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Subject:

Patuxent River, Central PG County, 4/30

From:

Robert Ostrowski

Reply-To:

Robert Ostrowski

Date:

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:54:41 -0400

Hi everyone,

Today I birded the Patuxent River around Bowie. I started out about a half mile North of Route 50 and walked South until I hit Governor Bridge Natural Area, birded there for a little while, and then returned on the same route. At times the walking was very muddy as the deer themselves had to abandon their grassy paths and walk in the water. A couple other times, the precarious crossing of a  muddy log with muddy shoes was necessary. It was a very enjoyable morning with some very beautiful birds. 

Before I started down the river, I checked a few construction ditch ponds. The first bird I saw was a perched Bald Eagle in the morning light, so I knew it was going to be good day. There were 7 Solitary Sandpipers, 1 Spotted Sandpiper, many Swallows (including Tree, Barn, Bank, and Rough-winged), 7 Swifts, a singing Yellow Warbler and Indigo Bunting, a Common Yellowthroat, Scarlet Tanager, and a groundhog that was seemingly unafraid of me. Perhaps I was the first person it had ever seen.

Along the river, my best bird was a LITTLE BLUE HERON, which I flushed from the water into a nearby tree. Other highlights were:  Redstarts, Black-and-white Warblers, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Indigo Buntings, Prothonotary Warblers, Flicker fledglings, and a Great-crested Flycatcher. Many Barn Swallows are nesting under the Route 50 bridge. 

At Governor Bridge, I had a few warblers, including: Prairie, Prothonotary, 9 Common Yellowthroats!, Hooded Warbler, Yellow Warbler, and more.

Very nice weather - a nice reprieve from our one week Summer last week.

Robert Ostrowski
Bowie