Species

Great Blue Heron, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Canada Goose, Wood Duck, Mallard, Bald Eagle, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Ring-billed Gull, Herring Gull, Mourning Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Downy Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, Blue Jay, American Crow, Fish Crow, Common Raven, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Carolina Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Bluebird, American Robin, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Eastern Towhee, Song Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, House Finch, House Sparrow

Bill Sefton reports:

A very windy day with gusts above 40 mph greeted the 8 birders who braved the lion’s roar on this early March walk. Fortunately, the temperatures were mild and the trees lining the side of the path provided enough of a buffer against the wind to make for some decent birding conditions. The Eastern Bluebirds were glowing in the sunlight as they perched along the path and Red-breasted Nuthatches put on quite a show for us zipping around in the pines. But this walk took a dark turn when we started down the path to the Patuxent River.

We were about a 300 yards along the way when we found a Bald Eagle on the ground just inches from the edge of the path. Honestly, there wasn’t much hope for the bird – it may have been hit by a MARC train or perhaps one of the crazy wind gusts slammed it into the power lines above the tracks – but the injuries were severe. Huge kudos to Dave and Lynette on this one. They tag-teamed to get in touch with the Department of Natural Resources, opened the gates for them, and waited near the eagle for more than an hour before the DNR people arrived. The bird had perked up a bit by the time the rest of us made our way down to the river and back – enough so that it had managed to cross the path and edged its way into the tree line.

When the DNR arrived, they dropped a net over the eagle, and then cradled it like a baby (see photo below) before gently putting it in a crate. They said that Bald Eagles generally do not do well in captivity so it was likely that they would have to euthanize the bird. Not what we were hoping for but not unexpected.