------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- From: scordle@capaccess.org To: birdeast@listserv.arizona.edu Subject: DC Area, 12/15/98 Date sent: Tue, 15 Dec 1998 21:46:37 GMT Hotline: Voice of the Naturalist Date: 12/15/98 Coverage: MD/DC/VA/DE Telephone: 301-652-1088 Reports (voice): 301-652-9188 x3101 (fax): 301-951-7179 (email): voice@capaccess.org (deadline): midnight mondays Compiler: Jane Hill Sponsor: Audubon Naturalist Society of the Central Atlantic States (independent of NAS!) Transcriber: Steve Cordle (scordle@capaccess.org) !!Check www.capaccess.org/snr/vguide.txt for guidelines on reporting your sightings!! This is the Voice of the Naturalist, a service of the Audubon Naturalist Society. This tape was made Tues, Dec 15, at 2:30 pm. Please consider joining the Society, especially if you are a regular user of the Voice (Indiv.$30; Family $40; Nature Steward $60; Audubon Advocate $100). The membership number is above,the address is 8940 Jones Mill Road, Chevy Chase, MD 20815, and the website is http://www.AudubonNaturalist.org. Top birds this week are: SANDHILL CRANE in MD; and GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE in MD and VA. Other birds of interest include: COMMON LOON, OLDSQUAW, CINNAMON TEAL, COMMON EIDER, HARLEQUIN DUCK, WILLET, COMMON SNIPE, BONAPARTE'S GULL, MERLIN, ROUGH-LEGGED and SHARP-SHINNED HAWKs, BARN SWALLOW, COMMON RAVEN, BLUE-HEADED and WHITE-EYED VIREOs, CAPE MAY WARBLER, SNOW BUNTING, and "IPSWICH" SPARROW. Five SANDHILL CRANEs were spotted flying across US Rt 50, near the Davidsonville exit (Exit 16), Anne Arundel Co, MD, on Dec 12. They were headed more or less southwest. Four GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE, three of them adults and one an immature, were seen again this week in a flock of Canada Geese at West Ocean City Pond, Worcester Co, MD, on Dec 12. The same day, another GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE was reported from Accotink Bay, Accotink Bay Wildlife Refuge, Ft Belvoir, Fairfax Co, VA, but the report is unconfirmed. Nine HARLEQUIN DUCKs, six of them male and three female, were frequenting Ocean City Inlet, Worcester Co, MD, on Dec 12. Also there that day was an immature male COMMON EIDER. Another COMMON EIDER, an adult male, was seen at Fisherman Inlet, north of Fisherman's Is, Northampton Co, VA, on Dec 13. Several out-of-season songbird migrants were reported this week, including an immature WHITE-EYED VIREO seen near the third pond along Griffin Rd, off MD Rt 589 at Ocean Downs, between Ocean City and Berlin, Worcester Co, MD [DeLorme 35, B5], on Dec 12. This location is described on p. 184 of Claudia Wilds' book, "Finding Birds in the National Capital Area". Other late migrants included a BLUE-HEADED VIREO and a CAPE MAY WARBLER, both seen at the entrance gate to Craney Island, Portsmouth, VA, on Dec 10; and a BARN SWALLOW noted at Fisherman Inlet, VA, on Dec 13. Lingering shorebird migrants included a WILLET, seen at Ocean City's Third Street flats, Dec 12. A total of 103 SNOW BUNTINGs were counted at Hart-Miller Is, Baltimore Co, MD, on Dec 14. SNOW BUNTINGs were also frequenting the north end of Assateague Is, Worcester Co, MD, as seen from Ocean City Inlet, on Dec 12. A sparrow belonging to the Ipswich race of SAVANNAH SPARROW was spotted at Hart-Miller Is, MD, on Dec 14. CINNAMON TEAL are still lingering in our region. The pair that has been frequenting Eastern Neck NWR, Kent Co, MD [DeLorme 49, A-B6], were seen again Dec 9 and 10. They were resting on mud flats under the wooden bridge into the refuge. The male, breeding-plumaged CINNAMON TEAL that has been observed for some weeks in Accotink Bay, Accotink Bay Wildlife Refuge, VA, was spotted again the morning of Dec 12. An OLDSQUAW was seen in a flock of Bufflehead at Black Hill Reg Pk, Montgomery Co, MD, on Dec 10. The following day, an OLDSQUAW was spotted in MD waters of the Potomac River, just downstream from the boat launch at Riverbend Park, Fairfax Co, VA. Also in the Potomac, but in DC waters, was a COMMON LOON, off Gravelly Pt, Arlington, VA, on Dec 12. The same day, at least 500 BONAPARTE'S GULLs were seen at Indian River Inlet, DE. A ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK was still frequenting Craney Is, Portsmouth, VA, with reports from the south impoundment on Dec 9 and 10. MERLINs were seen in a number of locations: One bird was perched in a tree at the corner of 7th St and Pennsylvania Ave, across from the Capitol South Metro Station, SE DC, on Dec 11; this is the same spot where a MERLIN lingered for more than a week last January. A MERLIN was also spotted in a backyard in Bethesda, Montgomery Co, MD, the same day. And a MERLIN is still being seen at Huntley Meadows Pk, Fairfax Co, VA, with a report for Dec 12. Other raptor reports included a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, seen by a sixth-floor office worker in downtown Bethesda, Montgomery Co, MD, on Dec 14. Fifteen COMMON SNIPE were frequenting Hughes Hollow, Montgomery Co, MD, on Dec 13. Two COMMON RAVENs were spotted on a radio tower at the intersection of Gum Spring Rd and Braddock Rd, in southern Loudoun Co, VA [ADC Loudoun Map 36, K13], on Dec 8. Upcoming pelagics in our region include trips departing VA Beach, VA, on Jan 16 and 23, and Feb 6 and 20. Call Brian Patteson, at 703-765-4484, to reserve your place. No ANS birding trips are scheduled for the rest of December because of the upcoming Christmas Bird Counts. For a list of more than 30 counts in our region, see p. 9 of the December Audubon Naturalist News, or visit the ANS web site, at www.AudubonNaturalist.org, and click on "What's New". Birders of all skill levels are welcome on all counts, so don't hesitate to call a compiler and experience the fun and rewards of monitoring our winter birds. Some of the upcoming counts close to DC are: SAT, Dec 19: WASHINGTON, DC, contact Dee Hammond-Brooks at Woodend, 301-652-9188, x 3006; TRIADELPHIA RESERVOIR, MD, compiler, Rick Sussman (Ashton), call 301-774-1185. SUN, Dec 20: SENECA, MD-VA, compiler, Steve Pretl (Potomac), call 301-251-8648; JUG BAY, MD, compiler, Sam Droege, call 410-798-6759 (h), or 301-497-5840 (o); PORT TOBACCO, MD, compiler, George Wilmot (Bryans Road), call 301-375-8552. SUN, Dec 27: BOWIE, MD, compiler, Fred Fallon (Bowie), call 301-249-1518; CENTRAL LOUDOUN CO, VA, compiler, Joe Coleman (Round Hill), call 540-554-2542; MANASSAS/BULL RUN, VA, compiler, Stan Gray, contact Fairfax Audubon Society (Annandale), 703-256- 6895. To report bird sightings, you can FAX your report to ANS at 301-951-7179, or email it to voice@capaccess.org. You may also call 301-652-9188, extension 3101, for a dedicated answering machine at all hours. Please post email reports before midnight Monday, and be sure to include your name and Tuesday morning phone number. Thank you for calling, and GOOD BIRDING. =============== Norm Saunders Colesville, MD osprey@ari.net