Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2001 22:07:29 EST Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Marshall Iliff Subject: W. King still @Eastern Neck, and some thoughts MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi all, This afternoon at 4:05 p.m. Matt Hafner and I saw the WESTERN KINGBIRD at Eastern Neck NWR, Kent County. Matt spotted it flying south overhead with a group of robins while we were parked at the sign for the Idylwild area. It flew far to the south and dropped into a field some 1/2 mi from the Idylwild area. We relocated it several minutes later but I had just a quick look and it disappeared before Matt could see it. I suspect it moves between the 5-6 fields at the southern end of the island, and probably covers a square mile or more in doing so. Hence, it is not surprising that it has not always been easy to locate. One refuge person I talked to today had seen it around noon at the Idylwild area, sitting in a tree. Other birds at Eastern Neck included one adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL at the Narrows, two GREAT CORMORANTS roosting on channel markers far offshore, and two flyby RED-THROATED LOONS, along with several Commons. Waterfowl numbers were low - perhaps 300 Tundra Swans, 100 pintail, and a few scaup and bufflehead. I have not yet seen it mentioned that a Western Kingbird apparently visited Eastern Neck last year from November to January. It was first noted on 17 Nov (I think), seen again 20 Nov (sighting in the Refuge Log Book), and then re-sighted in January in the exact same area. The coincidence seems too great and I suspect it was the same bird that occurred there for those two months (and maybe beyond). I can think of only one example of successful wintering by a Western Kingbird at these latitudes (Nassawadox, Northampton County, Jan-Feb 1993, w/ the Vermilion Flycatcher). The fact that a Western Kingbird has turned up to attemot wintering in the same area is too coincidental - I think it is probably the same bird! I have not had a chance to look closely at the pictures online (Jim Stasz reportedly got close-up video on Saturday, 15 Dec), but we should examine them to determine the age of this bird. Most vagrant flycatchers are juveniles, so if this bird is an adult it lends further support to the returning bird theory... Best, Marshall Iliff PS - Did any MDOspreyers know about the Sandhill Crane that spent two weeks in November 2000 at the pond at Chesapeake Farms? Matt and I saw nice photos of it (juvenile, possible _canadensis_) and a sighting was logged in the Refuge Log Book 25 Nov 2000. *********************** Marshall Iliff miliff@aol.com Annapolis, MD ************************ ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================