I saw a Sharpie as I was passing through the north end of Chesapeake Isle,
so I was hopeful as I drove down to the point, but it started to rain within
minutes of my arrival. It was just a shower so I waited, and it tapered off
to light drizzle and was about done by 10:00. A Sharpie zoomed past at
10:55, presumably the one I had seen in Chesapeake Isle earlier, and that
was my countable raptor for the day. At 11:30 the drizzle started up again
so I gave up and came home.

 

There were far fewer birds than on my last visit two weeks before (I got
fogged out last week), except of course for hundreds of White-thoated
Sparrows, and almost all the leaves are gone, except for one big sweet gum
and a few paw-paws. But all morning I saw and heard flocks of Bluebirds,
about 20 at a time, and similar numbers of Cedar Waxwings. I saw a high
flock of about 80 Robins, and also saw my FOS Tundra Swans (eight of them)
flying very low from the Elk River across the point to the east, where I
presume they were heading for Furnace Bay. Also saw a brief murmuration of
blackbirds, about a thousand of them, high overhead. They got to the water
and turned back, splitting into five subflocks, coming down to land in
various parts of the park. One group of a couple hundred birds swooped down
right in front of me and I could hear a loud whoosh from their wings, which
was pretty awesome. Their high-speed dive was amazing to watch: they simply
folded their wings and plummeted.

 

Four adult Bald Eagles soared in view almost the entire time, even in the
rain. One kept stretching its legs down, and one was carrying a fish
briefly. I never saw them flap their wings once. Must be nice! I also saw
one immature and one subadult, who was flying below the cliff level. The
view from the point was crystal clear. With binoculars, I could see ships
down by Poole's Island.

 

This was my last scheduled day at the Hawk Watch this season, and although I
would have preferred seeing more hawks, it was, as always, lovely to be
there among the Bluebirds.

 

Pat Valdata

Elkton

 





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