Date: Wed, 3 Mar 2004 22:34:11 EST Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Louis Nielsen Subject: Birding Kent Island MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Greetings As a celebration of our escape from the ice age I spent the morning wandering Kent Island (followed by a fruitless hunt for the Black-headed Gull in Talbot County). My morning began just at first light at the entrance to Sandy Point where I heard one peenting and displaying American Woodcock. (Heard three here last week) I got one brief look as it dropped to earth. As the sky got lighter, a chorus of two Eastern Towhees, two Carolina Wrens and Three robins greeted the sun. A quick stop at Matapeake SP on Kent Island produced 3 Common Goldeneyes, one female Canvasback and a flock of Greater Scaup. I worshiped the rising sun. On to Terrapin Nature Area where I walked the short distance to the beach and back, stopping to sneak a peek from each of the blinds. The birds of some interest include: 3 Wood Ducks, 2 towhees, 1 Downy Woodpecker, 1 Hairy Woodpecker, 1 flicker, 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker, 2 (a pair) of Hooded Mergansers. Sparrows included 13 Song, 2 House, 1 Field, 3 Savannah, 1 Swamp. For the first time in a couple of years I am hearing House Finches singing almost everywhere I go now. Lots of the usual birds. Next stop: Piney Branch Road. At the end of the road the only bird on the waters of Piney Narrows was a lone, sleeping Mute Swan. The pines and dead snags around me were another matter. 1 Bald Eagle (adult), 2 Carolina Chickadees, 2 Yellow-rumps, 3 flickers, 1 Downy, 2 Hairy, 4 cardinals, 1 starling, 1 Carolina Wren, 1 towhee, 3 juncos, 3 White-throated Sparrows. And ... the sighting of the day ... I first heard and then found a Brown-headed Nuthatch, actively exploring the cracks and crevices in a dead tree. Not all that common in Queen Anne's according to the Yellow Book. And all this without moving more than 20 feet from the parked car. Lazy mans riches, for sure. I had a great day, always excepting the traffic. Lou Lou Nielsen Reisterstown, MD ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================