Message:

[

Previous   Next

]

By Topic:

[

Previous   Next

]

Subject:

Anne Arrundel, Calvert and Prince Georges Birding

From:

Jim Green

Reply-To:

Date:

Wed, 6 Aug 2008 09:38:44 +0000

< Previous  |  Next > 
Read Message
From: 
 
[Add to Address Book]
To: 
 
Subject: 
Anne Arrundel, Prince Georges and Calvert County birding 
Date: 
Tuesday, August 05, 2008 10:05:02 PM 
[View Source]
I had Tuesday off and decided to get up early and try to find some of the birds that had been reported in the last few days while I was working. My day started off somewhat slowly; I arrived in A. A. (Anne Arundel County) around 5:30 AM and stopped on some of the roads near Patuxent Park and Jug Bay (Upper Pindell, Lower Pindell and Pindell) hoping to hear some early morning owls calling but to no avail. Once daylight hit I realized that I had very limited access on the A.A. side of Jug Bay to look for the juvenile White Ibis which was my ultimate goal for the day.

I headed back to Prince Georges County and went to Schoolhouse Pond and while walking around the pond I ran into another birder. I eventually asked him about the Ibis  (he had seen it over the w/e) and he suggested to try the Prince Georges side of the Patuxent for easier access and then specifically mentioned the end of Mount Calvert Road. I thanked him and then moved. Since I was close to Brown Station Road I stopped by the landfill, successfully asked permission to check out the small pond and then saw 2 Least Sandpipers, 1 Spotted Sandpiper and 1 Solitary Sandpiper. Before moving on I heard a N. Bobwhite calling several times.

I arrived near the end of Mt Calvert Road and stopped opposite the fields just before the historic site to scope out a perched, silent sparrow. I set up the scope and then looked skyward and noticed a bird in the distance over the treetops flying in my direction. Through my binoculars I noticed that it was being passively harrassed by two swallows As the bird came closer I realized that it was a juvenile White Ibis. It was about 100-150 feet up in the air. It came within a few degrees of being completely overhear and I could see the orangish bill, white belly and underwings framed by the brownish wing edges.  As it made two lazy circles before flying off in the direction of Jug Bay I saw the curved bill and the white rump which as it flew away (now looking at it through the scope) appeared as an inverted V. I watched as it flew away over the trees and eventually southward towards the Patuxent River until it was out of sight. The icing on the cake for me was a fl yover Bobolink that
 came low over the field before following the same general path as the White Ibis. (Kudos to Fred Schaeffer for leading me to this location). The White Ibis was a new MD bird for me. 

I left the area on a natural high and decide to detour from my next destination and headed into Calvert County to check the marshy area at North Beach. It was nowhere close to low tide and the only shorebirds were 2 Killdeer, 2 Least and 15 Semipalmated Sandpipers. I did finally see my first county Great Egret among 5 Snowy Egrets. On the pilings in the bay opposite the marsh where I parked was  a Tri-colored Heron doing a poor imitation of trying to blend in with the perched Laughing & Herring Gulls and several Forster's Terns and 1 Royal Tern. 

As I headed north I realized that I was not too far from Mayo Beach (back in Anne Arrundel County). The company I work for (outdoor BBQ catering) catered for a company this past Saturday at Mayo Beach. On Monday they called to inform us that our crew left some equipment there. I decided to stop by and pick up the missing items. They were very generous (closed to the public today) and allowed my free run of the place to do some quick birding. Within a 30 minute period I saw Great And Snowy Egrets (1 each), 2 Green and 1 Great Blue Herons, Laughing, Ring-billed, Herring and Great-Black-backed Gulls(with the latter being the most prevalent), DC Cormorants and 5 Forster's and 3 Royal Terns. The icing on the cake (for the 2nd time today) was an American Bittern that flew directly overhead and landed in the tall reeds at the edge of a small pond. I left Mayo Beach and headed further north. 

The last highlights of the day were seeing 3 Cattle Egrets (1 juvenile) on Rutland Road and approx. 23 in a tree on the farm on Cecil Ave (A. A. Co.). 

This is my first posting on MD Osprey and in the future I will try to keep things much shorter. I just felt that I had a great day in the August sun.