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Hi Folks,
In my first birding outing in several weeks, Charlie Kucera and I visited
most of the ponds along the Patapsco River in northern Anne Arundel Co.
yesterday morning (12 Jan). There were no exceptional finds, but two drake
N. Pintails were unusual. A description of the ponds, with locations, can
be found at the following website by clicking on "Patapsco Ponds" in the
lower left:
http://mysite.verizon.net/cakarbutus/index.htm
We began with the easternmost pond, and worked our way westward. Here's
what we saw:
Pond 14 (Belle Grove Rd.):
Canada Goose--17
Great Blue Heron--1
B. Kingfisher--1
Pond 13 (Belle Grove Rd.):
DC Cormorant--1
Great Black-backed Gull--1
Pond 12 (Belle Grove Rd.):
Canada Goose--31
Bald Eagle--1 adult
Pond 11 (Nursery Rd.):
no waterfowl; one Red-shouldered Hawk
Pond 10 (Barkwood Ct. off of Nursery Rd.):
Canada Goose--180
Gadwall--8
Mallard--3
N. Shoveler--9
Hooded Merganser--7
Great Blue Heron--2
Ring-billed Gull--1
B. Kingfisher--1
Pond 9 (Oregon Business District, off of Nursery Rd.):
Canada Goose--7
Gadwall--14
Mallard--4
N. Pintail--2 drakes
N. Shoveler--17
Green-winged Teal--6
Red-shouldered Hawk--2
Pond 7 (off of Nursery Rd.): this once almost inaccessible pond has
undergone a surprising cleanup, and now has a gravel path surrounding it,
and a small wooden bridge at one end. Despite the clean-up, the pond still
maintains a wild ambiance. My article on the Patapsco Ponds mistakenly
identifies this pond as being a storm-water pond. This is incorrect. The
actual pond, now accessible, is a few hundred feet away from the storm-water
pond.
Mallard--4
Pond 6 (River Rd.)
Canada Goose--2
Hooded Merganser--6
Great Blue Heron--1
Near Pond 6, along River Rd., Charlie and I were easily able to view a
new Bald Eagle nest discovered by Brian Sykes last week. The new nest was
constructed only a couple hundred feet away from another eagle nest that
Sykes discovered in 2005. Charlie and I watched two adult Bald Eagles fly
away from the area of the new nest as we drove slowly along River Rd.
Pond 3 (River Rd.)
Canada Goose--9
Great Blue Heron--1
Pond 2 (Furnace Br. Rd.)
Mallard--2
Pond 1 (Furnace Br. Rd.)--just a mudhole--no birds
While the finds were not particularly notable on this mild winter day,
it was great being out in the almost balmy, windless weather.
Stan Arnold
Glen Burnie
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