Hi Everyone,

A few things have come up that caused revision of some of our spring break itinerary, but I did get in a little Kent County birding today.  We're still chasing our goal of birding every MD county this week, but birding time will be limited tomorrow too.

Matt Hafner listed Millington WMA as his favorite birding spot in Kent County.  I'd never heard of it before and had never birded Kent at all, so I was eager to check it out.  I had a great time there and could easily have spent an entire day walking trails through the woods and fields--thanks, Matt!  It is an interesting place, as described on Millington's website (http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/eastern/millington.html): "This 3,800-acre parcel is located in eastern Kent County and is mostly forested. The land in Millington has a rich history and was once the home of the Lenni Lenape Indians. Collections of artifacts from this period are on display at the area office."  And: "The 'Delmarva Bays,' a series of shallow depressions which are filled with water most of the year, are the subject of local lore. These depressions are said to be the results of struggling whales, stranded after the biblical flood receded. Whatever their origin, these water holes are the place to find not only nesting waterfowl, but also salamanders."

Sparrows were abundant there today.  I only did a little pishing, but every time I did about 20 White-throated Sparrows popped up.  I counted 140, but there must be thousands there.  Song Sparrow was the next most abundant sparrow species (20), followed by Field Sparrow (6), Dark-eyed Junco (5), and Swamp Sparrow (3).

I had great, close views of Wood Ducks (3) in small Delmarva Bays.  Wood Duck boxes are everywhere at Millington.

A nice highlight was a flock of 154 Rusty Blackbirds in someone's front yard on Black Bottom Rd, 2.1 miles N of Rt 330.  The flock was almost pure, but there were a few stowaways: 1 male Brown-headed Cowbird, 1 female Red-winged Blackbird, and 2 European Starlings.  Rusty Blackbird is a new species for the week!

Also, I finally connected with the Brown Creeper in our backyard--another new species for the week and one more tick for Wicomico.

FUN and GAMES

Worcester--76
Somerset--52
Wicomico--65 (added 1 species today)
Dorchester--69
Talbot--59
Caroline--46
Queen Annes--41
Anne Arundel--51
Kent--38

Total Species so far: 120
Total Ticks so far: 497

I'm down to 15 species seen in all 9 counties so far this week.  Osprey dropped out today, since I didn't visit the Bay or any large rivers.

Have fun,

Ron Gutberlet
Salisbury, MD