Date: Fri, 30 Aug 2002 20:28:34 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Arlene Ripley Subject: possible Sandhill Crane at Flag Ponds Comments: To: md-smas@yahoogroups.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed 8/30/02 -- This morning at 9:30 AM, a possible Sandhill Crane was observed by two of the staff at Flag Ponds Nature Park, Calvert County, MD. Unfortunately the message didn't reach me until 6 hours later (I wasn't home). Neither of the observers are familiar with Sandhills but they did consult a field guide and came to the conclusion they had seen a crane. Here is how it was described to me: A large gray bird, similar in size to a Great Blue Heron, soaring in circles above one of the ponds. The neck was held out very straight and appeared lighter in color than the rest of the body. The bird didn't land in the ponds but continued west flying above North Ridge Trail and disappearing over the crest. They did not see it again. I arrived at Flag Ponds around 4 PM, checked the ponds and the field which is intersected by the powerline next to Route 2/4. The field is very overgrown and even a large bird like a crane could easily be missed in the tall grass and uneven terrain. I next drove east of Route 2/4 to where there are large farms. Even though I was looking for a large bird, I felt like I was looking for a needle in a haystack. The fact that it was "rush hour" didn't help my effort -- cars rapidly approached me from behind and made it impossible to scan the fields while driving. Narrow roads made pulling off to the side difficult. I was unable to locate the bird in question. Hopefully this bird will show up again as I believe it would be a first county record. In any event, keep an eye out as you never know where it might turn up. Arlene Ripley Calvert County, MD aripley@nestbox.com http://www.nestbox.com ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================