We took an afternoon ride across Dorchester County in hopes of
finding a few new year birds.  When we turned from Rt. 50 onto
Bucktown Road we began to see State Troopers.  By the time we had
seen 12 Staties in a quarter-mile we realized something was up (hey,
we're not dumb, just looking at birds.grin), something other than
the State Police making up their month-end speeding ticket deficit!
Turns out the President was visiting the Hyatt here in Cambridge and
had used the Cambridge Airport to park his entourage of helicopters.
We were politely told to turn around and GO AWAY from the airport,
which led us through a number of new roads we hadn't been on
before.what fun!

Anyway, on DeCoursey Bridge Road, where it crosses the Transquaking
River (god, I love the names here on the Eastern Shore!), we
discovered at least 22 Bald Eagles, most of them loafing in the
afternoon sun on the ice in the river.  This is a wonderful place to
come if you want to do age studies of Bald Eagle feathering-all ages
were present and gave great looks as one or the other would get up
and fly for a bit before re-alighting on the river.

Ultimately we worked our way across county to Elliotts Island.  On
the road out to Elliotts, we discovered a lone Saltmarsh
Sharp-tailed Sparrow and a few Seaside Sparrows, amongst the hordes
of Song Sparrows along the marsh-edge.

It was still quite windy and there was lots of ice pretty much
wherever we went.  There were no waterfowl visible in Fishing Bay
but they could have been there amidst the whitecaps.

Best,
Norm & Fran Saunders

================================
Norm & Fran Saunders
Cambridge & West Ocean City, MD
 



26 January 2006, Dorchester County

Aireys Road
American Crow, 5

Indian Bone Road
Turkey Vulture, 2
American Crow, 1
Eastern Bluebird, 8

Bucktown Road
Turkey Vulture, 3
American Crow, 10
European Starling, 5
House Sparrow, 3

DeCoursey Bridge Road
Turkey Vulture, 5
Bald Eagle, 22
Northern Harrier, 1
Ring-billed Gull, 7
Herring Gull, 5
Mourning Dove, 8
Northern Flicker, 1
Blue Jay, 1
American Crow, 3
Tufted Titmouse, 2
Northern Cardinal, 1
Red-winged Blackbird, 100
Common Grackle, 1000
Brown-headed Cowbird, 10

Drawbridge Road
Canada Goose, 5
Turkey Vulture, 1
American Kestrel, 1
Killdeer, 2
Ring-billed Gull, 5
Herring Gull, 65
European Starling, 154
Brown-headed Cowbird, 50

Griffith Neck Road
Dark-eyed Junco, 2

Henrys Crossroad
Great Blue Heron, 1
Turkey Vulture, 3

Elliotts Island Road
Canada Goose, 15
Mute Swan, 2
Turkey Vulture, 1
Belted Kingfisher, 1
Northern Mockingbird, 1
Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow, 1
Seaside Sparrow, 2
Song Sparrow, 25
Dark-eyed Junco, 6
Northern Cardinal, 3

Rt. 50, Dorchester County (from Vienna to Cambridge)
Canada Goose, 15
Red-shouldered Hawk, 1
Eastern Bluebird, 2
European Starling, 45