Date: Sat, 21 Dec 2002 20:33:09 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Walter Ellison Subject: Kent Co. Post-CBC Field Trip Report MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Greetings, The Kent County Bird Club held a post-CBC 'cleanup' trip this morning, = 21 December, billed as a trip to find birds 'missed' on the Lower Kent = County CBC last weekend. Peter Mann, Janet Shields, Walter & Ian Ellison = and Nancy Martin gathered near Chestertown's renowned vulture roost just = after dawn of a beautiful, if slightly breezy day. We slowly worked our = way south along the Chester River, taking in a couple of boat landings, = the viewing pond at Chesapeake Farms, and eventually ending up at = Eastern Neck NWR. Just north of Pomona on Quaker Neck Rd, a flooded = field had not surprisingly attracted large numbers of geese, including = 400-500 Snows (six Blue morphs) plus a Tundra Swan and two Green-winged = Teal. As we left Quaker Neck Landing, a small raptor dashed overhead and = obligingly stopped in the top of a large tree. Walter declared 'Merlin' = and out came the scopes for wonderful looks at a handsome slate-backed = male. The next in-transit raptor, along Pomona Road near the East Fork = of Langford Creek, was not as cooperative. Nancy pulled over for a = large, dark non-vulture, but Peter and Janet in the following vehicle = caught only an unsatisfactory glimpse of it before it disappeared behind = a line of trees. The bird showed the pale tail-base, small basal whitish = primary patch, and buffy upperwing covert panels of a subadult Golden = Eagle, but try as we might, we couldn't relocate it among the vultures = along Langford Road or elsewhere. Hrrmmph! At Cliffs City Landing, we = found a few Canvasbacks among a large flock of Lesser Scaup sheltering = in Comegys Bight and a pair of Bald Eagles enjoying lunch on an Osprey = nest on the next dock. At Chesapeake Farms we added pintail and shoveler = to our list and spotted a white-lored White-crowned Sparrow among a = flock of 16 at the turnaround there. Eastern Neck Narrows produced a = fair number of swans and a scattering of ducks. At this point, Nancy and = Ian had to return to Chestertown for a meeting with a white-bearded = gentleman in a red suit and Walter, Peter and Janet continued down = Eastern Neck Island to round out the trip. They found nothing remarkable = bird-wise, but just north of Wickliffe they were privileged to spot one = of the few Delmarva Fox Squirrels remaining on the island - certainly = the rarity of the day. The complete bird list, in checklist order: Great Blue Heron, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Snow Goose, Canada = Goose, Tundra Swan, American Black Duck, Mallard, Northern Shoveler, = Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Canvasback, Ring-necked Duck, = Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Red-breasted Merganser, = Ruddy Duck, Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper's = Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Golden Eagle, American Kestrel, Merlin, = Ring-billed Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Rock Dove, = Mourning Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy = Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Blue Jay, American Crow, Horned Lark, = Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Golden-crowned = Kinglet, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Bluebird, American Robin, = Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Cedar Waxwing, Yellow-rumped = (Myrtle) Warbler, Eastern Towhee, Field Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Swamp = Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed = (Slate-colored) Junco, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Common = Grackle, House Finch, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow. 62 species total including two not seen on the CBC - Merlin & Golden = Eagle Nancy Martin 23460 Clarissa Road Chestertown, MD 21620 phone: 410-778-9568 e-mail: rossgull@crosslink.net "A person who is looking for something doesn't travel very fast" - E. B. = White (in "Stuart Little") =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =========================================================================