Hi again folks,
To continue the epistle of the AA County big day, I hit the wrong button
while I was detailing the visit of the three big day participants to the Jug
Bay Wetlands Sanctuary. Ed, Bill, and Stan were nearing the end of their
three-hour visit to this property when they visited the boardwalk out to the
observation blind, about half way down the railroad trail. Behind the other
two birders, upon entering the trail Bill called out to the other two; he
heard something that sounded initially like a Northern Waterthrush. Not so,
but better than that--he found another great bird, a singing male WILSON'S
WARBLER. We all got great looks and listens during this great big-day
moment. We were now at 100 species for the day.
It was approaching noon, and time to go back east for some bay-watching.
First stop there was Herrington Harbor, disappointing because there were no
sea ducks (a distant Bufflehead was actually a convincing decoy). A few
Royal Terns constituted our only new bird for that location, but made the
stop worthwhile. Better, however, was a brief stop at North Beach to scan
AA waters from there. We were able to add Bufflehead, Ruddy Duck, and Least
Tern to our tally, bringing our count to 104. Now heading back towards the
Patuxent River, Sands Road Park was disappointing in that we missed both
Grasshopper Sparrow and Meadowlark, but the good far eclipsed the bad as we
added seven more species, among them Broad-winged Hawk, Prairie Warbler,
Bank Swallow and Field Sparrow. The quarry along Macpumphrey Dr. was good
with a lot of swallows, including Cliff, and a ragged looking, but totally
unexpected Ring-necked Duck.
We were now about 45 minutes behind schedule, so we skipped our scheduled
stop at Wooten's Landing, and cut short our visit to Davidsonville Park.
Here we were once again disappointed when a reliable Louisiana Waterthrush
was silent but we picked up a few more birds, including our only hummingbird
of the day spotted by Ed.
Patuxent Ponds Park, where Stan had found warblers like Kentucky, Canada,
Black-throated Green, Magnolia, Blue-winged, and Chestnut-sided the two
previous days was by the far the most disappointing stop. None of the named
warblers was to be found, and our only consolation was finding a
Ruby-crowned Kinglet, which can be a really tough bird during big days. Now
on our way to Oxbow Lake, we finally got our first Pigeon, bird #119, on a
utility tower at the edge of Fort Meade. However, we were all bemoaning the
fact that we had not yet picked up a Redstart. It was 4:15 p.m., and the
Patuxent Refuge, where these birds are abundant, closed its gate at 4. Our
experienced big-dayer, Bill Hubick, suggested we stop at the gate of the
refuge and try there. Excellent plan; it only took us six or eight minutes
before a fine male popped into view for #120 on the list. Though the
previous day's Pectoral Sandpiper could not be found, the Oxbow did not
disappoint us as Bill was able to pick out a single snipe well camouflaged
along the water's edge, and Stan made his biggest contribution of the day by
scoping the area of the tree where the Great Horned Owls recently fledged
and was able to find mama owl hiding in plain sight, very well concealed
amid the surrounding vegetation, and not so much as moving a feather during
our entire visit.
Next on the itinerary was Patapsco Pond #10 where we easily found our two
targets, Warbling Vireo and (finally!) Baltimore Oriole, species #124. Time
for another command decision. Elaine had been entertaining two adult
WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWs in our yard (and also had seen a Red-breasted
Nuthatch that she didn't tell us about). The plan was to stop in our yard
to pick up the sparrow and/or go to BWI for Grasshopper Sparrow. We chose
neither. We had a lot of birds waiting for us at other locations along the
Patapsco, and putting our faith in the experience of Mr. Hubick, we gave up
the single birds, and went for the end-of-day gusto. It was an excellent
decision. Once we got to our final areas along the river, the birds
started falling into place. Caspian Tern, Cattle Egret and Little Blue
Heron were all added to the tally. Then in some wet woods Bill spotted a
Veery, and then another one. Next it was Mute Swan, Great Egret and a
squadron of flyby Black-crowed Night Herons, followed by a nice group of
Least Sandpipers. Now it was getting exciting, and the high fives began
circulating among our little group. We had 132 species in the bag, and the
excitement muted the pain in our feet and legs as we hiked our eighth,
ninth, and tenth miles. Among some gulls, two basic-plumaged Bonaparte's
and more high fives; #133. Next, a small group of ducks on the river; oh,
just some mallards; wait, no, take a look at that left duck--not a mallard,
it's a legit. Black Duck--#134; more high fives. And finally, a staked-out
male Canvasback was still where it had been seen two days earlier, giving us
our last new bird for the day, #135. The next 90 minutes was spent
fruitlessly looking for rails, screech owl and nightjars. They just weren't
talking, if they were even around at all. It was pushing 10 p.m. when we
made the decision to call it a day. Lots of disappointments, but lots of
pure exhilaration too. This was Ed's first big day, and my second, but this
hardly constituted a practice for the master, Bill. Great times, and can't
wait to do it again.
Thanks for staying tuned.
Stan Arnold
Ferndale, AA Co.
############################
To unsubscribe from the MDOSPREY list:
write to: mailto:[log in to unmask]
or click the following link:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=MDOSPREY&A=1 |