My ongoing search for migrating waterfowl took me to Charles County 
today.  My first stop was at the end of Mattawoman Creek Road (off 
of MD Rte. 224).  From the parking area, I could see a large flock 
of several hundred gulls - nearly all RING-BILLED - on the far side 
of the creek and a dozen or so BUFFLEHEADS scattered over the 
water.  Then I turned my scope upstream and discovered an 
enormous flock of waterfowl on the south side of the point of land 
that extends out into the creek.  I followed a fishermen's trail a short 
distance upstream to get a better look and realized that the flock 
consisted of thousands of birds - more than I could count (though 
I'm not much of a counter, anyway).  The following are (mostly) 
VERY approximate, order of magnitude estimates:

Canada Goose - 1000
Northern Pintail - 600
Northern Shoveler - 400
Mallard - 100
American Black Duck - 80
Green-winged Teal - 60
Ruddy Duck - 30
American Coot - 12
American Wigeon - 6
Gadwall - 2
Bonaparte's Gull - 1 or 2
Northern Harrier - 1
Belted Kingfisher - 1

As a lover of ducks, I felt as if I had died and gone to heaven!  
Eventually something spooked the flock and it rose up and settled 
further upstream.  So, I finally tore myself away and went on to my 
next stop, which was Myrtle Grove WMA.  There I found several of my 
target species:  SONG, SWAMP, and WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS, 
DARK-EYED JUNCOS, an EASTERN TOWHEE, and a RUBY-CROWNED 
KINGLET.

My last stop was Chapman State Park, for woodpeckers.  I found PILEATED, 
RED-BELLIED, DOWNY, and HAIRY WOODPECKERS, several flickers, an 
immature YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER, many more juncos, and a small 
flock of GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS.

A great day of birding!

Elaine Hendricks
Greenbelt, MD  (PG County)



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