Monday, February 16, 2009

School's Out Bird Count February 16, 2009


The Howard County Conservancy's School's Out Program participated in the Audubon bird count on February 16, 2009. Participating in the bird count were Tabby Fique, Education Director and students Patrick Swentzel, Colin Steplowski, Lewis and Sidney Hollander, Emily Tardell, Meg and Caroline Tippett, Anna Boyd, Kevin Aguilera, Ivy Liu and Dylan Boswell. This is what they saw:

3 Black Vultures
1 Turkey Vulture
1 Mourning Dove
1 Red-shouldered Hawk
1 Red-bellied woodpecker
1 Downy Woodpecker
5 Carolina Chickadee
1 Tufted Titmouse
1 Red-breasted Nuthatch
3 White-breasted Nuthatch
5 Eastern Bluebird
1 European Starlings
1 Warbler
2 Song Sparrow
5 Dark eyed Junco
7 Northern Cardinal
1 Common Grackle
5 House Finch

Monday, February 9, 2009

Howard County Bird Club Count

The Howard County Bird Club conducted a mid-winter bird count at the Conservancy on February 7th. Here are their results:

The Club was on the property from 7:00 to 11:00 a.m. and found 32 species, down from last year’s 35 species. The biggest miss was American Tree Sparrows. Mount Pleasant has consistently yielded American Tree Sparrows for the Mid-Winter Count for as long as I’ve covered the farm, so this was a big surprise. But we had two new species, one Brown Thrasher, and six Pine Siskins. Brown Thrasher is a new species for winter on Mount Pleasant. I see that Pine Siskin is already on the list, but no season has yet been designated for it. At least four were visiting the feeders behind the Gudelsky Center. We found two more at the north edge of the big field owned the State


The count:


Canada Goose 12
Black Vulture 1
Turkey Vulture 1
Ring-billed Gull 32
gull species 7
Rock Pigeon 2
Mourning Dove 3
Red-bellied Woodpecker 6
Downy Woodpecker 6
Northern Flicker 2
Pileated Woodpecker 2
Blue Jay 16
American Crow 32
Fish Crow 6
crow species 2
Carolina Chickadee 13
Tufted Titmouse 11
White-breasted Nuthatch 4
Carolina Wren 3
Eastern Bluebird 12
Northern Mockingbird 9
Brown Thrasher 1
European Starling 21
Eastern Towhee 5
Song Sparrow 29
White-throated Sparrow 26
Dark-eyed Junco 25
Northern Cardinal 12
Red-winged Blackbird 6
Common Grackle 2
blackbird species 300
House Finch 11
Pine Siskin 6
American Goldfinch 19

The Howard County Conservancy would like to thank the Howard County Bird Club for conducting this count at Mt. Pleasant.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Recently seen at the Conservancy

Richard Orr from Mid-Atlantic Invertebrate Field Studies has been hiking the property and shares these finds. Enjoy!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dragonflyhunter/sets/72157606790070356/

Thursday, June 26, 2008

New babies at the Conservancy



We are the proud parents of four baby chicks and three baby terrapins. The chicks are 2 Americana, 2 Golden Polish. The terrapins will be cared for here until they are ready to release this fall. They were found in a hotel parking lot. Our summer campers will give them lots of TLC to help them grow strong.

Friday, April 18, 2008

Chipping Sparrows


Chipping Sparrows are singing around the farmhouse. Look for their bright chestnut crown and listen for their dry trill, all on one pitch.

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Cooper's Hawk Sighting


On Sunday, March 9, 2008 I arrived at the Conservancy to find a Coopers Hawk perched on one of the chairs on the back porch. The hawk was likely stalking our bird feeders looking for a meal. I ran and got the camera; this was not an opportunity that I was going to miss. The hawk flew up onto the bird feeder and I snapped the picture. I then proceeded to follow it into our field before it finally flew off.

Friday, November 2, 2007

Persimmons and weasels

Oops, I was wrong! After a little bit of research we now think the weasel is a mink, which is still in the weasel family. I actually find it very fascinating that a mink would be on our property, considering that it really doesn't have large bodies of water. It must of been following the east branch in search of some water during the drought. The east branch does eventually hit the Patapsco, maybe that is where it came from.

Today hiking with the school's out children we ran into several persimmon trees. Not quite ready to eat, leaving a very dry feeling in your mouth. The word persimmon is derived from putchamin, pasiminan, or pessamin, from Cree, an Algonquian language of the eastern United States, meaning "a dry fruit". No wonder - if you ever tasted an unripe persimmon you would understand.