> -----Original Message-----
> From:  [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
> Sent: Tuesday, July 20, 2004 2:00 PM
> To: 
> Subject: DC Area, 7/20/04
> 
> 
> Hotline:            Voice of the Naturalist
> Date:               7/20/04
> Coverage:           MD/DC/VA/DE
> Telephone:          301-652-1088 option 1
> Reports (voice):    301-652-1088 option 2
>         (email):     
>      (deadline):    midnight Mondays
> Compiler:           Lydia Schindler
> Sponsor:            Audubon Naturalist Society of the Central
>                       Atlantic States (independent of NAS!)
> Transcriber:        Steve Cordle ()
> 
> Please consider joining ANS, especially if you are a regular 
> user of the Voice (Individual $30; Family $40; Nature Steward 
> $60; Audubon Advocate $100). The membership number is 
> 301-652-9188 option 12, the address is 8940 Jones Mill Road, 
> Chevy Chase, MD 20815, and the web site is 
> http://www.AudubonNaturalist.org.
> 
> This is the Voice of the Naturalist, a service of the Audubon 
> Naturalist Society. This tape was made Tuesday, July 20, at 2 p.m.
> 
> Top birds this week are SWALLOW-TAILED KITE and MISSISSIPPI 
> KITE, both in VA. 
> 
> Other birds of interest include LEAST BITTERN, herons, GLOSSY 
> IBIS, RUDDY DUCK, BALD EAGLE, SORA, shorebirds including 
> RUFF, BONAPARTE'S and LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS, terns, 
> WILLOW FLYCATCHER, WESTERN KINGBIRD, COMMON RAVEN, CLIFF 
> SWALLOW, MARSH WREN, KENTUCKY WARBLER, SALT-MARSH 
> SHARP-TAILED and SEASIDE SPARROWS, and DICKCISSEL.  
> 
> A SWALLOW-TAILED KITE rewarded persistence in Gloucester Co, 
> VA, on July 19, soaring into sight after a 3-hour vigil. The 
> location was the York River Crossing shopping center, across 
> the York River from Yorktown. 
> 
> MISSISSIPPI KITES are believed to be nesting in the Waynewood 
> area of Fairfax Co, VA, with hatching--and obvious 
> feeding-related activity--anticipated to begin in the next 10 
> days. A good place to look for the kites is in the vicinity 
> of the Waynewood Elementary School, reached by taking the 
> Waynewood Blvd exit off the George Washington Parkway. (If 
> you enter the school grounds, please sign in at the office.) 
> 
> LEAST BITTERNS and YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS were reported 
> from Bombay Hook NWR, DE, July 14.
> 
> A GLOSSY IBIS was sighted in the central pond at Huntley 
> Meadows Park, Fairfax Co, July 16. That same day a VIRGINIA 
> RAIL was found left of the boardwalk, just as it enters the 
> woods. A dozen GREAT EGRETS flew over Rte 1 just north of 
> Huntley on July 13. 
> 
> An inland colony of GREAT BLUE HERONS was discovered July 13 
> on private property in southern Loudoun Co, VA. The nests 
> were in red oaks in an upland forest about 500 feet from an 
> old, inactive beaver pond located along a very small 
> tributary of Bull Run.
> 
> At least one pair of the GREEN HERONS that call busy Tysons 
> Corner (McLean, VA) home are successfully raising 3 young; 
> the nest is about 30 feet up in a tree in the middle of a 
> parking lot. 
> 
> Seven CATTLE EGRETS were found July 18 in a field at the 
> intersection of MD 3 and St. Stephen Church Rd, just north of 
> Crofton, Anne Arundel Co. A dozen CATTLE EGRETS were seen 
> July 17 at the end of Long Neck Rd in Scotland, St. Mary's Co, MD.

> 
> RUDDY DUCKS have successfully bred in Baltimore City, far 
> from their usual range. Drake, hen, and 3 downy young are 
> being seen at the Druid Hill Park reservoir.
> 
> BALD EAGLES have successfully nested within the Beltway. 
