Date: Sat, 4 May 2002 15:04:52 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Beth Kantrowitz Subject: Northern Rough-winged Swallows, Hyattsville MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; x-mac-type="54455854"; x-mac-creator="4D4F5353" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I just subscribed and wasn't planning to post for a while, but just an hour ago I found a life bird in my apartment complex parking lot, and I think it's breeding! Okay, Northern Rough-winged Swallows may be common, but I've never seen them anywhere and certainly not in my parking lot which is usually home to non-native house sparrows and starlings. I checked several field guides as well as the Sibley book and I am certain of the identification. First I saw a pair on a telephone wire, then one sat on the wire saying "frripp frripp" while the other swooped around the parking lot and occasionally landed on the asphalt, then later I saw three swooping around together. Suddenly I saw one carrying a piece of grass or straw, and I thought "nesting material!," and sure enough the bird flew right into one of the 5 or 6 approx. 5-inch diameter drainage pipes in the stone wall bordering the lot. Either the same adult or one of the others made several more visits to the pipe. I checked it with a flashlight and the cavity is lined with grass and straw. According to the books, drainpipes in stone walls are a fairly common place for these guys to nest. I can't explain the third adult, though. Does this species ever have non-breeding nest helpers? I don't know if anyone has this block for the atlas but I would be happy to provide additional information if required. I'll be birding Magruder Park in Hyattsville tomorrow morning and I hope to find a lifer or two... after two hours of birding in Magruder back in March I got too cold and was quickly heading home when a winter wren, my first, popped up out of the undergrowth to sing. It's a small park, but during the six years I've lived here I've gathered quite a park list, including several life birds. I also have my own private kestrel, a male, who is either out there every time I reach the stream area or arrives within 5 or 10 minutes, without fail. Beth Kantrowitz Hyattsville, MD bkantrowitz@olg.com Board Member and Webmaster of the Prince George's Audubon Society http://www.pgaudubon.org ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================