Quiet Waters Park Birds in the Winter
Early on a January morning Jim Collatz and Jack Turner met up at the park to count all the birds they would see that day as part of the Audubon Christmas Bird Count, surveying the entire park. Jim and Jack spent 5 ½ hours walking over 6 miles of the Park’s trails. Below we’ve included a few of the photos that Jack Turner took on that day.
While alert for sounds and movement they were reminded of the abundance of bird life in the Chesapeake region in general and Quiet Waters Park in particular, especially in winter. Based on bird checklists there are more species of birds in and around the Park in January than in July. Many of our winter waterfowl arrive after raising their young in the northern Canadian summer. As winter arrives up north waterfowl descend on the South River to wait for their breeding grounds to thaw. While they wait, they feast on the fish, arthropods, and mollusks found in the Bay and the river.
Jim and Jack started at the South River overlook. Bufflehead ducks are first to arrive in November, last to leave in March, and they are the most commonly seen diver along the shores of the river. They saw large flocks of diving ducks such as Canvasbacks, Scoters, Ruddy Ducks and Scaups, sometimes in groups of hundreds.
Taking the paved trail from the overlook at the mouth of Harness Creek to the boat rental pier further up the creek where the waters are more sheltered, they found colorful Hooded Mergansers along with the ubiquitous Buffleheads and Ruddy Ducks. They also saw some of our year-round residents the Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, Belted Kingfisher, Double-Crested Cormorant, Mallard, and Canada Goose.
Along the Park trails through the woods and meadows they encountered the expected winter visitors including Yellow-bellied sapsucker, Dark-eyed Junco, White-throated Sparrow, 2 kinds of Kinglets, Brown Creeper among others. Looking closely in the understory they spied a bold Hermit Thrush bobbing its tail.
Our year round birds also showed up on the day’s survey but too many to call all out. Some of their favorites were Pileated Woodpecker, Bluebird, and Red-shouldered Hawk.
If you find any of this interesting consider joining the Quiet Waters Park Bird Club for their monthly bird walks from September to May. For further information see the visit https://mdbirds.org/join/chapters/anne-arundel-bird-club/.
Photos taken by Jack Turner.
