Birds Enroute To & From Work

My drive to and from work each day is 50 minutes of very little traffic through Maryland’s Eastern Shore farmlands and woods on Route 301. It’s an unstressful drive, where you can turn the radio up, put on the cruise control (a MUST!), and enjoy the beautiful rolling landscape. And if you keep an eye out, you will be treated with a wide variety of birds throughout the year. I usually have my camera but if I cannot quickly pull over safely, I just enjoy the sighting as I pass by. The turn-arounds and distance between them can be 5+ miles, so I rarely will do that. Well, maybe I have for an eagle if I’m not running too late. 🙂

I had previously posted about the Snow Geese sightings and have been lucky to see them constantly since. I actually saw a small flock landing in the rain on a farm on my way home tonight. A frequent spot that I previously mentioned was at Rolling Bridge Road off Rt 301. One day I got to see Snow Geese going through a huge lift-off at a distance. The sighting and noise was beautiful!

Two days later carpooling with hubby, I spotted a smaller flock of the Snow Geese there again, and this time they were close to the road. Rick turned onto Rolling Bridge which put me alongside them as they busily pecked through the recent snowdusting we’d gotten, while a few continued to land. I was able to slip out of the truck without much movement to photograph them.

Notice the American Bald Eagle in the next photo in the large tree on the right. I didn’t see him until I reviewed my photos on my computer. I thought that was cool!

Several times recently I have been amazed at the sightings of Wild Turkeys! All these years up and down Route 301, and I had never seen one until last fall when one came flying across the road in front of me (that almost scared the you-know-what out of me!) and then those this past month. I had no idea they were out there.

Wild Turkeys

While photographing them, three deer came out of the woods and paused to feed with the Wild Turkeys.

Wild Turkey and Deer

There are always a couple of Red-Tailed Hawks along the way to and from work. Of all the wooded area and farmland, it seems funny that they perch to scope out the dual highway and the grassland between as a place to locate food. They will swoop down out of the tree to the middle and pounce on probably a small rodent, all while watching you pass by. If I spot one perched across the highway and can pull over quickly, I am lucky if I can get a decent shot because they usually take flight immediately. So, after many attempts this past month, here’s a somewhat decent shot of one.

Red-tailed Hawk

I will admit I am confused on identifying this next hawk. I first thought it was a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk but after looking at too many more photos, I’ve started second guessing myself. Broad-winged Hawk? Northern Harrier? This one took flight immediately and I got some flight shots which would/should help with the ID. Would someone be so gracious to help me out with this one? Appreciate it!!

Hawk

On my way home when I ramp off Rt 301 at Kent Narrows, there is water alongside the ramp and the Holiday Inn. I always look to see what’s visiting there. I spotted this next Great Blue Heron on a piling. Neat op I thought! I pulled into the Holiday Inn parking lot and walked down to the water but I was still at a distance from him for a close shot. Here he is enjoying the sun setting.