Date: Tue, 28 Nov 2000 18:13:42 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Arlene Ripley Subject: Flag Ponds/Snow Buntings 11/28/00 Comments: To: MD-SMAS-GENERAL@LIST.AUDUBON.ORG Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed At mid-morning I found a single first winter Snow Bunting (at least I think it's first winter) on the beach at Flag Ponds Park in Calvert County. The bird allowed me to video it and when it finally decided to fly and vocalize, sixteen other Snow Buntings appeared and the flock few off. The single bird circled above and then returned to the beach. This was my first sighting of Snow Buntings at Flag Ponds although I have seen them at Cove Point in 1998. I have posted a photo of the bird here: . Other birds seen: Mute Swan - 2 American Widgeon - 2 Mallard - 15 American Black Duck - 6 Hooded Merganser - 1 Long-tailed Duck (Oldsquaw) - 15 Bufflehead - 64 Turkey Vulture - 1 Bald Eagle - 2 adults Red-shouldered Hawk - 2 Ring-billed Gull - 8 Herring Gull - 35 Bonaparte's Gull - >100 far offshore, 10 near the beach Common Loon - 1 Mourning Dove - 6 Belted Kingfisher - 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker - 3 Downy Woodpecker - 1 Hairy Woodpecker - 3 Northern Flicker - 2 Pileated Woodpecker - 1 American Crow - 11 Cedar Waxwing - 26 Hermit Thrush - 1 Carolina Wren - 3 Winter Wren - 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 2 Golden-crowned Kinglet - 4 Carolina Chickadee - 5 Tufted Titmouse - 4 American Goldfinch - 2 Yellow-rumped Warbler - >100 (probably >200!) Song Sparrow - 1 White-throated Sparrow - 5 Dark-eyed Junco - 2 Northern Cardinal - 1 Red-winged Blackbird -1 and one Question Mark butterfly. ///////// Arlene Ripley | || Calvert County, MD | 0 || aripley@nestbox.com | || http://www.nestbox.com || ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================