> -----Original Message-----
> From:  [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
> Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2004 10:33 AM
> To: 
> Subject: DC Area, 12/07/04
> 
> 
> Hotline:            Voice of the Naturalist
> Date:               12/07/04
> 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, Dec 7, at 7 p.m.
> 
> Top birds this week are *KELP GULL, *WHITE-WINGED DOVE, and 
> *CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD in MD; BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD in VA; 
> NORTHERN SHRIKE in DE; and *CAVE SWALLOW in both MD and VA.
> 
> Other birds of interest include RED-THROATED LOON, EARED 
> GREBE, AMERICAN BITTERN, waterfowl including HARLEQUIN DUCK, 
> raptors, VIRGINIA RAIL, SANDHILL CRANE, gulls, SHORT-EARED 
> OWL, HORNED LARK,
> AMERICAN PIPIT, warblers, LAPLAND LONGSPUR, and BALTIMORE ORIOLE.

> 
> Maryland's *KELP GULL was again observed behind the Sea Breeze
Crab
> House, Sandgates, St. Mary's Co, on Dec 3.   
> 
> A *WHITE-WINGED DOVE was seen Dec 4 in West Ocean City. 
> Worcester Co, MD. It was perched on a wire at the end of Golf 
> Course Rd, where the road overlooks the bay. Once the bird 
> flew off, it could not be relocated.
> 
> A *CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD continues to fuel up at feeders on 
> private property near Bowie in Prince George's Co, MD. The 
> most recent report is from Dec 6. (For directions, contact 
> )
> 
> A BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD continues to frequent a yard in 
> Cape Charles, Northampton Co, VA. (The feeders can be 
> observed from the porch at 9 Randolph Ave; from Rte 13, turn 
> at the stoplight onto Rte 184 and proceed to the last block.)
> 
> A NORTHERN SHRIKE is still hanging out at Prime Hook NWR, DE. 
> On the afternoon of Dec 4, it perched on a wire along 
> Broadkill Beach Rd, 5 poles from the gate at Island Farm Rd.
> 
> The major story continues to be CAVE SWALLOWS. On Dec 1 and 
> 2, CAVE SWALLOWS again flew over the bridge on Lilypons Rd, 
> southern Frederick Co, MD, while on Dec 3 a CAVE SWALLOW was 
> observed across the Potomac river over a Northern Virginia 
> golf course in Loudoun Co.
> 
> On Dec 2, a CAVE SWALLOW was discovered by birders who had 
> trekked to Wades Point Inn in Talbot Co, MD, to see a 
> HARLEQUIN DUCK. The SWALLOW was viewed again on Dec 3 and 4 
> (once as it perched on the Inn's shutters); the HARLEQUIN was 
> still in evidence Dec 6. [From Easton, take Rte 33 west 
> through St Michaels to Wades Point Rd. The Inn is the large 
> white house at the end of road, beside the bay. Park in 
> designated spots and go to the main building to let the (very
> gracious) management know you are there.]   
> 
> Other CAVE SWALLOW sightings include three birds at over a 
> corn field on Tilghman Island in Talbot Co Dec 3; three at 
> Assateague Island, Worcester Co, Dec 3; one over a yard in 
> Jarrettsville, Harford Co, MD, Dec 5; and one at the marsh at 
> the mouth of Accokeek Creek in Piscataway Park, Prince 
> George's Co, MD, also on Dec 5.
> 
> Two dozen or more CAVE SWALLOWS were being seen through Dec 4 
> in Northampton Co, VA, in the vicinity of the Eastern Shore 
> of VA NWR, more specifically around Latimer Siding Rd, while 
> a group of 6 CAVE SWALLOWS was seen from the Winslow bunker 
> observation platform. Further north on the Delmarva 
> Peninsula, 3 CAVE SWALLOWS were spotted Dec 4 at Chincoteague 
> NWR, Accomack Co.
> 
> A RED-THROATED LOON was found on the Potomac, across from 
> Riley's Lock in Montgomery Co, on Nov 30; on Dec 5, there 
> were 2 RED-THROATED LOONS in this area. On Nov 30 a 
> RED-THROATED LOON floated into a cove bordering a yard in 
> North East, Cecil Co, MD. 
> 
> The EARED GREBE at Black Hill RP, Montgomery Co, paddles into 
> view from time to time; it was seen late in the afternoon Dec 
> 4 and again the next morning, that time in the cove alongside 
> Rte 121, south of the bridge.  
