[MDOsprey] Brown's Bridge & Tucker Lane
Warblerick@aol.com
Sun, 15 Aug 1999 17:03:30 EDT
Brown's Bridge on Saturday AM:
Had approx. 12 Pectoral Sandpipers, 15 Least Sandpipers, 12 Semipalmated
Sandpipers, about 1/2 dozen -8 Lesser Yellowlegs, 12-15 Solitary Sandpipers,
a few Spotties, many Killdeer, a single Osprey catching a small fish ,and E.
Wood-pewee. All these birds were seen from the Howard County side of the
river.
Park in the small gravel lot on the Howard County side, cross the tiny creek
and walk down along the river around two bends. There are exposed mudflats
where the birds are feeding.
Sunday AM along Tucker Lane (just north of Ednor Rd/Brown's Bridge) off New
Hampshire Ave. in Ashton, I had a slow start but ended (around 11) with a
bang. 8 warbler species and 3 vireos, plus many regular breeders. Warblers
included Common Yellowthroat, a Yellow-breasted Chat (oddly, perched high in
a tree in the woods, very out of character), American Redstarts, a first fall
female Chestnut-sided Warbler, a pair of Balck&whites, a loudly scolding
Ovenbird (never heard one carry on so, with loud chip notes quickly
repeated), and being chased by a gorgeous male Kentucky Warbler! Also had a
number of N. Parulas. Vireos included many Red-eyed still singing, a few
White-eyeds, and my last bird of the morning, a Yellow-throated. Had at least
4 Yellow-billed Cuckoos doing a full repertoire of their "songs", Blue-gray
Gnatcatchers, Indigo Buntings, Field Sparrows, and a few territorial hummers,
one chasing a chickadee.
As others have noted, woodland birds seem to be on the move as well as
shorebirds. And as Gail noted, a really nice crop of chokecherries appears to
be ripening.
Rick Sussman
Ashton,MD