Date:         Fri, 20 Jul 2001 22:10:20 -0400
Reply-To:     Maryland Birds & Birding <MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
Sender:       Maryland Birds & Birding <MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
From:         Rob Gibbs <robgibbs@STARPOWER.NET>
Subject:      Re: Vesper Sparrows
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We had nesting (or at least singing and chasing) vesper sparrows in a large
soybean field North of Germantown about a month ago.  It occured to me at the
time that these row crop fields, particularly in early summer, are very similar
to the preferred habitat of many field birds - that being low sparse vegetation
with lots of bare soil.  It seems to me that birds often focus on habitat
structure rather than plant species present.  I was reminded of this about a week
ago when I found hooded warblers (an uncommon breeder in Mont. Co) with young in
a wooded area that was one of the saddest excuses for a forest you'd want to see
- the canopy trees were OK but the entire understory was exotic invasives mostly
multiflora rose.  But it served the birds needs structurally.

--
Rob Gibbs
Damascus, MD
robgibbs@starpower.net

Rick Sussman wrote:

> In a message dated 7/18/2001 8:32:47 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> mozurk@BELLATLANTIC.NET writes:
>
> > corn fields are the
> > habitat you want to check to find breeding Vesper Sparrows in this part of
> >
>
> Interestingly, the only Vesper Sparrow I've ever had in Montgomery County was
>  seen in a cornfield, but, alas, it was in October! I was checking for Conn.
> Warblers, which are also said to like this sort of edge-scrub habitat
> provided by cornfields, so don't give up looking there!
>
> Rick Sussman
> Ashton,MD
> warblerick@aol.com
>
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