Summer Birds in Maryland
by Dusty ~ September 19th, 2009. Filed under: Other Ramblings.When I was out in Washington DC I was lucky enough to stay for a few days up on Ed Snodgrass’s Farm in Harford County, MD. Normally my approach to visiting foreign countries is to race about chasing a list and trying to see as much as I can!!! I return to the UK for a holiday form my holiday! But on this trip I had decided that I would spend a few days getting to know a small patch of landscape and the birds to be found there. I sort of knew what I could see as Ed and his wife keep a list of all the birds seen on the farm. They are tracking the changes as they turn the once soya bean farm back to native grasslands. I know wasn’t going to see anything new but what that wasn’t the point. I could indulge in really getting a feel for the birds of Maryland.
Ed’s farm is home to his green roof nursery – which takes only about 4 acres of his 200 acres. His is slowly buying up further acres over time to create along with other farmers in the area a little natural paradise.
It was great getting up early in the morning and drinking coffee on the veranda watching kingbirds, mocking birds, and ruby-throated hummingbirds feeding so close I could get some pretty good pictures, all to the serenade of the Orchard Oriole nesting in the a fruit tree in the vegetable garden and the explosive song of the Carolina Wren. Strolling the fields I saw on a daily basis Indigo Bunting, Cedar Waxwings, Song Sparrows, American Goldfinches and Brown Thrashers, amongst other things, although I never connected with the Prairie Warblers that were breeding in the Pines. The Eastern bluebird was also a delight from the veranda, as the pair went to and fro to the nest box. Nearly every morning and early evening, the birds would scuttle in a panic as the resident Coopers hawk swoop in for prey. I saw it take a Kingbird at one point and managed to get some really good views of this avian hunter.
Other birds of note including the Green Heron that I saw perched high on a dead tree [snag] above one of the ponds on the farmand teh rRed-bellied Woodpeckers, which were quite confiding in the far woods.
The only other birds I managed to see were Chimney Swifts in DC itself and, on a short trip to Susquehanna River, Osprey, Bald Eagle, great blue and night heron, all the birds in the list below were seen on Ed’s Farm. A delight and I am looking forward to a few more days there in October, when I return.
Great blue heron
Green heron
Night heron
Mallard
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Red tailed hawk
Black vulture
Turkey vulture
Coopers hawk
Rock dove
Mourning dove
Red bellied woodpecker
Chimney Swift
Ruby throated hummingbird
Barn swallow
Tree swallow
Eastern wood peewee
Eastern kingbird
American crow
Carolina wren
Eastern bluebird
American robin
Grey catbird
Northern mockingbird
Brown thrasher
Cedar waxwing
Starling
Common yellowthroat
Northern cardinal
Indigo bunting
Chipping sparrow
Song sparrow
Orchard oriole
Red winged blackbird
Common grackle
House sparrow
American goldfinch
House finch
TOTAL 40
February 23rd, 2011 at 5:09 pm
[...] pleasure. I have spent several weeks over the years at Ed’s farm in Maryland. It is a joy to visit. And of course there are plenty of small roofs dotted across the farm to indulge in, not mention [...]
February 23rd, 2011 at 5:09 pm
[...] pleasure. I have spent several weeks over the years at Ed’s farm in Maryland. It is a joy to visit. And of course there are plenty of small roofs dotted across the farm to indulge in, not mention [...]