> 
> An AMERICAN BITTERN was observed at the Neabsco Creek marsh, 
> Prince William Co, VA, Dec 1 and 4. An AMERICAN BITTERN has 
> been seen several times at the Fort McHenry wetlands, 
> Baltimore, most recently Dec 3. 
> 
> Two RICHARDSON'S CACKLING GEESE were again observed at Rocky 
> Gap SP, Allegany Co, MD, Nov 30 and Dec 5. 
> 
> Two CACKLING GEESE were found at Blackwater NWR, Dorchester 
> Co, MD, Dec 4, while a SHORT-EARED OWL was seen nearby, in 
> the vicinity of Shorters Wharf. 
> 
> The highlight of the Fairfax Audubon Society's Dec 4 
> Waterfowl Survey was SCOTERS, both SURF and BLACK, in both 
> the Gunston Bay section of Fairfax Co, VA, as well as the 
> Charles Co, MD, section.
> 
> The week's urban raptors included a MERLIN at Fort C. F. 
> Smith Park, Arlington, VA, Nov 30; a PEREGRINE FALCON Dec 2 
> along the bike trail at Paint Branch Stream Valley Park in 
> College Park, Prince George's Co. Hains Point on Dec 3 
> featured 1 adult BALD EAGLE, 1 COOPER'S HAWK, 1 immature 
> RED-SHOULDERED HAWK, and 2 immature MERLINS, while a 
> PEREGRINE FALCON perched on the railroad bridge not far away. 
> A MERLIN was spotted near the Museum of African Art at 4th 
> and Independence, SW DC, Dec 5. 
> 
> Three BALD EAGLES, 2 adults and a juvenile, were seen Dec 4 near
> Nokesville, Prince William Co, VA, over Fleetwood Drive.   
> 
> The Snicker's Gap hawk watch (on the Clarke/Loudoun Co, VA, 
> line), formally closed out the season with a GOLDEN EAGLE on 
> Nov 30. Informally, on Dec 5 the watch provided long looks of 
> an immature NORTHERN GOSHAWK. The hawk watch at Kiptopeke SP, 
> Northampton Co, finished on Nov 30 with 2 NORTHERN GOSHAWKS.
> 
> On Dec 4, a light-phase ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK soared over the 
> marshland north of Burton's Island adjacent to Indian River 
> Inlet, DE. Late that afternoon, 3 SHORT-EARED OWLS were 
> hunting over marshes north of Lighthouse Rd, near the 
> Mispillion River. 
> 
> A VIRGINIA RAIL was again vocalizing at Lilypons Water Gardens Dec
2. 
> A juvenile SANDHILL CRANE continues to forage in fields on 
> the east side of West Willard Rd, just north of the 
> Poolesville Public Golf Course, Montgomery Co, with the most 
> recent report Dec 6. 
> 
> A FRANKLIN'S GULL was among thousands of gulls on Delaware 
> Bay at Fowler Beach, DE, on Dec 5.
> 
> A first-winter ICELAND GULL was found Dec 4 at Island #4 of 
> the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel, Northampton Co.
> 
> A LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL was seen again Dec 4 at the 
> Frederick Co landfill on Reich's Ford Rd. (Exit 55 from I-70, 
> then Reich's Ford Rd south). LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS were 
> also reported Dec 5 from DC, one along Ohio Drive near the 
> FDR Memorial, and another at Hains Point.
> 
> PALM and PRAIRIE WARBLERS have been seen at Fort McHenry as 
> recently as Dec 6. 
> 
> Two LAPLAND LONGSPURS and 1 AMERICAN PIPIT have been 
> associating with small flocks of HORNED LARKS on Hughes Rd in 
> northwestern Montgomery Co, with reports through Dec 6. The 
> birds are in fields around the
> polo grounds.    
> 
> On Dec 4, AMERICAN PIPITS and HORNED LARKS were found at 
> Blandy Experimental Farm, Clarke Co; they were seen by 
> turning left from the loop drive at the T-junction, onto Rte 628.
> 
> A brilliant male BALTIMORE ORIOLE was feeding in tall pines 
> at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA, Dec 3 
> through 5.
> 
> Those of you lucky enough to host a winter hummingbird are 
> asked to contact hummingbird bander Mary Gustafson at 
>  Mary is working to document winter 
> hummingbirds in the east.
> 
> A Dec 11 pelagic trip out of Lewes, DE, has just 6 spaces 
> remaining. 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's 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, 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.
>