Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2002 00:37:25 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Paul McGowan Subject: Ocean City cA pleasant trip down to Ocean City last weekend turned up a nice selection of birds. It also turned up a nice selection of birders and I really enjoyed bumping into so many folk at the Inlet. Many thanks to Norm for his tips on good sites around OC. Things began well with an excellent flock of Greater Snow Geese at the junction of 50 and 347 just north of Hebron. I lost count and my non-birding wife lost patience around 1000. West Pond was excellent. 250-500 of Canvasback, American Wigeon, Mallard, Northern Shoveler. ~40 Gadwall. ~20 Lesser Scaup, Black Duck, Northern Pintail and Green-winged Teal. The inlet was busy all weekend, and the variety helped make up for the absence of a certain colourful duck. 6 Common Loon (including one poor bird whose upper mandible had broken/rotted away), 10 Red-throated Loon, 2 Northern Gannet, oodles of Surf Scoter (missed the other scoter spp), 5 Long-tailed Duck, ~50 Purple Sand's, ~15 Ruddy Turnstone, ~10 American Oystercatcher, ~30 Bonnie Gulls, ~50 Forster's Tern. The Bay had ~250 Brant (light-bellied), 3 Tricolored heron, a few RB Merg's and the usual host of gull spp. Finished off up at Indian River inlet which was surpringly quiet. Handfull of RT and Common Loon, half dozen Northern Gannet, lots of seaduck flying south out beyond the Gannet which were flying north. Nice group of 10 male Boat-tailed grackle displaying. Nice little mixed flock of Dunlin, Purps and Sanderling. Paul McGowan mcgowans@maxinter.net Ellicott City, Ho Co ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================