My brother Jack & I drove thru the Blacks Mill Rd, Graceham Rd. & Old Frederick Rd. area. No Lapwing, though we did see two birds in the far distance at the Graceham Rd site that caused momentary excitement.
Turned out to be Eastern Bluebirds (male & female)
Also saw Horned Lark, Eastern Meadow Lark, Killdeer, American Robin & Red-tailed Hawk at the Graceham Rd. area.
And, as we walked back to the yellow-ribboned parking area, we saw one bird by the road that neither of us were sure of its identity. It was sparrow-like, with 2 yellow lores, complete eye-ring (which seemed yellow), black mustachial stripe, white throat, thick, dark streaking on flanks, chest, large head (and wi beak, seemed 'cone-shaped,' not typical sparrow beak), crown was weakly striped, sometimes seeming 'greenish' when the wind would blow, dark streaking on back (no rufous that I could see). It never moved far from us, kind of 'crouching' down, then scurrying ahead (this continued for 23-30 feet), til it finally flew back in the opposite direction, low to the ground, showing much white underneath & under its tail.
Any thoughts on what this bird could have been? The closest we could find in Sibley's was a Lark Bunting, but that doesn't seem likely. Savannah Sparrow didn't seem to fit, and Grasshopper wouldn't be around now (?; plus, it didn't look like one anyway).
The real experience of the day was the incredible explosion of Short-eared Owls from the marshy grass at Bigham Rd. at their appointed time, but that's up in PA, just across the border, so no more mention of that. (other than to second what Frank Boyle said..."incredible!" -- oh, I think I said that already -- and to note that the albino Red-tailed Hawk, plus male/female Northern Harriers were in the same fields).
As for Blue Jays, we've had them around all winter. Generally 2, sometimes 4. Plenty of N. Cardinals, Carolina Chickadees, Tufted Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatches, Red-bellied, Pileated and Downy Woodpeckers.
Had a Yellow-rumped Warbler this morning (first of the year), along with a Common Grackle. A Northern Flicker was in the yard a week ago.
Good birding,
--
Frank Powers
Glen Echo, MD
Montgomery County
frankpowers-at-comcast.net |