Hi Folks,

I got to Jackson Landing (PG side of Jug Bay) around 3:30 yesterday 
afternoon, and scanned for a short while, then headed to Selby's Landing 
where I was to meet Bill Hubick.  Sadly, Becky Hubick had some serious car 
trouble, so Bill had to bail out of our afternoon plans.  I continued on to 
Selby's where I scanned for a while, and then headed to Mt. Calvert.  I 
ended up spending the remainder of the afternoon and early evening there, 
where there is a commanding view of the river.  I took a walk down to the 
river where I heard singing MARSH WRENs and viewed a late migrant NORTHERN 
WATERTHRUSH, but nothing else of note.  Returning from the river, I found 
Jeff Shenot by the parking area, and we proceeded to chat for a while.  As 7 
p.m. approached, the ranger, who Jeff knows, came to lock the gate to the 
property.  I decided to go to Selby's from there, but that gate closes at 
7:30 p.m.  Fortuitously, however, the ranger would allow me to stay at 
Selby's beyond closing time, so when I got there, I set my scope up out on 
the dock and waited.  At 8:11 p.m., the flock of 8 BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING 
DUCKs flew from the PG side of the river downstream, and angled across my 
field of view to the AA side of the river heading north, seemingly straight 
for Danny's bucket.  After I saw the birds, I texted MDOsprey, and called 
Jeff Shenot, who lives next door to Mt Calvert.  Jeff did not answer his 
phone, and it turned out that the reason was that he was talking to Danny 
Bystrak who called him to tell him the ducks had returned.  Jeff was then 
able to view these ducks from his back yard, probably becoming only the 
second Marylander to have BBW Duck as a yard bird.  Not only that, this was 
a state bird for Jeff--Congrats, Jeff!  Interestingly, though I couldn't see 
Danny, he was able to see me as I stood at Selby's Landing waiting for the 
ducks.

LOGISTICS:  The biggest impediment to seeing these birds will be gate 
closures.  Gates will likely be closed when these birds are active.  For 
that reason, I urge anyone who will try to see them to go to Mt Calvert, and 
park just outside the gate, and hike in the short distance across the field 
to the river overlook, and look south.  Both Jackson Landing and Selby's 
Landing have gates that are at least a half mile away, and not worth the 
hike.  Bill Hubick was on his way this morning, and I encouraged him to go 
to Mt. Calvert.  Hopefully he'll have success there.

It would be interesting to know where these birds go during the day.  Anyone 
have a kayak and lots of time on their hands?

Please report any findings to the listserve, and good luck to those who try 
for the ducks.  It seems like nearly ten years ago when Danny found the 
first BBW Ducks at Jug Bay, and Paul Pisano and I rented a canoe to go 
search for them, without success.  Yesterday's venture required a lot of 
waiting, but had a payoff at the end.

Stan Arnold
Ferndale (AA Co)











----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Stan Arnold" <>
To: <>
Sent: Tuesday, June 02, 2009 8:15 PM
Subject: [MDOSPREY] Black-bellied W. Ducks at Jug Bay


> Flock of 8 heading north from selby's landing at 8:11 pm
>
> Stan arnold
>
>
>
>
> ------Original Message------
> From: danny bystrak
> Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding
> To: 
> ReplyTo: danny bystrak
> Subject: [MDOSPREY] OK, this is getting ridiculous -- Black-bellied W. 
> Ducks at Jug Bay
> Sent: Jun 2, 2009 11:00 AM
>
> This morning at 06:40 am, while watching from my bucket, I saw a flock of 
> 8 birds flying south, which I took to be cormorants at first. Thinking I'd 
> better make sure, I binned them and quickly switched to scope when I saw 
> white on the upper wing surfaces. The flock was flying south, but very 
> nicely decided to loop around in a circle across from Selby Landing, then 
> resume southward movement. For the Records Committee -- I saw all black 
> underparts, pink bills, legs trailing beyond the tail and white on the 
> upper wing surface, covering what appeared to be most of the coverts. They 
> were far enough away that I really couldn't make out that the face and 
> neck were any lighter than the underparts. This is the 3rd time for me at 
> Jug Bay.
>
> Danny Bystrak
> Bristol, AA Co. MD
>
>
>
>
>
> Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T