Date: Sat, 11 Jan 2003 19:26:14 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: "Paul P." Subject: ANS Arboretum trip report MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Today I had the pleasure of leading a group of 7 people around the Natl. Arboretum for ANS. This trip always starts on the late side - at 10 am - but that means that it's not quite so cold. And though it was brisk today, the strong sun and many layers kept us warm. We ended the trip with 41 species, though as always, not everyone is able to see everything. Highlights were: 1 Brown Thrasher 5 Eastern Towhees (hiding out unseen in a thicket at our feet until they flushed one-by-one) 4 sp. of raptors: 1 ad. Bald Eagle 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk 2 Red-shouldered Hawks 1 Red-tailed Hawk (dining on a squirrel) 3 Hermit Thrushes (allowing nice study) 16 Eastern Bluebirds (often approachable and boldly colored in the bright sun) c.100 Cedar Waxwings c.250 American Robins These last 2 numbers are very rough estimates as there were flocks of each flying around all over the place - a typical winter scene at the Arboretum. Try as we might, we couldn't find anything unusual hanging out with them. Good birding, Paul Pisano Arlington, VA cheep@erols.com ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================