I spent a very satisfying day birding on the Eastern Shore 
yesterday (Tuesday, October 16).  I started at 8:00 AM at 
Terrapin Park on Kent Island.  There was a great deal of 
activity, although it seemed like every other bird was a 
YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER (deja vu all over again), 
with many of the rest being AMERICAN ROBINS.  

In and around the pond I saw the following:

Great Blue Heron - 2
Little Blue Heron - 1 immature
Wood Duck - 2
American Black Duck - 2 or 3
Mallard - 18
Northern Pintail - 1 male
Green-winged Teal - 12+ (forgot to count)
Killdeer - 5 or 6
Greater Yellowlegs - at least 4
Lesser Yellowlegs - 30+
Semipalmated Sandpiper - 1
Belted Kingfisher - 1

On the path to the beach I encountered a nice mixed flock of mostly 
sparrows:  Chipping (3), Field (1), Savannah (2), Song (several), 
Swamp (many - the most numerous), White-throated (1), and 
White-crowned (1 immature) Sparrows.  They were foraging with 
2 female EASTERN TOWHEES, 1 Palm Warbler (not yellow), 
and 1 female House Finch.  I also saw a BROWN THRASHER and 
a Common Yellowthroat and heard a Red-breasted Nuthatch.

By the time I got to Blackwater it was nearly noon, so I wasn't 
expecting much in the way of passerine activity.  I was delighted to be 
quickly proven wrong.  On the Marsh Edge Trail I found a very busy 
and noisy mixed foraging flock, mainly in the pines by the water:

Carolina Chickadee - several
Red-breasted Nuthatch - at least 6
BROWN CREEPER - 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1
Nashville Warbler - 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler - many (of course)
Pine Warbler - 2

Along the Wildlife Drive, I saw more Yellow-rumps, plus:

Great Blue Heron - 2 or 3 (watched one eat a BIG fish)
Little Blue Heron - 5 or 6 immatures
Canada Goose - thousands
Mallard - scores
Bald Eagle - 1 immature (near Rte. 335 bridge)
Northern Harrier - 1 immature (my FOY)
Cooper's Hawk - 1 (viciously attacked by 2 crows)
Greater Yellowlegs - at least 2
Lesser Yellowlegs - 6
Spotted Sandpiper - 1
Sanderling - 1 (with the peeps)
Semipalmated Sandpiper - 10+
Pectoral Sandpiper - 2
Dunlin - 8
Forster's Tern - several
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 2
Eastern Phoebe - 3 or 4
Blue Jay - many
Brown-headed Nuthatch - heard
Eastern Bluebird - everywhere
Palm Warbler - 2 (not yellow)
Bay-breasted Warbler - 1 male (still showing bay on breast & sides)
Song Sparrow - several
Eastern Meadowlark - 5
Red-winged Blackbird - hundreds

Delmarva Fox Squirrel
Red Fox
White-tailed Deer

Finally, on the way back toward Cambridge on Egypt Road, I counted 
8 AMERICAN KESTRELS sitting on the wires alongside the road.

It was a great day to be out birding!


Elaine Hendricks
Greenbelt, MD  (PG County)



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