Date: Mon, 23 Oct 2000 17:58:41 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Michael Bowen Subject: local sightings Comments: To: voice@capaccess.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed At Meadowside Park/Candy Cane City today (Montgomery Co. MD, just south of East-West Highway, Chevy Chase, MD) there was lots of activity, particularly near the horse paddock and on the trails by Rock Creek: Many sparrows - predominantly SONG, WHITE-THROATED, and SWAMP, with at least 1 juvenal WHITE-CROWNED and lots of DARK-EYED JUNCOS. Numbers of both KINGLET species were down a bit from last week, but lots of YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS still around. AMERICAN ROBINS still present in large numbers. A pair of WOOD DUCK was still in Rock Creek. Along the Anacostia River in DC, there were 100-200 LAUGHING GULLS along with the customary, more numerous RING-BILLED. Try as I might (and I did try) I could not convert any of the Laughings into a Franklin's Gull! In one of the gull loafing areas near the Anacostia Park Skating Rink, a 4th winter LESSER BLACK-BILLED GULL with head streaking just coming in was preening with some HERRING GULLS. (Note on October 13 in the same location I saw (but didn't report - apologies!) an adult LBBG in breeding plumage -- that bird had bright yellow legs and no head streaking whatsoever - it looked like it had just stepped off a nest in Scandinavia; it was a very dark fuscus). Today's LBBG looked like most of its species that we see hereabouts in winter, with pale yellow legs and medium yellow bill and lots of fine streaking around the eye and back of the head. In the nearby Anacostia "wetlands" there was a juvenal WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW along with a bunch of SONG SPARROWS. The area is drying out fast and may be too dry for SNIPE when they come through in the next migratory push. I saw my first RUSTY BLACKBIRD of the season there on October 13 but did NOT see one there today. (The WHITE-CROWN was species #191 for me in DC.) Mike Bowen Bethesda, Maryland Montgomery County Chapter, MOS ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================