BLACKWATERS' WINTERING BIRDS

     Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge is near the Chesapeake Bay on Maryland's flat Eastern Shore, halfway down that estuary.  I watched that refuge's wintering birds through its live cameras and our home computer screen from mid-November, 2022 to late February of 2023.

     I enjoyed the beauties of the Blackwater River, marshes of yellow-brown phragmites and tall grass and the channels that flow through those marshes, and the green of loblolly pine woods.  Those natural habitats make the refuge appear wild and lovely, even during the dormancy of winter.  

     Flocks of majestic Canada geese, elegant tundra swans, stream-lined northern pintail ducks and graceful ring-billed gulls, and a few each of great blue herons, bald eagles, northern harriers and red-winged blackbirds dominated Blackwater's above-mentioned, natural habitats, and its human-made impoundments through winter.  The constant, day and night calling of the geese and swans was always a joy to hear.  And I enjoyed the late afternoon streams of ring-bills going to roost on a mudflat known only to them.

     The incoming or outgoing, silhouetted-black flights of flocks of stately geese, swans and gulls were always thrilling and inspiring to see winging in formations before brilliant winter sunsets late in sunny afternoons.  The noisy geese and swans usually were going out to harvested cornfields to feed on corn kernels on the ground.  

     Sunsets, I think, were the most lovely time of each winter day at Blackwater.  They brightened the landscape, made the sky interesting and beautifully silhouetted water birds on the water and in the air.  

     Pintail ducks engaged in courtship flights through winter, flights that were exciting to see.  Four to six drake pintails together courted a pintail hen on the water.  Suddenly each one of those hens would take swift flight, with an entourage of drakes winging behind her.  Each group of airborne pintails swept over water and marshes, twisting and turning all the while at breakneck speed.  And the male who could keep up with her got to be her mate.   

     Occasionally, I saw a great blue heron stalking fish in the shallows of a channel in a marsh, or a harrier cruising slowly and low to the ground, as it watched and listened for mice and small birds.

     I saw a couple pairs of bald eagles wintering at Blackwater, where they preyed on fish and ducks.  It also looked as if they might nest there, as well.     

     Readers, too, can watch wildlife and sunsets at Blackwater through the refuge's live cameras and a computer screen.  The refuge's habitats and creatures are quite delightful to experience.  

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