Hi Everybody,
We started from Chestertown with two participants -- Meg Parry and Nancy
Lee -- and headed down to Tuckahoe State Park. We met Danny Poet in the
parking lot on the Queen Anne's County side of the Tuckahoe Creek dam on
Crouse's Mill Road a little before 8:00 AM. As soon as we arrived we
realized this was going to be a damp trip as it started to rain.
Fortunately the rain was seldom heavy, allowing us to walk without
getting soaked, but it did have enough of an effect on the birds to
lower activity and diversity a bit. Nonetheless we had some good
sightings. Highlights of the outing included good looks at two singing
Prothonotary Warblers both glowing in spite of the gray wet weather; a
noisy family of Pileated Woodpeckers that offered some fleeting
glimpses; a cooperative Green Heron that worked its way up the snag it
chose as a perch; several good looks at both one-year old and older
Orchard Orioles singing in the rain; phoebes at two locations including
at least one fledgling; two charming bluebird families; a chat giving
its flight song (albeit briefly seen); and a Prairie Warbler that
unfortunately sang just once. On the way over to the state park
campground we had good looks at Field Sparrow and Pine Warbler bathing
in the rain puddles along the exit drive of Adkins Arboretum (this was
after Meg and Nancy had to leave). On the way back from the campground
we saw a hen Wild Turkey stalking through a sprouting field.
To cap the day we decided to check out a field on Cherry Lane east of
the park that has had nesting Dickcissels in the past. Yesterday there
was no Dickcissel in the field, although it was a pleasure to note
singing Grasshopper Sparrows and Eastern Meadowlarks there. After we
left Danny, we headed over to MD-313 on the back roads and noticed there
is still good Dickcissel habitat at the corner of Davis and Union Roads
(west of Goldsboro). We stopped to listen and were rewarded with a
singing DICKCISSEL that could be seen on the dead weed stalks in the
field. There were also two calling BOBWHITE in the area.
After we got back to Kent County we decided to check Great Oak Pond just
in case the weather had put something interesting down there. No storm
waifs there but there are still three lingering winter waterfowl: a
drake Canvasback, a Snow Goose (accompanying a white domestic goose),
and a notably ruddy drake Ruddy Duck.
This is the last official field trip of 2006-2007 for the Kent Bird
Club, we will next have a trip in August. Our next club function will be
the annual club picnic at the Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge
Lodge at five in the afternoon on Sunday 10 June, further details
forthcoming. I have appended a complete list of birds from the trip below.
Bird List:
15 Canada Geese; 2 Mallards; 1 Wild Turkey; 2 Great Blue Herons; 2
Green Herons; 1 Turkey Vulture; 2 Osprey; 8 Mourning Doves; 3 Chimney
Swifts; 3 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds; 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker; 1 Downy
Woodpecker; 2 Hairy Woodpeckers; 4 Pileated Woodpeckers; 1 Eastern
Wood-Pewee; 1 Acadian Flycatcher; 3 Eastern Phoebes; 4 Great Crested
Flycatchers; 5 Eastern Kingbirds; 3 American Crows; 2 Blue Jays; 2
Red-eyed Vireos; 3 Tree Swallows; 5 Barn Swallows; 1 Carolina Chickadee;
1 Tufted Titmouse; 2 Carolina Wrens; 1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher; 10 Eastern
Bluebirds; 1 Wood Thrush; 3 American Robins; 3 Gray Catbirds; 3 Northern
Mockingbirds; 6 Brown Thrashers; 2 European Starlings; 10 Cedar
Waxwings; 1 Yellow Warbler; 5 Pine Warblers; 1 Prairie Warbler; 1
Ovenbird; 5 Common Yellowthroats; 2 Yellow-breasted Chats; 6 Eastern
Towhees; 6 Chipping Sparrows; 9 Field Sparrows; 9 Northern Cardinals; 2
Blue Grosbeaks; 6 Indigo Buntings; 30 Red-winged Blackbirds; 2 Eastern
Meadowlarks (Cherry Lane); 18 Common Grackles; 7 Brown-headed Cowbirds;
11 Orchard Orioles; 12 American Goldfinches.
Good Birding,
Walter Ellison & Nancy Martin
23460 Clarissa Rd
Chestertown, MD 21620
410-778-9568
Observing Nature is like unwrapping a big pile of presents every time
you take a walk. |