Bill,
   I understand the Frederick County Landfill is now off-limits to birders. You must have pulled some strings to get in there.
--
Bob Ringler
Eldersburg MD


---- Bill Hubick <> wrote: 
> Hi Everyone,
>  
> Hope you all had a great day, and that you found me good birds to chase tomorrow morning!  I had a very nice and productive day, first enjoying the field birds on River Road in Montgomery Co., then checking out the gulls at the Frederick Co. landfill, and finally meeting up with Dave Powell, who was working on the Triadelphia CBC.
>  
> River Road was excellent. Slightly discouraged after a slow first pass, I met with much better luck on my way back past the turf farm. Driving with my windows down, I heard distant tinkling notes, then spotted a large flock of HORNED LARKs (100+) in the distance. They were perhaps a half-mile south of the turf farm's #4 entrance. They landed, and I stopped. I hopped out and set up my first of two tripods - my scope. When I excitedly found my first LAPLAND LONGSPUR in the group, I got out the second tripod - with my camera. As I scoped and shot "I-swear-that-dot-is-a-longspur" photos, I noticed that the birds were slowly working my way. I settled in and pulled the scopes together, wondering how close they'd get. Patience often pays!  The dots got closer and closer, until I was photographing two longspurs at a much more reasonable range. While I waited, several American Pipits flew by calling, and I noticed a great bonus in the flock - a VESPER SPARROW. I also had six PURPLE FINCHes at the first wooded area north of the flock.
>  
> The longspurs were my long-awaited first in the state, so many thanks to Andy Martin and Jim Green for finding and posting the birds.
>  
> I then proceeded to the Frederick Co. Landfill, which hosted a decent number of gulls. I tried unsuccessfully to create a Vega Gull and a California Gull, but my imagination wasn't quite up to the task. I had to settle for a western limit-line GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL. Are there any records for GBBG in Washington, Allegany, or Garrett Counties? The Yellow Book indicates no records west of Frederick Co.
>  
> I met up with Dave Powell just north of Blue Mash Nature Trail, where we scoped some nice waterfowl on a privately-owned pond. I'll leave those birds for Dave since he was working the CBC and has the numbers, but the 3 SNOW GEESE he found there probably deserve timely mention. Hans said he needed to call Jim Stasz because these would be a close-out, and the Yellow Book lists them as non-annual. Good birds.
>  
> I ended the day at Blue Mash Nature Trail, the highlight of which was 8 AMERICAN TREE SPARROWs that Dave had told me about. Other birds included Sharp-shinned Hawk, Hermit Thrush, Field Sparrow, and Myrtle Warbler. This is also a good spot for White-crowned Sparrows - I know Dave had some today, but I didn't spot any. As dusk arrived, I found myself quite a way down the trail. Noting the many cedars around, I stopped and whistled for saw-whet owl a few times. After a few moments, my pulse quickened as I heard a response!  Unfortunately, I was quickly able to spot the mockingbird with whom I was harmonizing. :)
>  
> I posted a couple photos of the longspur to my web site at <http://www.billhubick.com/new_set.html>. I completely remodeled the site yesterday, and am pretty psyched about how it came out.
>  
> Good birding,
>  
> Bill
>  
> Bill Hubick
> Elkridge, MD
> 
> <http://www.billhubick.com/>
>