Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 21:01:07 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Henry Armistead <74077.3176@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: Elliott Island Road 1/14/01 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Elliott Island Rd., Sun., Jan. 14, 2001, 6:30 A.M. - 5:30 P.M. Dead calm all day. 77 species. Highlights: 7 Short-eared Owls. By 1:15 it had become overcast and the first owl was aloft at 2 P.M. Called up 10 screech owls, including one at Elliott village at 1:20 P.M. Heard 2 horned owls and saw 2 others on dead snags, 1 at dawn, another at dusk. 1 short-ear and a harrier took turns engaging in mild chases. The extended cold spell made for a dead marsh. No "southern" herons, few shorebirds, zero kingfishers. Big slabs of ice 6 inches thick had been beached on top of the east shore of Fishing Bay. Few marsh ducks: 2 pintails, 2 shovelers (seen by a couple from Rockville), 12 Gadwall, 3 wigeon, low numbers of blacks and Mallards. In spite of extensive effort for rails I had but one, a Virginia flying over the Juncus roemerianus grass and pitching in right across the road from me. Good landbirding: a Brown-headed Nuthatch on Langrell's Island (along the road about 6 mi. south of the "mainland"), 2 Winter Wrens, 13 Hermit Thrushes, 1 Pine Warbler (also at Langrell's), 8 towhees, 4 Fox Sparrows (Langrell's), 4 Ruby-crowned and 11 Golden-crowned Kinglets. Excellent views of most of these. Out on Fishing Bay: 560 Canvasbacks (no Redheads), 380 scaup (mostly Lessers but a few Greaters), and far offshore fair numbers of Buffleheads, goldeneyes, and Long-tailed Ducks. Also: 1 Common Loon, 14 great blues, 2 BC Night Herons, 11 Bald Eagles (incl. 2 ad. on their nest just south and west of Savanna Lake), 1 Rough-legged Hawk, single ad. females of sharpie and Cooper's, and 13 Greater Yellowlegs. 7 Nutria. Some red-wings were singing. An additional eagle nest is just barely visible at great distance from McCready's Creek (where the launching ramp and work boats are) in the isolated grove of 5-6 Loblolly Pines c. 2 miles to the south and east of the hacking tower on Clay Island. 24-50 degrees. Calm with occasional SE or S wind perhaps 2-4 m.p.h. Clear becoming fair, then overcast with light rain becoming steadier 3:15 - 5:30 P.M. 39 mi. by car, 2 by foot. Morning haze and fog limited visibility to no more than 1/2 mile. Rigby's Folly, Ferry Neck, Talbot County, Jan. 15, 2001, 9 A.M. - 5 P.M. Calm but foggy, visibility varied from 1/4 or less to 1/2 mile. 37-41 degrees. Overcast. 41 species. Loads of landbirds right around the house all day (which often has hardly any birds in winter): 4 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, 35 bluebirds, 195 robins, 40 waxwings, 50 myrtles, 7 towhees, 4 Fox Sparrows (incl. 1 singing for about 10 minutes), 60 White-throats, 65 juncos, 11 House Finches, and a goldfinch. Lots of berry feeding activity: robins and English Ivy; myrtles and waxwings and Red Cedars; robins and Amer. Hackberries; myrtles, white-throats, and a RC Kinglet eating Poison Ivy berries. Offshore in the Choptank River: 115 Lesser Scaup, 90 goldeneye, 175 Buffleheads ("lesser goldeneye"), and 225 Canvasbacks. Hundreds of other ducks partially obscured by the fog plus a great chorus of Long-tailed Ducks out of sight, which can be heard 3 or more miles away under such conditions. 2 Great Horned Owls calling at 11:30 A.M. A little bit of song from one of the robins, a red-wing, and a House Finch but no real signs of spring. Usually our daffodils have started up by now but not this year. 6 Gray Squirrels. The robins were also feeding in the fields and actively bathing in the drainage furrows there. Lots of shooting today (sea duck hunting?; what an abomination). No sign of activity, unfortunately, at last year's eagle nest along our driveway. A good weekend. Enough to keep the cabin fever at bay - for a while. Based on this and my CBC experience this year seems to be a good winter for Fox Sparrows, Hermit Thrushes, and towhees. Best to all. Harry Armistead, 523 E. Durham St., Philadelphia, PA 19119. 215-248-4120. 74077.3176@compuserve.com. ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================