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Re: Cowbirds - & snakes...

From:

Fred Pierce

Reply-To:

Fred Pierce

Date:

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 11:25:27 -0400

Hey, it's not our fault! It's a biological imperative. We must propagate
into every corner of the universe, just like warblers, cowbirds and
everything else. Why is it as soon as an organism gets to be successful,
nobody likes them? Or maybe, why is it that the most successful species
always seem to be messy, noisy, ugly, and obnoxious? I'm not very successful
myself - there's only one of me 8-)

Seriously - it looks like it's time for me to acquire one a them
Herb's-tology books or whatever they're called. Can anyone recommend a field
guide for the casual snakeophile? Right now I'm wondering what I just
rousted out of the bluebird box that ate my House Wrens (that were inside
the box, now inside the snake. I guess technically they were still inside
the box, since the snake was). It (the snake) was light gray with whitish
bands. Might have been black bands too - I wasn't prepared to encounter a
snake and it didn't want to hang around for me to examine it.

Thanks,

fdp

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Fred Pierce (DNRC)- avialantic.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Maryland Birds & Birding [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
> Behalf Of Gerald & Laura Tarbell
> Sent: Tuesday, June 19, 2007 10:37 AM
> To: 
> Subject: Re: [MDOSPREY] Cowbirds
>
>
> Wahoooo Gail and Norm now thats what im talking about . Man is
> the problem .
>
> Saundra and all,
>     Yes, Norm and Gail are right. I shouldn't get so worked up when I see
> one of my favorite warblers being victimized. I should learn to accept it,
> like I did yesterday when I didn't cry on top of that mountain. Took it
> well. In fact I'm going to go out right now and hug the first
> cowbird I see.
>     Gosh, I hope I don't hug it too tight. ;-)
>
>     On another note, weather permitting, I am going to go back to
> Sugarloaf
> tomorrow and try to locate some more Worm-eaters. If anybody
> wants to help,
> I will be at the main gate ~6 AM. The focus will likely be on the Yellow
> Trail that skirts the base of the mountain. It's sort of long (7 miles) so
> I'm not going to try to do it all. I'm not real optimistic because I think
> the better habitat is more toward the top(s). I have spare maps so if
> anybody shows, they can plot the location of the birds.
>     On the subject of habitat up there, somebody criticized the understory
> or lack there of. I agree that much of the mountain suffers from
> "understory
> openness" or whatever we want to call it. However there is a lot of stuff
> like Mountain Laurel around and although it is patchy, there is enough to
> interest the birds. And that is mainly where I am finding singing
> wormeatage
> (yes, Jerry invents words). Admittedly if there were more of it I
> would have
> found a Kentucky up there yesterday. I didn't have any Hoodeds
> either, but I
> think I have heard them back along the section of the Yellow Trail that I
> skipped because I stuck with the Blue Trail. Veery are another
> understory-dependant that seems to be missing on Sugarloaf.
>     I applaud the Strong family or whoever it is that made this mountain a
> sanctuary. They deserve sainthood in my book. But maybe somebody ought to
> talk them into permitting a limited deer hunt. Much as the idea
> of blasting
> deer bothers me almost as much as watching warblers feed cowbirds, I have
> noticed that where they blast deer, the understory thrives.
>     Jerry Tarbell
>     Carroll County
>