Jay Sheppard, Bill Ellis, and I searched with no luck for the Northern Shrike
yesterday (1/26/07). We covered these roads Boog Road, Cape Horn Rd, Ralph
Dell Rd, Brodbeck Rd, Cape Horn Rd, Boog Road, and were at the area it was
sighted at least three times.
We talked to other birders who were there when we first arrived (Paul Noell
and Gail Frantz, I believe), who had not seen the shrike either. They
mentioned they had talked to the person/people who had initially found the
shrike earlier in the morning and he/she/they did not see it that morning either.
Later in the afternoon, we talked to Hans Holbrook at the site, too.
We did have flocks of each White-crowned Sparrows and Horned Larks, lots of
Juncos, Rock Doves, Mourning Doves, American Crows, and Song Sparrows
along Boog Road. Northern Mockingbirds kept drawing our eyes to them. A Red-
tailed Hawk flew in low over a field filled with birds, but came up empty.
On Ralph Dell Rd we had an American Kestrel (and believe we saw at least one
other on a wire on other roads while we were driving around).
We also visited the pond on Study Road (off Stone Road off Rte 97) towards
the end of the afternoon. We did not find the White-fronted Goose. We did
see in addition to the Canada Geese:
American Widgeon (1f) (she kept going up on the shore next to the pond)
Gadwall (1f)
Redhead (1f)
Mallards (~15)
On the way to the pond, on Harvey Gummel Road, just before Rte 27 before
crossing over to Albert Rill Road, there was a beautiful Red-tailed Hawk eating
its kill right at the edge of the road.
Marcy Stutzman
Russett, MD
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