Date: Sun, 11 Nov 2001 20:43:33 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Rob Hilton Subject: DC Ash-throated Flycatcher Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed An Ash-throated Flycatcher was found by Lisa Shannon and I this morning at Kenilworth Park in Northeast Washington, DC. The bird was at the back corner of the no-mow area, which is on the right side of the paved road behind the first two soccer fields. It was feeding on berries of Japanese Honeysuckle vines draped over a clump of sumacs that had lost most of their leaves. We were within 60 feet of the bird as it calmly fed; we watched it from about or just before 9:30 am to almost 9:50 am. We saw the most of it during the first ten minutes or so; it eventually moved to within the center of the tangle and after about another ten minutes of not seeing the bird we left the park at about 10 am. It did not seem concerned by our presence. It did not vocalize. It was a very pale Myiarchus that seemed shorter in length than and similar in shape to a Great Crested, and was very pale, in some lights looking virtually white below, in others, pale gray-chested and pale yellow-bellied (each color pale). The head, which was plain, was pale gray-green and had a bushy crown; the back was similar in color. Depending on whether the bird was in shade or sunlight, the chest varied from almost white to pale gray. Similarly, the belly varied from off-white to a distinctly pale yellow color. The tertials were a dark brown, almost blackish color, evenly edged with a somewhat narrow lightish color. The bill as all dark and longer than that of a phoebe. There were two fairly even and noticeable whtish wingbars. I returned to the park shortly after 1 pm and spent three hours in the company of Mike Bowen and Jonathon Alderfer and we did not relocate the bird. Other notable species this morning were flyover Horned Larks (about 20 individuals), two Eastern Meadowlarks, and calling flyover Pine Siskin. This afternoon as we were leaving, two Bald Eagles flew over the park; the second one was a near-full adult which circled back, a fitting way to end a nice Veterans Day. In the afternoon we saw a Variegated Fritillary butterfly and a Wandering Glider dragonfly. To my knowledge this is a first DC record. Kenilworth Park can be reached by taking DC Rt. 295 to the Burroughs Avenue exit, then heading west to the park entrance, which is close to this interchange. Consult a map: I normally stop at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens before I visit Kenilworth Park and so reach the park from a different interchange. The roads and interchanges in this part of the city are a little tricky. Gate opening time can be variable. Rob Hilton rhilton@csa.com Bethesda. _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================