Cromwell Bridge Park / Loch Raven Res.
Burggraf (burggraf@erols.com)
Fri, 9 Oct 1998 14:55:49 -0400
On Friday morning, Oct. 9, I went to two locations just North of Balitmore.
Between periods of drizzle and periods of downpour, I still managed a few
good birds. At Cromwell Bridge Park, I found the following sparrows:
song, white-throated, WHITE-CROWNED, field, chipping. A couple of warblers
showed up: common yellowthroat, and palm warbler (at least one "yellow"
form among a small flock of "westerns"). Both kinglets were present. Then
I went around the corner to Loch Raven Reservoir. Below the dam, both an
osprey and a bald eagle were hunting. I added pine warbler and
yellow-rumped warbler to my list. (Golden-crowned kinglets were
everywhere!) Waterfowl included a pied-billed grebe, three common loons,
nine american wigeon, one green-winged teal (and the obligatory Canada
geese and mallards).
One comment about the grebe. I observed that sometimes, when the bird
surfaced, it surfaced so that only its head showed above the waterline.
When scanning for the grebe, I almost missed it occasionally, because it
looked like just a little spot on the water (with a bill extending on one
side). Is this a commonly observed behavior for the pied-billed grebe? I
don't remember seeing before.
Don Burggraf
Baltimore