Hi All,

The Heron Point bird walk on Saturday morning was well-attended with twelve participants. We had sufficient birds along the edge of the Heron Point property along the Chester River marshes and boardwalk that we had to set aside walking the community gradens and brushy fields on the north and west for another time. We had a total of 42 bird species during a leisurely walk. The highlights were a YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO that belied the species' reputation for staying out of sight by giving just about everyone a great look; a LEAST FLYCATCHER, seen well by a few participants, choking down a porcelain berry half as big as its head; several Caspian and Forster's terns on the Chester; three Bald Eagles including an adult, a juvenile, and a white-bellied two-to-three-year-old; a young RED-SHOULDERED HAWK; three BOBOLINKS that flew out of the marsh; and MARSH WRENS calling in the marsh. In addition to the birds we saw many butterflies including a number of migrating monarchs; cardinal flower; and great blue lobelia.

The full list of birds appears below:
Canada Goose (heard)

Mallard

Double-crested Cormorant

Black Vulture

Turkey Vulture

Osprey

Bald Eagle 1 ad 2 im

Red-shouldered Hawk (im)

Laughing Gull

Ring-billed Gull

Caspian Tern

Forster's Tern

Rock Pigeon

Mourning Dove

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Chimney Swift

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Least Flycatcher

Red-eyed Vireo (heard)

Blue Jay

American Crow (heard)

Tree Swallow

Carolina Chickadee

Tufted Titmouse

Carolina Wren

Marsh Wren

American Robin

Northern Mockingbird

European Starling

Northern Parula

Northern Waterthrush (heard)

Common Yellowthroat

Chipping Sparrow (heard)

Song Sparrow

Northern Cardinal

Bobolink

Red-winged Blackbird

American Goldfinch

House Sparrow



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")

"Are there *ever* enough birds?" - Connie Hagar as quoted by Edwin Way Teale in "Wandering through Winter"