Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2000 19:25:12 EST Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Marshall Iliff Subject: Bird sightings from the week MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hello all, I have been away from computers and mostly birding, so have not posted a number of the good bird sightings recently. Below is an attempt to catch up. Please feel free to contact me if you need more info. * The Lark Sparrow in Annapolis was seen on Saturday, 8 Jan and is undoubtedly still present. If anyone is interested in seeing it please feel free to contact me for specifics. * The Le Conte's Sparrow was still present at Point Lookout SP 6 Jan 2000, but did not offer great looks. The Point itself had 50+ N. GAnnets, and all three scoter species (about 10 White-winged). On Patuxent Naval Air Station with Kyle Rambo and Kelly Hutton ,we were treated to 100+ Lapland Longspurs, 50 Horned Larks, and 50 Snow Buntings. On Sunday, 9 Jan, 2000, Jim Stasz, Matt Hafner, George Armistead and myself birded our way back along the Eastern Shore. Highlights were * 3 adult Black-legged Kittiwakes feeding 1/4-3/4 mi off Assateague, seen from the dune crossings near campsite 74. There were also c. 120 Red-throated Loons, 30 Horned Grebes, 5 Northern Gannets, and 20 Common Loons. An adult Lesser Black-backed Gull was on the beach, and Jim and Matt had knockout views of a Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed in the marsh there (Life of the Marsh trail area). * 1 Orange-crowned Warbler was found by George at campsite #74 in the NAtional Seashore and easily relocated by us an hour later. This bird may hang tight in that area and hopefully will be easy for others to relocate. It is responsive to spishing and was giving their distinctive Field Sparrow-like chip. * 2 Clay-colored Sparrows, 1 Sedge Wren, and 1 AMERICAN TREE SPARROW (rare bird for coastal MD!) at the Wal-Mart Sparrow field off Rte. 50. Directions have been posted previously. We did not refind any of the other goodies or possible goodies there, but I'd be willing to wager that there is a Lincoln;s Sparrow somewhere in that field... * After leaving Wal-Mart we decided to go find a Le Conte's Sparrow, or at least look in some likely habitat. The first spot we checked was E. A. Vaughn (north section, where the pond is) and in fairly short order (about 1 hour) we flushed one from the pond edge in the same area Jim and I found one last May. I am CONVINCED that the species is a _regular_ winterer on the MD coast, and that finding one is only a matter of keying into the right habitat and making an effort. A testament to their elusive nature though was that our bird represented the 11th state record. Harris's Sparrow (17), Fulvous Whistling-Duck (20+), American White Pelican (c. 22), Pine Grosbeak (40+), Northern Shrike (50+), all have significantly more records... * 1 Merlin on a telephone pole near Girdletree. * 2 Short-eared Owls were over the Easton Waste Water Treatment Plant fields, seen from the service road on the south side of the facility. * 25 Lapland Longspurs northwest of Ridgely, Caroline County - I can provide directions for those that are interested. This is a consistent winter locaton for the species. On 11 Jan I was down in Saint Mary's County. * Kelp Gull was still present at Sandgates and hanging out close to some GBBGs for comparison. I was _really_ surprised at the extent of head streaking on the bird - pure Kelps are not "supposed" to show any, or at least very little. This certainly exceeded the maximum shown by Great Black-backed (but was still far from Herring). Not sure what that means, if anything. Jane/Tyler/others, what did we learn about the progression of the head streaking this year? Has the head been well streaked since November? December? * Also that day were 14+ Northern Harriers, 1 Common Snipe, 1 Short-eared Owl, and 4 Dunlin at Allen's Fresh, Charles County. On 12 Jan 2000 I made a couple checks of Jug Bay for the reported Black-headed Gull. I dipped on that bird but found an adult Lesser Black-backed both times I visited, and had a nice immie Cooper's hunting the marsh as well as 6 Common Mergansers in the river. On 13 Jan 2000 I got good looks at the Dickcissel at Lake Elkhorn, Howard County. It was in the bushes just off the north edge of the spillway, near the houses, where it has been most often seen previously. There is significant black on the throat now. Still working for some more birds. In my perennial silliness, I am working on a Big January total. I still have some silly holes, but am pleased to be sitting at 158 on this fairly early date. My previous attempts have finished with 170 (1998) and 176 (1999). Gets me out birding...look for the full report on that nonsense towards the end of the month. Best, Marshall Iliff miliff@aol.com ============ Marshall J. Iliff Annapolis, MD miliff@aol.com ============= ================================================================= To unsubscribe send a message to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ==========================================================================================================================================