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Subject:

Garrett to Washington--3/23/2011

From:

Ronald Gutberlet

Reply-To:

Ronald Gutberlet

Date:

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 01:51:00 -0400

Hi Everyone,

Jim Green and I didn't think we could top our run from Montgomery to Allegany on Tuesday, but of course we gave it our best shot on Wednesday (23 March 2011) as we birded Garrett County and then worked our way back east.  With certain species like Horned Grebe, Bonaparte's Gull, and a variety of ducks clearly on the move, the inclement weather made for a very exciting day!

We had a great start at Broadford Lake in Garrett Co, with the following highlights:

Gadwall--6
Redhead--2
Red-breasted Merganser--13
Wild Turkey--8 (including a displaying tom)
Ring-billed Gull--15
Bonaparte's Gull--2

The feeders at the Discovery Center on Deep Creek Lake had 2 Pine Siskins.  Thanks to Mikey Lutmerding for tips on feeders throughout the county!

Stops along the shore of Deep Creek Lake yielded:

Greater Scaup--4
Redhead--3
Common Loon--2
Horned Grebe--12 (including a tight group of 9 in various stages of molt)

Meadows Lake had a female Redhead among 53 Ring-necked Ducks.

Our last stop in Garrett Co was Piney Reservoir, which provided much fun:

Wood Duck--14
American Wigeon--10
Lesser Scaup--5
Common Goldeneye--2
Hooded Merganser--6 (and seen at most stops today)
Common Merganser--6
Horned Grebe--1
Pied-billed Grebe--4
Double-crested Cormorant--1
Great Blue Heron--2
Osprey--1

Things got really interesting when we hit Allegany County around 3 pm.  The Mason Rd Pond held a pair of Blue-winged Teal, and then we arrived at Rocky Gap to find the lake just full of birds!  This was by far the most exciting birding we've had here.  Evidently the foggy conditions with intermittent rain had caused a variety of ducks and other waterfowl to stop in.  We had 12 species of ducks, 2 species of grebes, and 2 species of gulls.  Especially interesting was a flotilla of 10 Long-tailed Ducks diving in near unison; the group included 2 males with full tail plumes.  Just before we left, a single Double-crested Cormorant flew in from the south and landed on the north end of the lake.  Here are the duck, grebe, and gull numbers:

Mallard--48
American Black Duck--2
Green-winged Teal--4
American Wigeon--1
Gadwall--10
Lesser Scaup--51
Greater Scaup--1
Ring-necked Duck--5
Long-tailed Duck--10
Bufflehead--2
Red-breasted Merganser--9
Ruddy Duck--7
Horned Grebe--9
Pied-billed Grebe--2
Bonaparte's Gull--23
Ring-billed Gull--1

As we moved on to Washington County, we found little variety at Little Pool.  Although it wasl only about 5 pm, the sky was darkening with low gray clouds and a few sprinkles.  As we reached Ft Frederick and Big Pool, heavy rain appeared likely.  We paused briefly at the entrance to Ft Frederick to look over some blackbirds and were happy to see that the flock included about 40 Rusty Blackbirds.  We then hustled out onto the towpath at the east end of Big Pool to see what we could see.  Hopes were high after Rocky Gap, but the rain began and prevented effective scoping.  We were soaked and hurried back to the car.  We needed a place to scan from the car while we waited out the rain.  Jim suggested Blair Valley Lake, and that paid off with 2 Ring-billed Gulls and 2 Herring Gulls.  The rain had subsided so we returned to Big Pool to see what we could do with the remainder of our light.  Time was short, but a few great surprises remained:

Common Loon--4 in breeding plumage spotted by Jim!
Horned Grebe--7

And finally, we had a flock of 32 Bonaparte's Gulls fly down the length of Big Pool--east to west--as the sky darkened one last time.  We hurried back to the car, pelted by hail as lightening flashed in the distance.  Dramatic conclusion to a great 2 days!  We visited 5 counties during this time and saw Bonaparte's Gulls and Horned Grebes in every one; I hadn't seen Bonaparte's in ANY of these counties before this trip.

Oh, and Jim spoke with Brad Lanning who had 21 Red-breasted Mergansers, 11 Greater Scaup, and several Buffleheads at Greenbrier Lake (Greenbrier St Pk in Washington Co) late Wednesday afternoon.  I might just have to stop by there in the morning...

Have fun,

Ron Gutberlet
Salisbury, MD

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