Date: 1/21/13 3:17 pm
From: Kye jenkins <kyebird54...>
Subject: [MDBirding] Re: Say's Phoebe - more details


On Saturday, January 19, 2013 9:20:17 PM UTC-5, Bob Ringler wrote:
> I just returned home from the tally for the Carroll County Winter Bird Count. The total was 88 species which is very good, probably because of all the open water.
>
> �� This afternoon I was traveling east on Forest & Stream Club Road approaching the intersection with Keysville Road S. The intersection�is about a mile north of Detour. I could see a bird flycatching at the intersection. As I got closer it flew up and landed on the top of the ladder of the tall silo. It flew from there to the roof of a house to the right, the one with red shutters. It continued flycatching (temperature was in the low 50s) flying from the roof to nearby small trees and back to the roof. When perched it prominently wagged its tail. This was about 2:50-2:55 PM. Since I was facing east the sun was behind me at this hour.
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> �� The bird was Phoebe-sized and I expected an Eastern Phoebe until I got a good look at the underparts. The upperparts were dark and unmarked. The wings were dark and the flight feathers were edged with white but there were no wing bars. The throat and breast were gray. The belly and undertail coverts were dull cinnamon. The tail was slightly notched. I had stopped the car�in the middle of�Keysville Road and was watching from a distance of about 50 feet.
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> �� There are no good places to stop�along Keysville Road. Forest and Stream Club Road is better though the shoulder is a little soft. Through traffic on Keysville Road is usually fast. Since the bird was very active it could be anywhere in the general area.
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> �� Other birds on the count included a good variety of ducks at Piney Run, Study Road, Cranberry Reservoir, and Liberty Lake, two White-winged Crossbills at Piney Run, and three Short-eared Owls on Bullfrog Road.
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> --
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> Bob Ringler
>
> Eldersburg MD

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