Volume 10 Number 5                                  April 1997

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CONTENTS

The May Meeting Comes In April This Year
New Officers To Be Elected At Meeting
Calendar of Events
Volunteers Needed for the Earth Day Exhibit
Barbara Siebens Gives Land To Harford Land Trust
Club History Donated To Harford Historical Society
Annual Awards Given in March
Membership Directories
Breeding Bird Atlas
Chesapeake Birds Of Prey, Inc.
Bird Bands
March for Parks at Fair Hill
Arundel Quarry Expansion
"User Fee" Tax Would Protect Bird Habitat
Ornithology Rag
Volunteer Needed to Maintain Local Bird Sightings Database
1997 Spring Migration Bird Count
HARFORD'S AVIAN VISITORS
Field Trip Reports
HARFORD CHAPTER - MOS FIELD TRIPS APRIL-JUNE 1997
Dinner Meeting Reservation Form

The dinner will be held on Friday, April 25 at 6:15 PM at Churchville Presbyterian Church located at the intersection of MD 22 and MD 136. The dinner reservation form is on page 9. Please note that the reservation deadline is April 16. Please remember that a good attendance is needed at the dinners in order for them to continue. The business meeting and program start about 7:00 PM for those who do not wish to attend the dinner.

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President	Larry Fry
Vice-president	Randy Robertson
Recording Secretary	Mary Procell
Corresponding Secretary	Carol Vangrin
Treasurer	Joyce Gorsuch
Directors	Tom Congersky
	John Nack
	Joe Vangrin

These officers will serve for the next two years.

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We would also like to have spotting scopes on the promenade in front of the Decoy Museum. Members with scopes are needed.

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Harford County Lister of the Year	-	Dave Webb
Rookie of the Year	-	Deborah Bowers
Bird of the Year	-	Townsend's Solitaire found at the
		home of Deborah Bowers
Distinguished Service	-	Joyce Gorsuch

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This year, for the first time, the directory will contain the e-mail address of all members whose address is known to Les Eastman. Les recently sent an e-mail message to those members to verify their address. If you did not receive this message and would like your e-mail address included in the directory, contact Les immediately at lreastma@cbdcom.apgea.army.mil.

If you can not attend the meeting but would like a directory, call Les at 410-734-6969.

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Phone:	410-692-2794
Fax:	410-329-1221
E-mail:	Raptors@bellatlantic.net

Debbie was recently selected by Windstar Wildlife Institute to be certified as a Master Wildlife Habitat Naturalist. Congratulations, Debbie!

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A common question is what to do if you find a banded bird or see a color marked bird. Here's the answers!

If you find a banded bird with a US Service band, call 1-800-327-2263 (BAND). Service bands have either a "Washington DC" or "Laurel MD" address and have 3-4 numbers, a hyphen, and 5 numbers (####-#####). Bands used on murres and hummingbirds have a letter prefix and 5 digit suffix. The letter is translated to a numeric prefix in our computer.

Color banded bird can be reported to me at Mary_Gustafson@nbs.gov with species, a complete description of the marker (type and placement of marker, color of marker, codes if any, etc.), location, date, and your name and STREET ADDRESS. Complete information is needed for these reports!

Bands with addresses from foreign countries can also be called or sent to the US Bird Banding Laboratory. Be sure to state that you have a band with a foreign address!

Pigeon bands are the only legal bands on wild birds that can not be reported to the BBL. Pigeon bands are typically aluminum rings without a break (service bands are split and are curved around the birds leg, pigeon bands are unsplit and are placed on the foot in the nest and the bird grows into it). The aluminum ring is then covered with plastic, and the codes on the band typically have a club code (common ones are IF, AU, NPA, CU), a number of 4-6 digits, and a 2-digit year. Pigeon bands have to be reported to the club that issued them. If you find a banded pigeon and are curious about its origins, contact local pigeon fanciers and ask their help. The Avian Service Center is no longer available to take all reports of banded pigeons.

