Sonnie Sussillo wrote:
> Neither of these sitings were in MD, but seemed interesting and odd to
> me; thought I'd mention them just for fun. This weekend, we took the
> Amtrak to NYC. Where the train crosses the Susquehanna river, there are
> old bridge supports just downriver -- you can look down on the tops,
> which support grass and trees but must be way over 50 feet above the
> water. Both going and coming back, I saw black-crowned night herons
> perched on the supports (1 bird on the way up, 3 on the way home). Were
> they hunting? Roosting? Thought it interesting to see them so high
> above the water.
Well, this sighting was definitely in Maryland - Havre de Grace to be
specific. I know we are not in the Baltimore-Washington corridor, but we
are still in Maryland. :) Also, the old bridge supports are more like 20
feet above the water. I guess looking down on them makes them look higher.
As for what the herons were doing, they were probably just loafing. I think
they breed on one of the islands off Havre de Grace. They are sometimes
seen at Conowingo, so they do fly up and down the river.
> And, we were in Silver City, NM the last week of July -- Silver City is
> in the south-west corner of the state at elevation of 6,000 feet. There
> were several hummers buzzing the patio of our friend's home and I swear
> that 2 of them were rufus hummers; there's nothing else in Sibleys so
> orange. Yet Sibleys shows them as migrants that summer way up at the
> Canadian border. They were only there 2 days, then didn't show up again.
> Early southerly migrants? Signs that we're due for an early winter?
> Hmmm.
I don't think the sighting was unusual. I have seen Rufous Hummingbirds at
Portal, AZ in early August. Wintering Rufous are already showing up in the
gulf states and even North Carolina.
Les
===========
Les Eastman
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Havre de Grace, MD
The eagle looked down on the river below
And he wrapped his wings round him and he fell like a stone
And the big salmon fought but the talons held true
And he shuddered as the world turned from silver to blue
Steve Earle |