WHITE MARSH & HARRISVILLE ROADS, DORCHESTER COUNTY, MAY 23, 2012.
A BRIEF VISIT BY BROTHER, Gordon, and me to 2 roads that extend N to S and are NW of the central area of Blackwater N.W.R. Left numbers are for White Marsh Road, right for Harrisville Road, Noon – 1 P.M. and 1:10 – 2:10 respectively.
I was pleased to find this much in the afternoon but disappointed that the last ½ - ¾ mile of both roads – areas I especially wanted to explore – were gated off. Also, big parts of the large fields along both roads have been herbicided and are quite sterile. Along Harrisville Road there are nice batches of blue flags in full bloom in the ditches.
Two miles down White Marsh Road is a wooded swamp, where Corsey Creek is (coordinates C8 of Map 20 of the ADC atlas). This is where we saw a beautiful Mourning Cloak and heard a Cope’s Gray Tree and several Southern Leopard frogs as well as a chorus of Cricket Frogs. Access down Harrisville Road is longer – 3 miles – at which point the gate shuts things down.
turkey vulture 12/14. Canada goose 4/0. osprey 4/0. red-tailed hawk ½. wild turkey 1/0. northern bobwhite 1/1. semipalmated sandpiper 4/0 (flybys). yellow-billed cuckoo 1/0. great crested flycatcher 3/2. eastern kingbird 0/1.
white-eyed vireo 2/1. red-eyed vireo 1 and 2. American crow 6/3. barn swallow 8/9. tufted titmouse 2/2. Carolina wren 1 and 2. eastern bluebird 3/3. American robin 6/4. northern mockingbird 3/0. European starling 3/2. pine warbler 1 and 4. prairie warbler 1/0. prothonotary warbler 1/0. worm-eating warbler 0/1. common yellowthroat 7/7.
chipping sparrow 5/0. song sparrow 1/0. northern cardinal 1/1. blue grosbeak 2/0. indigo bunting 7/8. red-winged blackbird 1/6. eastern meadowlark 0/1. common grackle 20/7. brown-headed cowbird 3/0. orchard oriole 3/2. house finch 1/0. American goldfinch 1/1. house sparrow 4/0.
For 25 years I conducted one of the North American Breeding Bird Survey routes whose first stop was at Corsey Creek. Starting at 5:11 in the morning, I think it was, each year, sometimes I would see a Whip-poor-will on the dirt road here on driving in.
Also along White Marsh Road: Cabbage White, Orange Sulphur, and a d.o.r. Raccoon. And along Harrisville Road a Common Whitetail (dragonfly), a Monarch, and 7 Cabbage Whites. Just E of here is another long N-S road, Buttons Neck Road, where Greg Inskip and others find a Golden Eagle or two with some regularity in the cold months.
This was a harmless trip. No animals were harmed during the birding of it.
Best to all. – Harry Armistead, Philadelphia.
############################
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 |