Piggy-backing on Pat's post about Cecil birds today...
I had a large flock of robins in a field on Hances Point Road in North East
today (350+). On the North East River I had nearly 2000 scaup sp. 7
long-tailed Ducks, 2 Red-breasted Mergs, 12 or so Goldeneyes, 3 A. Wigeon,
and a few hundred Common Mers. Also 20 or Hoodies and 150+ Bonnies...
Good Birding,
Chris Starling
Nord Este, MD
>From: Patricia Valdata <>
>Reply-To: Patricia Valdata <>
>To:
>Subject: [MDOSPREY] Cecil midwinter count
>Date: Sat, 11 Feb 2006 17:10:18 -0500
>
>The fields were strangely empty of geese today. Last year, I counted
>thousands
>of Canada and Snow Geese in the area between Fair Hill and Blue Ball Road.
>This year I had fewer than 500. American Crows and Starlings were abundant,
>but the largest flock of blackbirds I saw was only around 50 birds. I don't
>know
>if birds were, in general, laying low because of the coming snow, or if the
>warm
>weather up till now has made many geese head north earlier than usual.
>
>My feeder count is way down this year, too, in part because of the snow,
>but
>mostly because a Sharp-shinned hawk has been hunting here most of
>the afternoon. It has not succeeded so far, and must be getting quite
>hungry,
>because I saw it roaming around in the garden, on the ground, and it even
>peeked under the burlap that shelters an azalea, where the little birds
>often
>take cover. We also lay our Christmas tree on the ground near the feeder,
>mostly to act as a windbreak, but the juncos and sparrows use it for
>cover, too, and the hawk knows it. He (it's quite small so I think it's a
>male)
>swooped over the tree several times trying to flush the birds, but they
>know they are in a good tight space there. The branches are very close
>together
>so nothing bigger than a Cardinal can get in there.
>
>It has been fascinating to watch this young hawk. It perches in the shrubs
>right outside our front windows, so I've had excellent views of it without
>binoculars. Using the binoculars, I can see how big its pupils are, the
>yellow iris
>of its eyes, and the contrast between its dark talons and orange-yellow
>feet.
>It is rather lightly streaked on the breast. It's quite gorgeous, but I
>wish it would
>decide to look for another hunting ground. I would normally have seen the
>Red-breasted Nuthatch today, as well as two Brown Creepers and
>a Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker, and I would love to have had them on the feeder
>count.
>
>
>--Pat
>
>Pat Valdata, Elkton, MD |
>"The natural function of the wing is to soar upwards
>and carry that which is heavy up to the place where dwells the race of
>gods.
>More than any other thing that pertains to the body
>it partakes of the nature of the divine." --Plato
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