Photos: Wild Turkey -- photgraphed in Millington WMA. Spring Beauty -- photgraphed in northern Caroline County. They are usually one of the first woodland wildflowers to bloom in April.
On Sunday Bill Hubick, Tom Field, Mike Parr, and myself birded Kent and Caroline Counties in Maryland. Even with temperatures in the 40's and a steady wind we were able to find some great birds. We started the day at Eastern Neck NWR just south of Rock Hall in Kent County. Eastern Neck has become known as the most northerly location for breeding Brown-headed Nuthatches. There has been at least one pair here for a couple seasons. Bill and Mike had not seen the nuthatches so they were are main target along with Yellow-throated Warblers. Yellow-throated Warblers are also very tricky to locate in Kent County and Eastern Neck is the only spot where they are observed with any regularity. After walking down one of the trails at the refuge we soon hit a flock which held all of our desired species. I was not able to get photographs of the nuthatches or warblers but I did get a pic of a Golden-crowned Kinglet. Golden-crowned Kinglets were moving through in sizable numbers and were observed at most of our stops throughout the day. We then headed towards the bay to search for Northern Gannets. The bay outlook at the butterfly garden didn't produce any Gannets. Northern Gannets come up the Chesapeake Bay in the Spring while migrating north but gannets have a major bridge phobia. On a Spring day you can sit at the Bay Bridge and watch gannets soar right up to the bridge and then turn around. They refuse to fly over the bridge. Because of this behavior Northern Gannets are very rare in the northern bay. One of the best times to observe gannets north of the Bay Bridge is on foggy days, wait for the fog to burn off, and hope a few birds happened to fly over the bridge during the limited visibilty. It wasn't foogy the morning we were there so our gannet search didn't turn up any birds but Mike picked out a Little Gull flying with a Bonaparte's Gull. Little Gulls are regular in very small numbers in Spring and Fall. They are normally viewed in Bonie flocks and it is always special to see one. Our bird was way too far away for any photos. We then headed to Millington WMA in eastern Kent County. Along the way I photographed a Cedar Waxwing. Once in Millington the birding was very slow. The cold temperatures and wind kept most of the birds hunkered down. Bill did find a brave Northern Cricket Frog that allowed all of the group to get great photos. After Millington we headed into northern Caroline County where we hit a few wetland areas. Tom braved one particular marsh and spooked an American Bittern that flew right over Bill and myself allowing us both to get great shots. The bittern was a major score. Because they are so secretive in often impassable habitat I was not expecting to get a bittern shot for the year. We ended the day fruitlessly searching through gull flocks for another Little Gull that would be close enough to photograph.
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