Good Friday

Adam Whitaker and I put up a PURPLE MARTIN HOUSE earlier today at Matt & April's house on Weems Creek. There were reports this week on MDOSPREY that a few male PURPLE MARTINS had returned to their home, located just one river South of us in Edgewater, MD. These early birds are known as 'scouts' and it is believed that they get here early to secure the nests and set up shop. Whatever the reason, it is an undeniable sign of spring. What is scary about this PURPLE MARTINS is that they've been getting here earlier and earlier every year. Stephen, who originally posted the report, has kept track of the dates of the Martin's return to his colony. Read it and weep. Or at the very least, consider the possibility that global warming is real.

1999 April 16
2000 April 8
2001 April 3
2002 March 30
2003 April 4
2004 March 26
2005 March 28
2006 March 30
2007 March 24
2008 MARCH 19!!!

Adam helped me put up a similar house on Weems Creek last year (pictured above). As of yet, we've not had any guests. Rest assured I won't be resting this year. No, instead I will be getting up early (4 AM) to play a 'lure CD' of the PURPLE MARTIN dawn song on a boom box every morning! Oh joy... I can't wait to set the alarm.Later, Oiseau the wonder dog and I went for an afternoon hike in St. Margarets with Josh and his dog Fran. It was... wet and muddy. Fran and Oiseau played, growled, swam and tugged on a large stick. No fights broke out, but there was plenty of mud-slinging.In the end, Fran got the stick. Oiseau... he just got to run off that excess winter energy (now that it is officially SPRING).Oiseau needed to learn how to properly respect his elders. Fran was an excellent teacher! On the way home, we spotted a raccoon sleeping in the hallow of an old, dead tree. Even the old, dead trees are important (and quite useful for napping and nesting) in the forest.We were searching for the GREAT HORNED OWL nest that is in the pine trees nearby. On a recent hike, I photographed one of the owls. It's that time of year and I was really hoping to see some fuzzy little owl chicks. GREAT HORNED OWLS are the top of the food chain around here, so these owl chicks are only fuzzy and cute for a short while. Soon the chicks will lose the cuteness factor and gain the skills and savvy to become highly-successful nocturnal hunting experts.

Happy Easter Everyone,

Dan, Emery, Declan, Kee Kee & Oiseau!

Bonaparte's Gull in Annapolis & This Blog's Newest Feature...

In between my visits to the Key School in Hillsmere and Saint Anne's further down the peninsula just South of Annapolis, I took a few seconds of my day to see Anne Arundel County's FIRST OSPREY of the 2008 spring season. And to top the afternoon off, I saw a BONAPARTE'S GULL too! It was an amazing day.The temperatures were warm and spring-like, but you could tell a change was on the horizon. The winds were blowing consistently, pushing hard from the South. You could just feel migration in the air. It was palpable and intense. All day long, as I travelled in my home county, I was thoroughly checking out every "V" in the sky, looking for an odd goose within the many flocks heading North for the summer.

Today's BONAPARTE'S GULL was a LIFE bird for me. I did not have my camera, but I did manage to get that image with my iPhone and a pair of binoculars. I assure you... it's not easy to get that shot.Here are a few little tidbits about the BONAPARTE'S GULL from All About Birds:

-It is the ONLY gull that regularly nests in trees.

-This gull is NOT named after Napoleon, nor does it have a French accent!

-No, in fact, the English name of the Bonaparte's Gull honors Charles Lucien Bonaparte, who made important contributions to American ornithology while an active member of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia during the 1820s.
So how about that?

As for the NERVOUS BIRDS NEWEST BLOG FEATURE, I urge you to continue to check out the "BIRDING ON THE NET" links on the right side of the page. Bill Hubick gave me this great thought. If one were to carefully watch the posts coming in from our Southern states, one would get a better glimpse of the great birds headed our way. I must admit, I've been checking out the OSPREY sightings in the Norfolk / Hampton Roads area of Coastal Virginia. I knew these beautiful fish-eating raptors, with their yelping an undeniable sign of spring, would be here in our area this week. And here they are... right on time.

An OSPREY has reached the South River, but as of yet, there are no signs of them in the Severn (the closest river to where I reside). I suspect that they'll be there tomorrow.

Migration is inspiration. I wonder how their winter was down South?

-Dan

Foxy Day at the Point

Today was cold, just ask Declan! We would happily try and describe the weather as sunny, clear, crisp, or something more inviting. But really, it was plain freezing.It was so cold... Oiseau decided to do his birding from the comfort of his kitchen window. Ba dum bum!

There were a few great birds to see (and sometimes hear) for a few brief seconds. RUBY CROWNED KINGLET, GREY CATBIRD and FIELD SPARROW, to name a few. Mostly, everything that could fly decided to stay hunkered down in the brush. Why even attempt to feed, perch, hunt or even fly on a day like today. Spring is just around the corner, right?

A RED FOX greeted me whilst I went looking for a RED SHOULDERED HAWK behind the mulching facility. According to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, RED FOXES are small (10-14 lbs.) dog-like animals with a sharp pointed nose, erect ears and a bushy tail. Although they can come in colors from black to blonde, they are usually red, with black legs and a white tipped tail. They are active during the day and night, and inhabit the entire state of Maryland. Like many other wildlife species, they have become "urbanized" and do quite will in urban and suburban environments. Red foxes are omnivorous, which means they eat both plants and animals. Their varied diet includes insects, birds, mice, snakes, rabbits, nuts, berries and fruits.

Truth be told, the GRAY FOX is the only fox species native to Maryland. The RED FOX hung out mostly in Canada and the Northern US. Some RED FOXES did manage to migrate South, but the vast majority of them were imported from England for the sport of fox hunting.

I imagine that the fox and the hawk were in that field searching for similar meals.Oiseau mentioned that the WHITE BREASTED NUTHATCH blinks it's eyes a lot. I did snap some photos of that eyelid excitement this morning. Maybe tomorrow, if you behave, I'll post proof of our winking nuthatch!

Stay Warm,

Dan