I heard a White-throated Sparrow singing in the woods on the north
side of Centennial Lake at 8:30 this morning. I did not see the bird.
I returned to Centennial around 12:00 and heard the White-throat
again, but did not see it. I was able to more precisely pinpoint its
location. It was back in the woods, well away from the path, along
the north side of the lake, east of Volk's Falls and west of the
Wood Duck pond. Roughly near the geo-stash with the turquoise wading
pool, if you know where that is. (There is no need to overly disturb
things by bushwacking, by the way! There are several existing dirt
or mowed trails through that area of the woods.)
It didn't even dawn on me at first that this would be a very early
date, because I recently returned from vacationing in Minnesota,
where I heard dozens of them singing everywhere I went!
The Yellow Book shows a dotted line through July and August. I
figure these birds nest in the Appalachians. Might a young one do an
early altitudinal migration?
Of course, since I only heard it, I can't rule out Mockingbird. I
saw Mockingbirds at Centennial today (of course), but on the wood
edges near the lake, not in the area where I was hearing the sparrow
song.
The mystery remains...
--
June Tveekrem
Columbia, Howard Co, MD
tweekiebird AT toadmail DOT com |