Date: Thu, 8 Feb 2001 16:15:20 -0500 Reply-To: Robert Ringler Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Robert Ringler Subject: GREENFINCH in Maryland MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable A Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris) has been coming to a feeder in = Washington County, Maryland since Monday. It is a male, probably less = than one year old. This is a European species that has been found a few = times in North America, but the AOU and ABA have never accepted the bird = for the North American list because it is kept in captivity and the = probability for an escape is greater than for a vagrant. Consider this = before you decide you want to see it. The bird has been visiting the feeder of Mr. & Mrs. Carl Hull. They = are agreeable to having visitors, but this presents some problems. = First, the bird seems to be extremely wary and has not been seen by = anyone outside the house. Second, it makes only short visits to the = feeder, a few seconds to two minutes. Third, its visits to the feeder = are infrequent, 2-4 hours apart. Fourth, there is very little parking = space next to the house from which you can view the feeder without = getting out of the car. Fifth, hawks patrol the area and scatter the = birds frequently. They have had a few local visitors so far and Paul O'Brien and = myself have checked out the logistics and confirmed the identification. = If you are lucky the bird may appear within a short time. My experience = today in four hours of watching was two views of the bird of about three = seconds duration each. The probability of getting a good look at this = bird seems to be low. With all this in mind the Hulls agreed to have the sighting posted = with directions to their house. They do not want people calling them = for directions or to find the latest status of the bird. Please be = respectful of the private property if you decide to visit. Directions - If approaching from anywhere east of Hancock take I-70 west = to Exit 5, Route 615. Where the ramp forks keep left and turn left onto = 615 North. Continue 0.3 mile to Hollow Road and turn right. Go north = on Hollow Road about 2.5 miles (0.3 mile past Slabtown Road). The = entrance to the Hull's lane is on the right and is marked by a white = sign on a telephone pole. It reads District Co-operator, Carl Hull. = The lane may be muddy. The house is on the left less than 0.2 mile off = Hollow Road. The Hulls say you can drive to the house and park on the = concrete area next to the house. This is on the side farthest away from = Hollow Road. There is space for two cars to squeeze in. You will be = able to see the large feeding station to the left behind the house. It = might be possible for other vehicles to park a little farther away and = see the feeder but you would be too far away to see well. Remember if = you get out of the car there is a good probability that no one will see = the bird. If you have any questions feel free to ask me. The Hulls will keep = me posted daily on the status of the bird and I will relay this to = MDOsprey for anyone interested. Bob Ringler Eldersburg, Md ringler@qis.net ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================