Savannah Sparrow @ Hopewell Recreation Area
101209C.jpg)
101309C.jpg)
Forster's Tern on Port Mahon Road
101309.jpg)
101309.jpg)
This past weekend I was birding Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania venues.
Maryland venues include: Conowingo Dam, DNR Trail, Cromwell Valley Park, Elkton Marsh, Soldier's Delight, and Swan Harbor Farm.
Delaware venues include: Bombay Hook NWR, Cape Henlopen State Park, Dupont Nature Center, Port Mahon Road, Prime Hook NWR, and Savage's Ditch.
In Pennsylvania, I visit the Hopewell Recreation Area.
Highlights from all venues included: Pied-billed Grebe, Snow Goose, Brant, Wood Duck, Gadwall, American Wigeon, American Black Duck, Northern Shoveler, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Ruddy Duck, Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, Wild Turkey, Black-bellied Plover, American Golden Plover, Semipalmated Plover, American Avocet, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Willet, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Dunlin, Short-billed Dowitcher, Royal Tern, Forster's Tern, Eastern Screech Owl, Belted Kingfisher, Eastern Phoebe, Horned Lark, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Pine Warbler, Palm Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Chipping Sparrow, Field Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Seaside Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, White-corwned Sparrow, and Eastern Meadowlark.
Favorite moments:
On Fowler Beach Road, spending a couple of minutes with an elderly couple. "We're amateur photographers too," Bob says. "Great," I reply. "What are you shooting?" We talk cameras for a few minutes, and Bea tells me about the hundreds of bird photographs she and Bob got at Ding Darling recently.
Bea says, "you like to photograph Bald Eagles?" My reply: "whenever I can." "You know, someone was telling me about a good place to shoot eagles in November," Bea continues. "Now, where is that place, Bob?" "How about Conowingo Dam," I suggest. "Yeah that's it, "Bea says. "You ever go there," Bea wants to know? LOL! Delightful couple.
Photographing Semipalmated Plover, Black-bellied Plover, Sanderling, Ruddy Turnstone, and Dunlin on Fowler Beach.
Dumb As A Stump: Doing some sparrowing at Prime Hook NWR, I hear a Screech Owl vocalizing from a nearby wood line. I go looking for this bird. Near the area where I heard the owl vocalizing, I bump into a couple of birders. Right away, I know what is going on. "You all playing an Eastern Screech Owl tape," I ask? After a moment of uncomfortable silence, one of these birders breaks into a silly smile and says, "yeah, I am." The days where one can reliably bird by ear are fading fast. Prime Hook prohibits "taping" without benefit of a permit, something that does not bother these birders.
Spending twenty minutes at Prime Hook trying to turn a female Common Yellowthroat into a Connecticut Warbler. "Hey, I got a Connecticut Common Yellowthroat," I finally conclude. Oh yeah, while working this ID challenge, I actually hear an Eastern Screech Owl vocalize, one that I am able to locate.
On Port Mahon Road, I talk briefly with a carload of birders. "Seeing any good sparrows," I ask? The driver replies, " well, we are seeing a lot of brown birds flying back and forth across the road. I assume that these are Seaside Sparrows, right?" "Sounds about right to me," I reply.
Putting some distance between myself and these birders, I am thinking, "Well how about that. All these little brown birds are Seaside Sparrows. Who knew? Meanwhile, I keep right on looking for something other than a Seaside Sparrow. LOL!
Birding Soldier's Delight, which is always a treat. This 1900 acre venue hosts the largest remaining piece of serpentine oak savannah on the East Coast.
Photographing Savannah Sparrows at the Hopewell Recreation Area.
At Conowingo Dam, listening to a couple of nature photographers talking about how they are beginning to photograph other birds besides eagles. One woman tells me that she just purchased a field guide and a pair of binoculars, is taking a birding class, and has just visited Bombay Hook NWR.
Another photographer tells me that he has just returned from Cape May where, among other birds, he photographs an American Bittern and a Tennessee Warbler.
With good reason, many of the nature photographers at the dam do not think much of birders and birding. It is always nice to see some of these photographers broadening their horizons, especially since so many of these "shooters" know their way around a camera.
