Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2001 09:58:36 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Gail Mackiernan Subject: Western Tanager in Sandy Spring In-Reply-To: <002f01c18627$c3465ee0$897d4e0c@computer> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Hi all -- We just got back from seeing the Western Tanager in Sandy Spring, Montgomery Co., MD. It is a winter adult male, with some red on the face and chin, very yellow, classic bird with dark grayish back, two prominent wing bars, the upper yellowish, the lower whitish, yellow nape and rump etc. etc. It very much resembles the winter adult in the Sibley Guide. The bird is at the Ross Boddy Community Center (a Park & Planning facility, that is, a public facility) on Brooke Rd. in Sandy Spring. Take Rt. 650 (New Hampshire Ave.), continue north through Ashton (where Rt. 108 crosses 650) to Brooke Rd on left, turn here and continue to the community center on your left, about a mile. Park and walk behind the building. There is a large open grassy area, bounded on three sides by woods. Many of the trees have English Ivy growing up them; this ivy is filled with berries and this is what the birds were feeding on. When we got there Stan Arnold and a friend were looking at the tanager in their scope, in the SW corner of the tree line. It was feeding on small grapes. This was about 7:45 am. The tanager was chased off by a mockingbird and relocated to the south side of the tree line in the ivy clumps. You can get to the back of the tree line via a path at the SE corner of the community center property. This is the edge of a nursery field and is private, but I would think if you stay close to the path you will be okay. The bird fed actively within 50-70 feet of the end of the path, along the sunny edge, about 10-15 feet up. Stan got some good shots (we hope!) with his camera and scope. This is, btw, a very birdy spot with 100s of robins, waxwings, bluebirds, yellow-rumps, a few hermit thrushes etc. all fedeing on the berries. A very nice bird -- a state *and* county bird for Barry and me. Yea! Cheers, Gail Mackiernan Colesville, MD On Sun, 16 Dec 2001, Norman Saunders wrote: > For those of you not at the tally rally last evening, a juvenile male > WESTERN TANAGER was reported from Ross Boddy Rec Center, on Brooke Road just > north of Sandy Spring, in Montgomery County, yesterday. I know a number of > folks including Gail Mackiernan and Fran and I plan to go looking for it > this morning--updates to follow. If you do go, take photographs if possible > and/or write good field notes--this is a reviewable species in Maryland! > > Norm > ================================= > Norman C. Saunders > Colesville, Montgomery County, Maryland > marshhawk@att.net > > ======================================================================= > To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com > with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey > ======================================================================= > ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================