Today had a nice but fairly quick day at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge on the Chesapeake Bay. The weather was cool and sunny and we lucked out after a couple of days of 50 mph winds in that it was fairly calm. Along the roads accessing the Refuge we found American Pipet, Kestral, Northern Harrier, Red-Wing Hawk and appropriately for a day nearing the Thanksgiving holiday, several American Turkeys. May the bird spirits spare them!
At the refuge itself we found only a moderate number of water birds. Normally the refuge is filled with Snow Geese at this time of year but they seem to be late perhaps because of the warmer than normal temperatures or the winds the last couple days slowing down migration. Winter birds in the woods included: Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker, Winter Wren, Hermit Thrush, Golden-Crowned and Ruby Crowned Kinglets, Brown-Headed Nuthatch.
Ducks were out but there was not as much variety as normal this time of year; besides Great Blue Heron, Double-Crested Cormorant and Great Egrets in good numbers there were Northern Shovelers, Amer. Black Duck, Mallards, Northern Pin-tail, Gadwall, Common and Hooded Mergansers among ducks and large flocks of Dunlin, Killdeer and Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs on the shore. There was a thirty minute period of activity at the border of the woods and the marsh in which many of our common year-round birds and wintering birds dropped close to eye level in a feeding frenzy. A Coopers Hawk ended all this as it swished through the woods and appeared to come up with a Starling. Three prize birds seen recently at the refuge Northern Rough-Wing Hawk and Golden Eagle and American Bittern were absent. We did look.
However, the relatively recent recovery of the American Bald Eagle in the northeast part of the USA appears solid as we saw at least 20 mature and immature birds some at close quarters. Although they now appear to be fairly common it's always exciting to see these birds despite the sporadic fits of fear they seem to throw over the rest of the bird communities. And a day of good light out on the Chesapeake Bay is a pretty good day.
At the refuge itself we found only a moderate number of water birds. Normally the refuge is filled with Snow Geese at this time of year but they seem to be late perhaps because of the warmer than normal temperatures or the winds the last couple days slowing down migration. Winter birds in the woods included: Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker, Winter Wren, Hermit Thrush, Golden-Crowned and Ruby Crowned Kinglets, Brown-Headed Nuthatch.
Ducks were out but there was not as much variety as normal this time of year; besides Great Blue Heron, Double-Crested Cormorant and Great Egrets in good numbers there were Northern Shovelers, Amer. Black Duck, Mallards, Northern Pin-tail, Gadwall, Common and Hooded Mergansers among ducks and large flocks of Dunlin, Killdeer and Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs on the shore. There was a thirty minute period of activity at the border of the woods and the marsh in which many of our common year-round birds and wintering birds dropped close to eye level in a feeding frenzy. A Coopers Hawk ended all this as it swished through the woods and appeared to come up with a Starling. Three prize birds seen recently at the refuge Northern Rough-Wing Hawk and Golden Eagle and American Bittern were absent. We did look.
However, the relatively recent recovery of the American Bald Eagle in the northeast part of the USA appears solid as we saw at least 20 mature and immature birds some at close quarters. Although they now appear to be fairly common it's always exciting to see these birds despite the sporadic fits of fear they seem to throw over the rest of the bird communities. And a day of good light out on the Chesapeake Bay is a pretty good day.
