Bob and all concerned,

I was at Lilypons this afternoon at about 1:00 pm and failed to find the Cave Swallows there. Another birder had been there for about an hour with no luck when I arrived. After about 1/2 an hour of waiting, I headed down to Poolesville where I was able to find the crane right next to the edge of the field at about 2:00, near the playground on the eastside of the entrance roadway into the golf course. Here's a photo.



It was then up to Black Hills. Upon arriving at the parking area on the west side of the lake I realized that I had taken my telescope out of the car to pack for my trip to Oklahoma City for work in the coming week and forgot to bring it with me. After scanning the lake as best I could with my binoculars, I prepared to drive around to the boat dock when someone with a scope was able to find the bird after I informed him where the bird had been seen. He first observed the bird directly in front of the dock swimming south towards the dam and into the open water of the lake. The bird continued all the way to the south shore of the lake and appeared to be continuing into one of the coves that are not visible form the road or the dock area. It is possible the bird was still in this location when you were unable to locate it. This same birder stated that he had heard the Red-throated Loon had been seen at 8:00 am on the lake. Our attempts to find it were unsuccessful. 

Ed Boyd
Westminster, MD

>> Bob Ringler wrote:
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>> >   I was unable to get out this morning as I had set aside time to work on Maryland Birdlife.  This afternoon I got to Black Hill Regional Park about 1PM just as Kathy Brown from Frederick County was about to leave.  She pointed out the Eared Grebe and I scoped it briefly from the parking lot.  When I walked down to the lake to get a better view it was nowhere in sight.  It did not reappear in the next 20 minutes so off to Poolesville where there were no cranes anywhere in sight near the golf course.  I was not too disappointed having seen cranes in the past but others there were hoping for a lifer which did not appear.  Then on to Lilypons where the swallows had not been seen for a few hours.  I hope I'm not the cause of all these good birds leaving.
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> Bob Ringler
> Eldersburg MD
>