> -----Original Message-----
> From: [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2005 2:17 PM
> To:
> Subject: DC Area, 1/25/05
>
>
> Hotline: Voice of the Naturalist
> Date: 1/25/05
> 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 25, at 2 p.m.
>
> Top birds this week are *RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD in DC, WESTERN
> TANAGER in VA, and YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD in MD.
>
> Other birds of interest include GREATER WHITE-FRONTED,
> ROSS'S, and CACKLING GEESE, ducks, RED-THROATED LOON,
> RED-NECKED GREBE, raptors including GOLDEN EAGLE, AMERICAN
> WOODCOCK, gulls, RAZORBILL, GREAT HORNED and SHORT-EARED
> OWLS, RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, HORNED LARK, AMERICAN PIPIT,
> ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, OVENBIRD, sparrows, LAPLAND
> LONGSPUR, and RUSTY BLACKBIRD.
>
> The immature female *RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD continues at the
> Smithsonian's Ripley Garden (between the Arts and Industries
> building and the Hirshhorn), SW DC, with almost daily
> sightings through Jan 24.
>
> A male WESTERN TANAGER visited a feeder in Virginia Beach on
> Jan 22. Earlier in the week, a female WESTERN TANAGER was
> reported about a mile away, in the Castleton subdivision.
>
> A first-winter YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD made four stops at a
> feeder on a farm near Sandy Point SP, Anne Arundel Co, MD, on Jan
23.
>
> A GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE was found at Leed's Creek in
> Talbot Co, MD, Jan 21.
>
> A ROSS'S GOOSE and a CACKLING GOOSE were found in a flock of
> SNOW GEESE along Rte 309 in Queen Anne's Co, MD, Jan 21. Four
> CACKLING GEESE were seen on Little Seneca Lake, Black Hill
> RP, Montgomery Co, MD, from the parking area near the Rte 121
bridge.
>
> A male EURASIAN WIGEON was found Dec 18 at Ridgeway Park in
> Hampton, VA.
>
> On Jan 22, the Ocean City Inlet, Worcester Co, MD, featured 2
> KING and 4 COMMON EIDER and 1 HARLEQUIN DUCK, as well as a
> first-year GLAUCOUS GULL.
>
> In VA, a good variety of waterfowl are concentrated at
> Occoquan and Belmont Bay, Fairfax Co; Lake Brittle, Fauquier
> Co; and Beaverdam Reservoir, Loudoun Co; as well as in ponds
> in King George Co along Rte 3 on the Northern Neck.
>
> On Jan 20, there was a RED-THROATED LOON at Beaverdam.
>
> A RED-NECKED GREBE was spotted on Little Hunting Creek in the
> vicinity of Riverside Park, Fairfax Co, on Jan 21.
>
> BALD EAGLES continue to be plentiful at Blackwater NWR,
> Dorchester Co, MD. On Jan 21, a BALD EAGLE flew over
> Lafayette Square, NW DC, and over Herndon, Fairfax Co. On Jan
> 22, 3 BALD EAGLES were reported from Sandy Point SP.
>
> A SHARP-SHINNED HAWK swooped into a yard in Bethesda,
> Montgomery Co, Jan 24. On Jan 21, a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK was
> scoped as it perched in a field on Montresor Rd, north of
> Leesburg in Loudoun Co. On Jan 18, a PEREGRINE FALCON was
> reported from downtown Baltimore, perched atop an office
> building at the northwest corner of Calvert and E Lexington
> Sts.
>
> Two adult GOLDEN EAGLES were seen outside Chestertown in
> northern Queen Anne's Co on Jan 18 and again Jan 20. A young
> GOLDEN EAGLE showed up at Pickering Creek Audubon Center in
> Talbot Co on Jan 22.
>
> One of the more bizarre effects of the wicked winter weather
> was the presence of AMERICAN WOODCOCK "all over" the parking
> lots at the Ocean City Inlet and the Ocean City Park&Ride.
>
> An out-of-season LAUGHING GULL was spotted along Cedar Lane
> in Fruitland, west of Salisbury, Wicomoco Co, MD.
>
> The Cecil Co landfill, near North East, MD, held a very dark
> first-year ICELAND GULL Jan 21 and 22; a second gull seen Jan
> 22 was judged to be a first-year THAYER'S GULL. LESSER
> BLACK-BACKED GULLS were seen at the Cecil landfill and also
> at Lake Brittle. The Salisbury landfill had first-year
> ICELAND and first-year GLAUCOUS GULLS on Jan 22.
>
> RAZORBILL was reported from the CBB/T islands, Northampton
> Co, VA, on Jan 21 and 22.
>
> At dusk on Jan 18, a GREAT HORNED OWL pursued a SHORT-EARED
> OWL just north of Shorter's Wharf, Dorchester Co, MD.
>
> RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS were seen at Huntley Meadows Park,
> Fairfax Co, Jan 21 and 24. A RED-HEADED WOODPECKER was
> reported from Black Rock Rd, in Arcadia, Baltimore Co, Jan 21.
>
> On Jan 20, AMERICAN PIPITS were again seen, along with HORNED
> LARKS, both at the Polo Fields on Hughes Rd, Montgomery Co,
> and at Occoquan Bay NWR. On Jan 24, 3 or more LAPLAND
> LONGSPURS were in large flocks of HORNED LARKS along Rte 85
> just north of Oland Rd in southern Frederick Co, MD. A
> LAPLAND LONGSPUR was found in Harford Co, MD, along
> Bradenbaugh Rd just east of Harford Creamery Rd. On Jan 23, a
> LAPLAND LONGSPUR was seen in Talbot Co, near the intersection
> of Rtes 309 and 404.
>
> An ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER was again seen at Riverside Park,
> Loudoun Co, on Jan 20, and glimpsed again briefly on Jan 21,
> both times near the river bank. While Mid-Atlantic birders
> are drawn by tales of wintering owls of Minnesota, on Jan 22
> a Minnesota birder visiting MD found an OVENBIRD at Baltimore
> Co's North Point SP; it was by one of the old structures and
> near a deer stand.
>
> Once again, Occoquan Bay NWR and Blue Mash Nature Trail,
> Montgomery Co, proved good places to look for a variety of
> sparrows. FOX SPARROWS graced yards in Lanham, Prince Georges
> Co, MD, and Ijamsville, Frederick Co.
>
> On VA's Northern Neck, in Richmond Co, the area of the Wilna
> unit of the Rappahannock River Valley NWR that hosted a
> LeConte's Sparrow has been closed through at least Jan 28.
>
> Two RUSTY BLACKBIRDS were seen at Huntley Meadows Jan 22.
> See Life Paulagics is running a pelagic trip on Saturday, Feb
> 26, from Lewes, DE, to look for winter seabirds. The trip
> runs from 6:00 AM to about 5:00 PM, and the cost is $110. For
> more information, call 215-234-6805, or check their web site
> at www.paulagics.com.
>
> 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.
> |