North Point State Park - Beginner Bird Walk

North Point State Park is on the Chesapeake Bay and used to be not only an amusement park between 1906 and 1947, but the sight of skirmishes between the locals and British during the war of 1812!   When Bethlehem Steel bought the land in the 1940's, the recreational park was demolished, and then in 1987 the Maryland DNR purchased it and protected it.

This is an interesting park of 1320 acres with varied habitat and miles of shoreline on the Bay.  Since this was a bird walk for beginners, we were concentrating on seeing and identifying both dabbling and diving ducks.  We enjoyed walking along the Black Marsh Trail and then the jetty to spot not only ducks but some other nice winter visitors.   Please enjoy the pictures from our field trip and join us next time!

One of the tidal marshes along Black Marsh Trail.

 One of the best birds spotted today were the White-winged Crossbills which perched very close to us before they flew down to take a drink.  These Crossbill photos are by Fred Brundick.

Other birds noted along the trail were Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Gadwall, Pied-billed Grebe, Red-shouldered Hawk, Belted Kingfisher, Hairy Woodpecker, and Hooded Merganser.  The ducks and Mergansers were very skittish.



We then headed to the jetty where we added Bald Eagle, Buffleheads, Lesser Scaup, and Long-tailed Ducks to our list.

 A few lighthouses could be seen from the end of the jetty. 

Conowingo Dam

Unlike past years, the weather today was perfect for Eagle watching at Conowingo Dam.  Over 170 adult and immature Bald Eagles were spotted.  They were either soaring directly over our heads, or perched on the distant rocks and towers.





 



Black Vultures were numerous and will rip the windshield wipers off your car when you're not looking! 

Watching Bald Eagles here  is popular with both birders and photographers.

 

We headed over the the marina in Havre de Grace and walked on the Promenade. 

We noticed this Song Sparrow during our walk along with Golden-Crowned Kinglets, Brown Creeper, Mockingbird, Mallards, Canada Geese, Great Black-backed Gull, Double Crested Cormorant, and Ring-billed Gulls.

The Concord Lighthouse was our turnaround point.  We then drove into Havre de Grace and had a hearty lunch at MacGregor's Restaurant.  Thanks everyone for a fun day!