Day 11,  Tuesday May 4, 2021 At Rollin Pines, Woodbine MD

The squirrels really got to the feeders today and knocked down the Oriole Feeder completely. One of the plans today was to get a baffle for the feeder  pole, and secure the tops of the feeder with a piece of tin, to keep them from getting on top of the feeder. We did buy some tin later today at Ace Hardware , now we will see if it will work.

Ruth  had an appointment to see about and eye that was either an eyelash stuck, an infection of something else. Later we found out.
But, we packed the proverbial lunch and headed south of I-70 to the valley of the Patuxent  River State Park .It is an “Open”Park as it has no entry or exit as we know it.  It has many roads that meander along it’s boundaries where the river courses. We stopped at three spots and searched for birds there.

The three we stopped at were; Annapolis Rock, Hipsley Mill, and Howard Chapel.  Because there are no defined locations, we merely parked where convenient and looked for birds there. It had rained heavy last night, so any large parking area was very sticky as the land is all clay.

In the middle of all of this bird watching was this home with these beautiful Azaleas.

 

Hipsleys Mill was the best as we did see and watched for 45 minutes a pair Indigo Buntings looking for food in a large meadow area.  They soared back and forth all the time we were there. There were downed trees and many vines making for good cover for the birds. We also saw a Crested Flycatcher there.
At a  few places we could actually stop on the road as there was no traffic at all. It was a narrow two lane macadam road. So it was good traveling. That state park stretches for 20 miles along the Patuxent River.

At one site (Howard Chapel) ,we did eat our lunch, but no birds appeared although they were heard quite strongly.

 Then it was time to head for Mt. Airy (15 miles distant) and get Ruth to the eye clinic.  Finding the place took a while and do you remember the lady Barber Vicki in two episodes ago? Well, she came through again and directed us to the building , as we absolutely could not find it. No we do not use anything but maps and the computer for guidance.  It works for us and we laugh about the “getting lost “part. Ruth had a scratch on the cornea so we will take care of that with drops and an anti-bacteria. Every three hours  until Friday when he checks it again.

We did pick up some tin at the Ace Hardware, but no baffles were to be found. We need to find a bird store maybe in Fredericksburg on the way to the KOA  near there.

 

Patuxent River birding area.

                                             (right) The trail at Hisleys Mill area

 

 

It is a pleasant 68 F this evening (8 PM) and will probab;y stay near there all night. There were heavy rains and thunderstorm over on Chesapeake Bay area today, and we heard thunder but just a little rain.

Tomorrow we will search in Maryland’s largest Park  called Patasco . It stretches along the River of the same name and is 16,000 acres along the river.

Catch you tomorrow we hope.