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Subject:

Annapolis Area Big Day / Correct Signature and edited...

From:

Dan haas

Reply-To:

Dan haas

Date:

Fri, 2 Jan 2009 00:07:45 -0500

Happy New Year everyone (again).  I accidentally hit 'send' before
having a chance to edit.  My apologies.

I woke up this morning at the crack of 8 AM to see four Goldfinch
nibblin' on the thistle socks out back.  Back in 2008 (remember when?)
I had made some small plans that involved doing a local Big Day.  My
wife won't allow any more Big Years in the near future. ; ) I wanted
to consolidate my birding to one little day, while staying near home,
in and around the Annapolis area. I should tell you that last night's
fun put an end to any hopes of an early start.  But after the family
breakfast, I decided to venture out locally to see what flew in for
2009.

At the homestead here in West Annapolis, I tallied nine species:

Cooper's Hawk     1
Carolina Chickadee     1
Carolina Wren     1
American Robin     248
Northern Mockingbird     1
White-throated Sparrow     7
Northern Cardinal     6
Red-winged Blackbird     3
House Sparrow     1
American Goldfinch     4
House Finch     3

After the coffee finished brewing, I got in the cold car and started
out. (Best coffee I've had all year, by the way.) At 9AM, I arrived at
Thomas Point State Park, only to be joined by Chris Murray a short
time later.  He already posted about the "Bald Eagle Bufflehead
Handoff."  It was interesting that the immature eagle just dropped
that duck like a hot rock as soon as the older eagle got close.  Chris
and I observed...

Canada Goose     56
Mute Swan     3
Tundra Swan     53
Mallard     19
Canvasback     565
Redhead     1
Greater Scaup     10
Lesser Scaup     24
Surf Scoter     6
Long-tailed Duck     23
Bufflehead     54
Common Goldeneye     4
Red-breasted Merganser     2
Turkey Vulture     1
Bald Eagle     2
Ring-billed Gull     29
Herring Gull     22
Great Black-backed Gull     9
Mourning Dove     7
Northern Mockingbird     1
White-throated Sparrow     4
American Goldfinch     1

Chris had to go to work at the old 49 West Cafe, so I continued on to
visit a local private farm off of Forest Drive where I observed:

Downy Woodpecker     1
Northern Flicker     1
Blue Jay     7
Carolina Chickadee     2
Tufted Titmouse     1
Carolina Wren     1
Hermit Thrush     1
American Robin     25
Northern Mockingbird     3
Song Sparrow     2
White-throated Sparrow     2
Northern Cardinal     2

Deciding to venture out a bit outside of Annapolis to the West, I
dropped by a little service road on the South side of the intersection
of Rt 424 and Rt 50 near Davidsonville.  Chris and I had White-Crowned
Sparrow there for our portion of the Bowie CBC a short while ago, so I
thought it might be worth the trip.  No White-Crowns, but instead I
saw...

Black Vulture     4
Turkey Vulture     1
Rock Pigeon     35
American Crow     3
Carolina Wren     2
Eastern Bluebird     8
Northern Mockingbird     2
European Starling     9
Song Sparrow     5
White-throated Sparrow     18
Dark-eyed Junco     18
Northern Cardinal     4

Continuing Westward, I drove out Gov. Bridge Road to visit a small
farm pond on the North side of the road, heading towards Bowie and
added...

Canada Goose     75
Red-shouldered Hawk     1
American Kestrel     1
American Crow     5
Northern Mockingbird     1
European Starling     5
Cedar Waxwing     14
Eastern Towhee     1
Song Sparrow     4
White-throated Sparrow     1

A short time later, I struck it rich at Patuxent River Park.  It's a
bunch of ball fields that backs up to the river, but in the parking
area alone I had...

Black Vulture     1
Turkey Vulture     1
Red-bellied Woodpecker     1
Downy Woodpecker     1
EASTERN PHOEBE     1
Blue Jay     5
American Crow     2
Fish Crow     5
Tufted Titmouse     1
White-breasted Nuthatch     1
Eastern Bluebird     16
Northern Mockingbird     1
PINE WARBLER     1
PALM WARBLER (Yellow)     3
Field Sparrow     4
Song Sparrow     1
White-throated Sparrow     2
Dark-eyed Junco     4
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored)     5

And now it was time to head back East to Annapolis.  I took Rutland
Road, the back way towards Rt. 450.  There is a small pond on the left
where these two roads meet.  I added...

WINTER WREN     1
Song Sparrow     5
SWAMP SPARROW     1
American Goldfinch     3

While still on Rt 450, there is a new bridge that crosses over the
headwaters of the South River.  Foraging on the mudflats below, I
saw...

Killdeer     4
Ring-billed Gull     2
Downy Woodpecker     1 (not feeding on the mud, but up in a tree)
American Crow     1 (ditto for the crow)

Looking forward to a nice hike at Waterworks Park, I remembered that
the nearby Crownsville Containment Pools often hold some interesting
ducks.  I made a really quick pit stop and saw...

Canada Goose     5
Mallard     8
RING-NECKED DUCK     16
Greater Scaup     5
HOODED MERGANSER     8
Black Vulture     7
Northern Mockingbird     2

Oh yes, and at Waterworks Park, I observed...

Mallard     1
Hooded Merganser     3
Turkey Vulture     1
Red-tailed Hawk     1
Ring-billed Gull     1
Belted Kingfisher     1
Red-bellied Woodpecker     1
Blue Jay     5
Carolina Chickadee     1
Tufted Titmouse     4
Carolina Wren     1
Hermit Thrush     1
American Robin     5
Northern Mockingbird     1
Song Sparrow     3
Dark-eyed Junco     1
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored)     4
Northern Cardinal     2

About 2PM, I finally reached my one of my favorite places to bird,
Greenbury Point. On my two-mile hike I observed...

Canada Goose     17
Mallard     5
Surf Scoter     9
Bufflehead     211
Common Goldeneye     5
Red-breasted Merganser     2
Ruddy Duck     765
Double-crested Cormorant     12
Sharp-shinned Hawk     1
Ring-billed Gull     15
Herring Gull     11
Great Black-backed Gull     4
Downy Woodpecker     4
Hairy Woodpecker     1
Northern Flicker     1
American Crow     3
Fish Crow     1
Carolina Chickadee     9
Carolina Wren     13
Winter Wren     1
GRAY CATBIRD     3
Northern Mockingbird     27
BROWN THRASHER     1
YELLOW-RIUMPED WARBLER     1
Eastern Towhee     1
Field Sparrow     1
FOX SPARROW     1
Song Sparrow     11
White-throated Sparrow     36
WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW     2
Northern Cardinal     28
Red-winged Blackbird     2

At Greenbury Point, I had a 'probable' HORNED GREBE diving on the
Severn River side of the Point, but it was too far off to positively
identify it as such.

This evening, after cooking dinner for the family and putting my son
to bed, Chris Murray and I went back out to do some pre-Annapolis CBC
owling.  Our quick trip yielded...

Great Horned Owl     1
Barred Owl     2

These reports were ALL generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

I finished the day with 71 species.  I was born in 1971, so it's
rather fitting, no?  Big misses for the day: Peregrine Falcon, both
Kinglets, Purple Finch, Common Grackle, Brown Creeper, Yellow-Bellied
Sapsucker, Pileated Woodpecker and Great Blue Heron... but there is
always the other 364 days. It would have been nice to see the Pine
Siskins this morning feeding on my socks, but alas I had my shoes on
all day.

Good Birding All,

Dan Haas
West Annapolis, MD