> Young and adults can be seen around MP 6.2 on the towpath in 
> Montgomery Co, MD, above the Lock 6 parking lot. Look 
> upstream from the sign "Dangerous Dam Ahead."  
> 
> Four juvenile SORAS casually worked the edges of Lake Arnold 
> at Blandy Experimental Farm, Clarke Co, VA, July 17.  
> 
> Torrential rains led to the closing of Bombay Hook NWR on 
> July 13, and due to high water the impoundments were bereft 
> of shorebirds much of the week. At low tide, birds could 
> sometimes be seen in the marshes--including, on July 14, a 
> golden RUFF. On July 18, a flooded field at the end of the 
> Bear Swamp loop held 3 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS along with some 
> yellowlegs and dowitchers. The ANS trip to DE on July 17 
> birded through the rain to tally some 11 species of shorebirds,
> mostly along Port Mahon Rd.   
> 
> On July 14 and 17, as many as 7 LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS 
> were found along Port Mahon Rd. On July 14, a BONAPARTE'S 
> GULL and a non-breeding BLACK TERN were seen at Bombay Hook's 
> Shearness Pool, while a breeding adult BLACK TERN was noted 
> at Little Creek Wildlife Area.
> 
> LEAST TERNS--1 adult and 3 juveniles--were found at the 
> Bladensburg Water Park, Prince Georges Co, MD, July 18 and 19.
> 
> One COMMON TERN and a dozen FORSTER'S TERNS were found in 
> Anacostia Park, NE DC, July 19.
> 
> Numerous WILLOW FLYCATCHERS were in evidence at Blandy July 17.
> 
> A WESTERN KINGBIRD is once again on site at Baltimore's Fort 
> McHenry, hanging out between the Fort and the Visitor Center, 
> in the same tree as before. 
> 
> A COMMON RAVEN paid a wrong-place, wrong-time visit to 
> Baltimore Co July 17; it was seen along Back River Neck Rd, 
> south of Essex.
> 
> A boater's perspective revealed large gatherings of CLIFF 
> SWALLOWS at the various bridges over the Patapsco River July 
> 16 in Baltimore Co. On July 17 CLIFF SWALLOWS were noted 
> under the Rte 7 bridge over the Shenandoah River, Clarke Co.  
> 
> Two MARSH WRENS have taken up residence in DC; on July 19 
> they were singing from newly planted marshes along the minor 
> channel of the Anacostia River that bisects the Langston Golf 
> Course, just north of the Benning Rd bridge, NE DC.
> 
> A KENTUCKY WARBLER popped up at the woody edge of a yard in 
> Easton, Talbot Co, MD, July 18.
> 
> A drive along Elliott Island Rd, Dorchester Co, MD, on July 
> 17, yielded more than 50 SEASIDE SPARROWS and about 10 
> SALTMARSH SHARP-TAILED SPARROWS. 
> 
> The DICKCISSELS in Dorchester Co, MD, were seen again July 14 
> and 17; on the later date, there were 2 females and 1 singing 
> male. The site is at the eastern edge of Hurlock, in a weedy 
> field at the corner of Medford Rd and Harper Rd (DeLorme 43, 4C).
> 
> A pelagic trip is scheduled for Aug 28 out of Lewes, DE. For 
> more information, contact See Life Paulagics at 215-234-6805 
> or check their web site at www.paulagics.com.
> 
> Some of this week's reports have been gleaned from the MDOSPREY, 
> VA-Bird, and Delaware Birds list servers.
>  
> Claudia Wilds' book, Finding Birds in the National Capital 
> Area, is an excellent source of directions to many birding 
> sites. And the ANS Bookstore is an excellent source for this 
> and many other nature-related titles: 301-652-3606.
> 
> To report bird sightings, you can e-mail your report to 
>  You may also report by calling 
> 301-652-1088 and selecting menu option 2. Please post e-mail 
> reports before midnight Monday, identify the county and 
> state, and include your name and a Tuesday morning phone number. 
> 
> Thank you for calling, and GOOD BIRDING. 
> 
> * Of interest to the MD/DC Records Committee. For more 
> information, visit www.MDBirds.org/mddcrc/rcindex.html.
>