          Mary Gustafson
          BBL Biologist
          Laurel, MD USA

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The Arundel Quarry, located between the Susquehanna River and Rt. 155 in Havre de Grace, is seeking approval to expand to 3 times it's present size. Arundel is asking Harford County for permission to create a pit 1.3 miles long from the river to Lapidum Road. It will be 1/2 mile wide and 500 feet deep, taking it 350 feet below the Susquehanna River. They are asking to store millions of cubic feet of mining waste in huge piles along Rt. 155 and Lapidum Rd. They also have requested in their zoning application "to permit the disturbance of non-tidal wetlands and waterways by mining and excavation...and to permit noncompliance with the conservation requirements..." .

We have one of the most magnificent natural areas in the country. It would be spoiled forever by a giant hole and millions of cubic feet of mining waste.

Members of surrounding neighborhoods have been meeting for 2 1/2 years to address the many issues involved in this proposed quarry expansion. The first hearing for the special exception (rezoning) will be held at the Harford County Council Chambers at 20 West Courtland in Bel Air on April 16,1997. For further information please contact Tricia Precht at (410) 273-9184 or by e-mail at prechtp@vax2.grc.nia.nih.gov.

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Legislation has been drafted to create a sales tax on such items as wild bird seed, bird houses and baths, binoculars and scopes, and camping and other outdoor recreation equipment, as a way to fund nongame wildlife conservation programs. The legislation is called Teaming With Wildlife (TWW).

A national coalition of organizations to support this initiative has formed, and MOS is a member of the Maryland Coalition. The Harford Bird Club, and all county chapters, have been asked to consider joining the Maryland Coalition. So far, several Harford members have written letters to Congressman Bob Ehrlich, but the club has not yet formally joined the Coalition.

Maryland could receive $5 million for wildlife programs if the legislation were passed. According to the Maryland Coalition, state-level funding for wildlife programs has "virtually disappeared" and nothing is forthcoming through federal programs. Educational programs are cited as a critical need in Maryland, but habitat preservation and other needs could also be addressed.

For more information, or to lend support for the initiative, contact Edith Thompson, TWW Coordinator, Department of Natural Resources, at (410) 974-3195, or write to her at DNR, 580 Taylor Ave. E-1, Annapolis MD 21401. Her e-mail address is ethompson@dnr.state.md.us

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Chorus:
Study ornithology
Mingle with a chickadee
Be the first one in your bunch
To take a phalarope to lunch
You need a fork, you need a knife
You need to join the web of life
You really oughtta look around
Get your eyes up off the ground
Better get into the web

Phalaropes have found it practical
To do what may sound unnatural
Females strut and show their feathers
At phalaropic get togethers
While the males just sit and watch out
Guard the eggs until they hatch out
Ain't them birds great, brought those sex roles up to date
(Chorus)

Blue-Footed Boobies from Galapagos
Dress their feet in sharp and snappy clothes
Eating fishies, shrimp and squid
So two birds can raise one kid
Booby men and booby ladies
Scream at ships while raising babies
Ain't them bird great, help those sailors navigate.
(Chorus)

Bowerbirds in old Australia
Deck their nests with fine regalia
Tin cans, buttons, colored glasses
To attract those bower lasses
When she comes he up and prances
Then they both do courtship dances
Ain't them birds great, using trash to find a mate.
(Chorus)

Birds migrate and that's the mystery
Doin' it since recorded history
Warblers head out oe'r the ocean
Following celestial motion
If it's cloudy, it does not matter
They'll sit around just getting fatter
Ain't them birds grand, heading to vacationland.
(Chorus)

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The Warbler migration is almost upon us, and with it comes the annual Spring Migration Bird Count, a.k.a. the May Count. This well organized bird count will take place all across the United States on Saturday, May 10, and is coordinated out of Maryland! Because of this, it is important for the members of the Harford MOS to put in a good showing. This year we should concentrate on covering as much of our county as possible, and as accurately as possible. Groups will be divided up by ADC map block numbers, and feeder watchers or small area watchers are also needed. Group leaders, group participants, feeder watchers, and anybody else interested in participating in the May Count are very much in need. For more information, please contact Russell Kovach, evenings at 679-0535, as soon as possible. Good birding, and see you all on May 10!

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Many birds in North America migrate north in the spring, breed there in the summer, head south in the fall, and stay there to overwinter. But all birds work on their own schedule, so to speak, and some species migrate at a much different time than others. We typically think of spring migration as occurring during late April and May when warblers and many other passerines move through. However, both some of our more common and our more interesting birds migrate in late winter and early spring. It is these species, along with wintering species, that we find in this season's report.

