Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2002 14:38:13 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Saunders_N Subject: Western Grebe questions MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Mark James asks: > A small question(s). Is the Western Grebe > officially a new state bird for Maryland? > I guess that would be the first one of 2002? > How long ago was the last 'new bird'? No, it would not be a new state bird. Sightings have been reported from Garrett, Montgomery, Howard, Baltimore, Kent, and Worcester Counties. If these newest sightings are accepted they would be a new county record for Queen Annes, apparently, unless there are prior sightings that aren't in the latest Yellow Book. Dates of occurence are late November through early January, late April through early May, and one sighting in mid-June. These are clearly the first sighting for 2002 in Maryland but I have no idea when they were last seen in the state. Marshall? Mark? Bob? Any responses on the dates? Regarding new species in general, I refer you to Marshall Iliff's wonderful article on "The Next Ten Birds" which appeared in the latest issue of MD Yellowthroat, the newsletter of the Maryland Ornithological Society. If you're not a member look for the article on the MOS website at www.mdbirds.org. Then become a member! Sightings of new state species do not become 'official' additions to the list until they have been considered and accepted by the MD/DC Records Committee, one of the more active committees of the MOS. There are likely 4 or five species new to Maryland seen over the past few years that are still being considered by the MDDCRC--Phil Davis, Secretary of the MDDCRC, can give you a staggering amount of detail in response to that question. Best, Norm ====================== Norm Saunders Colesville, Montgomery County, MD 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 ======================================================================= =========================================================================