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Subject:

Turkey Point Hawk Watch is open!

From:

Patricia Valdata

Reply-To:

Patricia Valdata

Date:

Sat, 5 Sep 2009 20:08:45 -0400

We had a great morning at the Turkey Point Hawk Watch kickoff today. I will
let trip leader Sean McCandless report on the walk in as we looked for
migrants, but I will say the trail to the lighthouse is chock-full of
warblers, gnatcatchers, flycatchers, zooming hummingbirds and baby cowbirds.
We had a nice group and all agreed that being at Turkey Point on such a
gorgeous day couldn't be beat. A flyby Blue-winged Warbler was an especially
nice treat.

 

There are quite a few Bald Eagles in residence, and we had 11 countable
raptors go by, mostly Osprey as you would expect for so early in September,
but also a few Sharp-shinned, one Cooper's Hawk, and a couple of Black
Vultures. Three of the Ospreys had fish in their talons, and one Osprey (no,
I didn't count that one!) landed in a tree at the east end of the field to
eat its fish, and then hung around, occasionally flapping its wings and
scolding the Eagles.

 

Butterflies are also plentiful, and dragonfly fans should stop by while the
grass is tall because there had to have been dozens and dozens of them out
there, iridescent green and blue. Lovely creatures!

 

We also had one pretty orange-patterned female box turtle, a herd of deer in
Chesapeake Isle, and lots of hikers stopping to look at the sign and say hi.


 

I hope to see many of you out there as the season progresses.

 

Pat Valdata

Elkton, MD

 

"The natural function of the wing is to soar upwards and carry that which is
heavy up to the place where dwells the race of gods. More than any other
thing that pertains to the body it partakes of the nature of the divine."
--Plato