Sometimes still referred to by its old name, Whistling Swan, the Tundra Swan can be seen migrating overhead on late Feb and early Mar evenings. Fifteen Tundra Swans were seen flying over Heaps School Road on Feb 2 (L&JF). An unusually large flock of 110 swans were spotted migrating over Joppatowne on the evening of Feb 17 (DZ). The highlight bird for this seasons column is the Greater White-fronted Goose that was seen on Lake Mitten from Feb 23-28 (L&JF). This is a species which is rarely seen in the county and is only casually seen on the Eastern Shore. A flock of 15 Snow Geese, not commonly seen away from the Susquehanna here in the county, was seen flying over Bel Air on Mar 8 (MW). The first Wood Duck report was of a male seen on Feb 25 on Lake Mitten (L&JF). Lake Mitten also produced a good variety of other duck species including 2 American Wigeon on Feb 26 and 4 Lesser Scaup on Feb 9 (L&JF). A pond off of Schuster Rd had up to 10 Ring-necked Ducks on it throughout March (L&JF). As to be expected, Conowingo Dam hosted a nice variety of ducks. These include: 22 Common Goldeneye, 60 Bufflehead, and 750 Common Mergansers (above the dam) on Feb 9 and 40 American Black Ducks on Feb 15 (RB).

Raptor reports were mainly of Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawks that had "adopted" bird feeding stations. Raptorial birds which feed on mammalian and avian prey often breed in late winter to insure that there is enough food when the brood demands it most. With that in mind it's only fitting that the second most common raptor reports were of courting Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks. Still a little too soon for most shorebirds, an early Yellowlegs sp. and 3 Common Snipe were found on Mar 19 at Patriot Village APG (DW). Notable sightings of gulls, close relatives of the shorebirds, have been few. Highlights include a first winter Iceland Gull seen at Conowingo Dam on Feb 9 (RB) and a report of a Black-headed Gull there Mar 7.

Small stuff was on the move as well. An Eastern Phoebe was found in a backyard near Susquehanna SP on Mar 11 (LE). More than 20 Tree Swallows were present in Edgewood, over Otter Point Creek, on the early date of Feb 4 (MJ). 20 Rusty Blackbirds were found on APG on Mar 11 (DW). Although many birders think this species to be rare, it is a fairly common migrant and should be looked for in wetland areas throughout March. Some interesting finds from local feeders include 3 Yellow-rumped Warblers which visited a birdbath in Street on Mar 6 (DB), Chipping Sparrows seen at a feeder NW of Fallston on Mar 20 (MJ), and a lone male Purple Finch found at a feeder adjacent to Susquehanna State Park (LE).

As mentioned earlier, Red-tailed hawks have been especially noticeable in the past month.. We mostly see them soaring or peering into a field from a roadside tree. For this reason we tend to think of them as hunters of open field and scrub. This they are, but like their close relatives, the Red-shouldered and Broad-winged hawks, they are also proficient woodland hunters. One observer was recently lucky enough to see a Red-tail perched on a guardrail with a squirrel in its talons. This is rarely seen and is certainly interesting to note by itself. But this also conveniently illustrates a recurring theme in all aspects of birding - rarely seen things aren't always rare, sometimes just rarely seen.

Observers: Rick Blom (RB), Deborah Bowers (DB), Les Eastman (LE), Larry and Jean Fry (L&JF), Dave Webb (DW), Marsha Webb (MW), and Dave Ziolkowski Jr. (DZ).

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We also had a lot of activity from Barred and Great Horned Owls, some calling in the distance, and in one case, actually flying in overhead.

This was the best three nights we have had in recent years in our search for Woodcock. We think we have found a good spot for future trips and hope more people can come out next year and join in the fun!

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Dinner Meeting Reservation Form

Please return to Barbara Siebens, P.O. Box 68, Pylesville, MD 21132-0068 
by Wednesday, April 16, 1997

                __________ Number of adults ( at $10.00 each )
                __________ Number of children 12 and under ( at $6.00 each )

                Please make checks payable to Harford County MOS.

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                         Print your name(s)

Include address and phone number if you would like transportation to the meeting.
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