Posted by admin | Under Upcoming Field Trips
Friday Nov 20, 2009
Each fall and winter, dozens (sometimes hundreds!) of eagles gather at this hydroelectric facility on the Susquehanna River to feast upon fish. Learn how to “age” eagles and observe how they catch their food. How many eagles will we see? Watch gulls, ducks, herons, and other waterbirds too!
For Conowingo birding info visit: www.harfordbirdclub.org/conowingo.html
If you want to see Bald Eagles, you don’t want to miss this outing! Last weekend when I was at Conowingo I counted 103 eagles sitting on the rocks!!! I’m sure there were many more that I wasn’t able to see too! Below are some of my pictures of the eagles.
Check out the size of the fish this guy caught! You’ll notice that this eagle has a band on his leg and if you look REALLY closely you can see the antenna from a satellite transmitter that’s on the eagle’s back. You can see it better in the next picture.
These transmitters mainly tell biologists how far eagles travel.
Here are two eagles chasing another eagle that probably has a fish!
Three eagles in a tree…
Two kids probably chasing each other around playing…
Can you find all 14 eagles? Click on the image for a larger version.
Click here to see more pictures of the eagles at Conowingo!
Hope to see you there!
Posted by admin | Under Recent Field Trips
Friday Nov 20, 2009
One of the great sights of fall is the huge flocks of waterfowl arriving along the Delaware Bay. One of the best places to greet these birds is Bombay Hook, one of the favorite places of the Delaware Dunlins!
At Raymond Pool, newly-arrived Hooded Merganser, Bufflehead, and Ruddy Ducks swam about amidst the larger numbers of Canada Geese and Northern Pintail. A vocal Marsh Wren chattered away at us, but did not show his face!
Green-winged Teal swirled about, and distant flocks of Dunlins(yes!) winged by. A pair of adult Bald Eagles perched side-by-side, while Northern Harriers skimmed their sweeping routes above the marsh grass. Northern Shovelers sifted seeds from the water with their giant beaks!
We found a flock of 53 beautiful Tundra Swans in the southern end of Shearness Pool. An American Wigeon and Blue-winged Teal gave us brief looks, while the funny-looking American Coots allowed us plenty of time to study their chicken-like forms.
At the traditional night-heron roost in Bear Swamp, a Peregrine Falcon zoomed into view, and circled five times directly overhead before rocketing away. As the falcon left, a juvenile Black-crowned Night-heron flushed from the salt marsh.
The last big treat of the day was the field on the south side of Bear Swamp, where 21 Killdeer, a few Horned Larks, and American Pipits patrolled the expanse. The pipits provided outstanding scope views as they walked in puddles, living up to their former name of Water Pipit.
Our fun morning afield netted 14 species of waterfowl and a whole bunch of life birds for Kathleen, Sarah, Dominic, Andy, Charlie, and Arun. Parents, grandparents, and guides alike enjoyed the contagious excitement of the outing, and we look forward to our next trip together!
- Trip led by Derek Stoner, Judy Montgomery, Bill Stewart, Kim Steininger, and Maurice Barnhill. Peregrine photo by Derek Stoner and all others by Kim Steininger
Our friend Kim Steininger will be displaying her photography during at a special show at Bombay Hook on November 27, 28 and 29. Visit to see some of her amazing bird images!
http://www.fws.gov/northeast/bombayhook/events.html
Posted by admin | Under Recent Field Trips
Tuesday Nov 3, 2009
Birding is, and always will be, a fun activity. One of the most fun types of birding is the Big Day, where you count as many birds as possible in 24-hours.
To take that challenge even further, some folks decided to invent the Big Sit, which is a Big Day conducted form a 17-foot diameter circle. You pick one place and see how many bird species can be observed from that location during a 24-hour time period.
On Sunday, October 11, birders gathered atop Hawk Watch Hill at the Ashland Nature Center to take part in the Big sit event for the third year in a row.
We started at 3:45am, listening for birds of the night. Great-horned Owls and Screech Owls made territorial calls, while migrating Snow Geese, Great Blue Herons and many songbirds called as they flew overhead. Great conditions for bird migration made the day very exciting, and our species total added up quickly. By 8:00am, we had observed 50 species!
Throughout the day, families and Delaware Dunlins members visited the hill and helped to spot birds. Great birds like Blue-headed Vireo, Merlin, Wood Ducks, and Hermit Thrush made for memorable sightings.
A total of 140 people, including at least 40 youth birders, visited and took part in the Big Sit during our 17 hours of observation. We finished with a total of 82 species, which placed us 10th out 200 teams participating worldwide.
For the official results, check out the Big Sit site(team name is Twitching Talons in Hockessin, DE):
http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/site/bigsit/userconsole.php?action=results_2009&id=statistics
Check out our special Big Sit video, with highlights from the day!
http://animoto.com/play/00gclntORqsGWd2KJBXFNw?autostart=true
