Date: Sun, 13 Oct 2002 08:15:06 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Mary Alice Koeneke Subject: Re: American White Pelicans in DC, VA In-Reply-To: <5.1.0.14.2.20021013033031.01a2f8b8@popd.ix.netcom.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Just some clarification here. Some of the Potomac is in VA, the border runs from the Jones Point Lighthouse through the river to a point near Fort Hunt. Therefore, birds seen from Belle Haven Picnic Area, Dyke Marsh are in VA waters and would be counted as VA birds. Belmont Bay in Mason Neck State Park is also VA waters. Basically, the rest of the Potomac is MD waters except for some portion I believe is considered part of DC. Glenn Koppel koppel@erols.com Centreville, VA -----Original Message----- From: Maryland Birds & Birding [mailto:MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM]On Behalf Of Phil Davis Sent: Sunday, October 13, 2002 3:43 AM To: MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM Subject: Re: [MDOSPREY] American White Pelicans in DC, VA Hi Rob - Here's my take ... see below ... At 10:20 10/12/2002 -0400, Rob Gibbs wrote: >I have a question. I'm interested in the discussion of Maryland waters >vs DC waters, vs VA waters of the potomac. DC I understand, however, I >don't think there is any such thing as VA waters of the Potomac. It is >my understanding that Maryland claims the entire river - even to the >point of the high water mark on the VA shore. This would make it >possible for a bird to be standing on the Virginia shoreline of the >river at low tide and actually be in Maryland. Does anyone know any >more about this? This is all correct. It is my understanding that Virginia "retroceded" the river back to MD and DC as a result of "the conflict between the north and south", some 100+ years ago. >I guess my other question is - for listing purposes, >does one claim the bird based on where the observer is or where the bird >is? For example, if I'm in virginia looking into the Potomac River >(Maryland) at a white pelican, is that a Virginia bird, a Maryland bird, >or both? The only listing "rules" are the ABA's for publishing their list totals. Here is the ABA Listing Rule #1: Rule 1: within the prescribed area and time period when observed: The official ABA interpretation of this rule is ... * A. Within means that the bird must be within the prescribed area when observed, although the observer need not be. For example, if an observer on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande identifies a bird across the river on the Mexican side, the bird may be counted on his Mexican list but not on his ABA Area list. I know many of us have driven to Colonial Beach, VA to scan the Potomac River for Saint Mary's County, MD waterfowl. Hope this helps ... Phil ================================== Phil Davis Davidsonville, Maryland USA mailto:PDavis@ix.netcom.com ================================== ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================