Hotline: Voice of the Naturalist
Date: 1/11/05
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, Jan 11,
at 10 a.m.
Top birds this week are *KELP GULL in MD, SNOWY OWL
in DE, *RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD in DC, and SHRIKES--*LOGGERHEAD in MD and
NORTHERN in DE.
Other birds of interest include EARED and HORNED
GREBES, GREATER WHITE-FRONTED and other GEESE, TUNDRA SWAN, ducks,
raptors including NORTHERN GOSHAWK, PURPLE SANDPIPER, gulls,
RAZORBILL, SHORT-EARED OWL, RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD, HORNED LARK,
nuthatches, SEDGE WREN, AMERICAN PIPIT, warblers, AMERICAN TREE and
CLAY-COLORED SPARROWS, LAPLAND LONGSPUR, SNOW BUNTING, COMMON
GRACKLE, and COMMON REDPOLL.
Maryland's *KELP GULL continues to frequent the
pilings behind Sea Breeze Crab House in Sandgates, St. Mary's Co,
with reports from Jan 6 and 8.
The SNOWY OWL at Port Mahon Rd, DE, was still there
as of Jan 8, this time at the fishing pier.
The immature female *RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD continues at
the Smithsonian's Ripley Garden (between the Arts and Industries
building and the Hirschhorn), SW DC, with reports from Jan 6, 7, and
10. As of the 10, the COMMON YELLOWTHROAT was still there, too.
The *LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE in Washington Co, MD,
southwest of Hagerstown, was found again Jan 9--cooperatively posing
alongside a Northern Mockingbird. (The sightings are from a field
on Shaffer Rd, 1.2 miles from the T-intersection with Dam #4 Rd,
south of Downsville [DeLorme 71, C4]).
A NORTHERN SHRIKE continues at Prime Hook NWR, DE;
on Jan 8 it was again seen along Broadkill Beach Rd.
Little Seneca Lake, Black Hill RP, Montgomery Co,
MD, is attracting a rich array of waterfowl, including--through Jan
10--EARED and HORNED (as well as PIED-BILLED) GREBES, TUNDRA SWANS,
and at least a dozen species of duck, including REDHEAD.
A GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE was present in the
flocks on Broadkill Beach Rd on Jan 8 and 9. On Jan 9, a GREATER
WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE was seen at the Warrenton Reservoir, Fauquier
Co, VA; [permission is required to enter this area]. On Jan 9, a
GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE was found at Back Bay NWR, Virginia
Beach.
A juvenile SNOW GOOSE appeared at Lake Fairfax in
Reston, Fairfax Co, VA, Jan 5.
CACKLING GEESE were tracked down at several MD
locations: in western Baltimore Co, on the north side of Worthington
Ave one-quarter mile west of Tufton Ave; at the main pond of Blue
Mash Nature Trail, Montgomery Co; in Queen Anne's Co, southwest of
Grasonville (near the intersection of Cabin Creek and Perry's Corner
Rds), and also at the pond on Rte 309 east of Rte 213; and south of
Urbana in southeastern Frederick Co (near Bartholow Rd and West Oak
Dr).
A male EURASIAN WIGEON was present at the ponds at
Ted Harvey Conservation Area, DE, Jan 7 and 9. A male EURASIAN
WIGEON was found Jan 9 at Sunken Meadow Pond, Surry Co, VA.
At the Ocean City Inlet, Worcester Co, MD, 2 KING
EIDERS and 2 COMMON EIDERS were visible from the parking lot Jan 8.
On Jan 9, the Inlet sported 2 RAZORBILLS. On Jan 9, the Inlet held
about 150 PURPLE SANDPIPERS--even though there were none to be seen
the day before.
On Jan 9, the CBB/T islands, Northampton Co, VA,
featured RED-NECKED GREBE, 5 HARLEQUIN DUCKS, and a RAZORBILL. An
immature NORTHERN GOSHAWK was seen at the nearby Eastern Shore of VA
NWR.
On Jan 8, 6 or 7 RAZORBILLS were at Indian River
Inlet, DE, feeding at the end of the south jetty.
A LONG-TAILED DUCK was reported Jan 5 from Riviera
Beach, just west of Fort Smallwood in Anne Arundel Co, MD.
Four NORTHERN HARRIERS and 6 SHORT-EARED OWLS were
observed Jan 6 on private property NE of Winchester, Frederick Co,
VA.
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK and SHORT-EARED OWL were seen
along Elliott Island Rd, Dorchester Co, MD, Jan 7, and along Rumbly
Point Rd, Somerset Co, MD, Jan 9. Rumbly Point also held a SEDGE
WREN.
Gull reports include first-winter GLAUCOUS GULL and
first-winter ICELAND GULL at the Salisbury landfill (Wicomoco Co,
MD) Jan 8; 7 ICELAND GULLS at the Cherry Island landfill in
Wilmington, DE Jan 9; a second-winter GLAUCOUS GULL at Fort Story in
Virginia Beach Jan 6; both GLAUCOUS and ICELAND GULLS Jan 10 in
Cecil Co's North East Town Park; and an ICELAND GULL Jan 8 outside
Cambridge, Dorchester Com MD, in a field off Rte 50 southbound, just
past Bucktown Rd.
A RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD continues to visit a
yard feeder in Cape Charles, Northampton Co, VA--as does a WILSON'S
WARBLER.
RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES showed up several locations
in MD: feeders in Queenstown, Queen Anne's Co, and Easton, Talbot
Co, and at Fort Smallwood, Anne Arundel Co. On Jan 10 the Jean
Shehan Audubon Sanctuary in Talbot Co featured all three species of
nuthatch, including 28 BROWN-HEADED. In VA, RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES
were seen Jan 9 at Blandy Experimental Farm in Clarke Co.
Some 20 AMERICAN PIPITS were found Jan 6 at the Polo
Field on Hughes Rd, Montgomery Co. On Jan 7, a LAPLAND LONGSPUR was
briefly glimpsed there. On Jan 9, HORNED LARKS and PIPITS were
present in a field on the west side of Hughes Rd just north of River
Rd.
An ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER was again seen at the
National Arboretum, NE DC, Jan 8, as usual in the Asian Collections.
AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS were spotted at Occoquan Bay
NWR and at Julie Metz Wetlands Bank, both in Prince William Co, VA,
as well as at Blue Mash Nature Trail, Montgomery Co.
A CLAY-COLORED SPARROW was reported at the Wilna
unit of the Rappahannock River Valley NWR on VA's Northern Neck,
Richmond Co. A CLAY-COLORED SPARROW was found Jan 8 in southeastern
Wicomico Co, north of Tyaskin on Royal Oak Rd.
Sixty 60 SNOW BUNTINGS were sighted along the beach
at Cape Henlopen Jan 9.
Some 80,000 COMMON GRACKLES were observed as they
left a staging area at Centennial Park, Howard Co, MD, at the end of
the afternoon Jan 9.
A COMMON REDPOLL was discovered Jan 8 near Point
Lookout SP, St. Mary's Co, MD; it was in a field along Cornfield
Harbor Rd.
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.
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. |