Date: 9/16/12 8:54 am
From: Gail B. Mackiernan %<3Ckatahdinss...>%3E <katahdinss...>
Subject: [MDBirding] Connecticut Warbler, Clay-colored Sp. @ Wheaton regional Park


Hi all,


First day out after returning from the cruise. Migrant diversity was good though numbers rather low. The two highlights were the CLAY-COLORED SPARROW first picked out by Jared Fisher in the Chipping Sparrow flock, as well as a CONNECTICUT WARBLER that my husband Barry saw but I missed :-( -- Dave Gersten also got a glimpse as it flew off into rather open woods never to be seen again! Barry had been specifically combing the spots which look good for COWA and was rewarded when the large, chunky bird flew up into a low branch and gave him good views for about 15 seconds! As we were leaving, we noticed a couple of Empids flitting about near the mini-train tunnel and then the Chipping sparrow flock feeding in the mowed area nearby, including the all-white bird. Going through them Jared Fisher thought he saw a "possible" and then there it was -- Clay-Colored Sparrow. Both Victoria Fisher and Evelyn Ralston managed good photos as it proved far more cooperative than the COWA. About 14-15 species of warbler were seen, not all of them by everyone however. Other good birds included a fly-over MERLIN, two fly-over BROAD-WINGED HAWKS, a YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER trying to swallow a chokecherry and almost choking on it (!), and a heard-only Red-Breasted Nuthatch in the pines. Good numbers of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks squeaked about as well.


Great morning!


Gail Mackiernan and Barry Cooper
Colesville, MD


Highlights:


Wheaton Regional Park and Brookside Gardens, Montgomery, US-MD
Sep 16, 2012 7:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
2.0 mile(s)
Comments: Cloudy early, after sun came out it became more active. No wind. Migrant diversity good, but numbers overall rather low.
60 species (+2 other taxa)

Green Heron 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Broad-winged Hawk 2
Mourning Dove 8
Chimney Swift 3
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1
Belted Kingfisher 1
Merlin 1 fly-over
Eastern Wood-Pewee 4
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 1
Acadian Flycatcher 1
Alder/Willow Flycatcher (Traill's Flycatcher) 1
Least Flycatcher 1
Empidonax sp. 1
Eastern Phoebe 1
Blue-headed Vireo 1 heard only
Red-eyed Vireo 6
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1 heard only
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
Eastern Bluebird 2
Swainson's Thrush 2
Brown Thrasher 3
Ovenbird 1 @ Brookside Gardens
Tennessee Warbler 2
Nashville Warbler 1
Connecticut Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 8
American Redstart 4
Northern Parula 1
Magnolia Warbler 6
Bay-breasted Warbler 1
Chestnut-sided Warbler 3
Black-throated Blue Warbler 2
Black-throated Green Warbler 3
Chipping Sparrow 15 including leucistic individual (white, dark eyes, pink bill)
Clay-colored Sparrow 1
Scarlet Tanager 5
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 6

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