road in to headquarters.
27 April:
Nancy and I took a walk in the morning, partly in search of owl pellets for a talk Nancy gave this morning (29 Apr) to Ian's 3rd grade class. Highlights were a Green Heron; a big influx of catbirds and yellowthroats; six warbler species including our year-first Yellow Warbler, and Northern Waterthrush; a Baltimore Oriole; and best of all, an adult male SUMMER TANAGER in full song in the woods behind our house. Our place is north of the handful of breeding locations for summer redbirds in the southern part of western Kent County.
28 April:
Our yard, another morning walk and an evening jaunt to the community landing produced 58 species. Our best finds were five shorebird species on the Mill Creek flats produced by the combination of north wind and tide - both yellowlegs, 3 Spotted Sandpipers, 2 Solitary Sandpipers (not exactly "solitary"), and perhaps the last of the Wilson's Snipe; a good number of "Myrtle" Warblers; plus two grosbeak species on our feeders - a female Rose-breasted and an adult male Blue.
Here's to the flood continuing in full spate.
Good Birding,
Walter Ellison
23460 Clarissa Road
Chestertown, MD 21620
phone: 410-778-9568
e-mail:
"A person who is looking for something doesn't travel very fast" - E. B. White (in "Stuart Little")
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