Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2001 07:37:15 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Bill Schreitz Subject: Nelson's Sharptail Sparrow on Port Mahon Road MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I birded Port Mahon Road Sunday morning on 27 May. I only covered a small section: from the point where the road first allows an unobstructed view of the beach to the point less than 100 yards further where the stream winds through the mini-mudflats, goes under the road, and empties into the bay. It was there, some forty feet back from the road, on the dark mud going in and out of the vegetation, that I saw a Nelson's sharptail sparrow. It was around 8:00 AM. I had been looking intently in that area for any one of three clapper rails I had been hearing. I have seen the saltwater variety only once before. It was far less brilliant orange and the transition from breast to belly was gradual - not at all the clean break like on this bird. I had three good looks - enough time to see a gray stripe through the crown and to take a quick couple of photos. The photos were taken by pressing a 460 zoom Olympus digital camera up to a 821 Kowa scope. This was my first attempt with this method, and the results were less brilliant, but credible. There was a post the week before by Joe Halprin indicating that he had heard a Nelson's Sharptail singing on Port Mahon Road. Sorry for the late post, but I wasn't sure Delaware posts were cricket. I have seen more such posts recently, particularly in this area, so I figure it's okay. Bill WILLIAM B SCHREITZ CABINETMAKER INC 1806 VIRGINIA STREET ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND 21041 cabmkrwbs@erols.com ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================