[MDOsprey] Lilypons today 10/24
GAIL@UMDD.UMD.EDU
Sun, 24 Oct 99 14:36:34 EDT
Barry and I went out to Lilypons today, hitting a few other sites in the area.
No real unusual birds, but a nice selection -- best (or most unexpected) a WILD
TURKEY which flew across I-270 just east of the Comus exit (hence in Montgomery
Co.).
Sparrows were the order of the day -- at least 150 Swamps, 100 Songs, 60-70
Fields, 100 White-throats, 20 White-crowns, 2-3 Savannahs, 2 LINCOLN'S were
in Lilypons proper or along Lower Monocacy Bottom Rd. There were a lot of
Chippings along Greenfield and at the little cemetery on Park Mills, about 50
in total. A few Juncoes brought the sparrow species total to nine -- no Fox
Sparrows yet and we couldn't relocate the Vespers of a few days ago.
Other species of note: Pine Siskin with Goldfinches, about 20 Rusty Blackbirds
both in Lilypons and along Lower Monocacy Rd (mostly with Red-wings), a Phoebe,
Winter Wren, BITTERN flushed from a ditch at Lilypons, and five Greater
Yellowlegs and a single Pectoral Sandpiper on one of the impoundments.
Best sighting, however, was a MINK carrying his breakfast across Lower Monocacy
Rd. and then entering the little stream and swimming off. The first mink I
have seen east of Garrett county.
Gail Mackiernan and Barry Cooper