Hi Everybody,

Nancy and I finally got around to our snowy roads tour yesterday. We got as far as Golts Road in the northeast via Worton-Lynch Rd, Kennedyville, Chesterville, Millington, and Massey. Along the way we counted 440 White-throated Sparrows, 350 Horned Larks, 130 Dark-eyed (Slate-colred) Juncos, 70 Northern Cardinals, 45 Song Sparrows, and 17 Savannah Sparrows. 

We concur with Sean McCandless that many species were surprisingly scarce or absent. Among the absent on our tour were Eastern Towhee, Brown Thrasher, Eastern Meadowlark, American Pipit, and most of the more uncommon species we had hoped to find (e.g. Lapland Longspur). A lot of roads showed signs of being recently drifted-in and many fields were remarkably well-scoured by the strong north winds of Saturday night and Sunday morning which allowed a lot of birds to feed in the fields instead of on road shoulders. Nonetheless, we should have been able to see birds in fields with the white ground color provided by the snow in most places. 

Our highlights included: a CACKLING GOOSE with 2000 Snow Geese north of Massey just south of the intersection with Quinn Rd; an adult Red-shouldered Hawk, a Hermit Thrush and three Fox Sparrows on Golts Rd.; a Killdeer feeding with larks in a manured field just south of Kennedyville on MD-213; three NORTHERN BOBWHITE along MD-298 just south of Hanesville (and N of Buck Neck Rd) unfortunately with another road-killed bobwhite; and four Fox Sparrows and two Hermit Thrushes along Millbrook and Clarissa Roads in Chesapeake Landing (where we live); a White-crowned Sparrow on Walnut Tree Rd near the intersection with MD-313; and a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker on MD-297 in Worton. 

Good Birding, 

Walter Ellison

23460 Clarissa Road
Chestertown, MD 21620
phone: 410-778-9568
e-mail: 

"A person who is looking for something doesn't travel very fast" - E. B. White (in "Stuart Little")

"Are there *ever* enough birds?" - Connie Hagar as quoted by Edwin Way Teale in "Wandering through Winter"