Hello, 

Lisa Shannon, Paul Pisano, and I straggled down to
Poplar Point this morning to search for the Seaside
Sparrow reported on Thursday.  As far as I know, the
only record for this species in DC was in May 1988. 
There was a plausible though unconfirmed report from
nearby Bladensburg, Prince George's County, in May of
either 2005 or 2004.  

First, the bad news.  We did not see a Seaside
Sparrow.  

Now, for the good news.  Shortly after we entered the
tract where the Seaside Sparrow had been reported,
Paul Pisano found a GRASSHOPPER SPARROW.  We admired
it for some time at distances of 25 to 40 feet, and
then realized that there was another one nearby.  

We continued to walk further from the road, into
moister and moister areas.  A small buffy bird flushed
away from us: a female LEAST BITTERN.  Slowly we edged
closer to the standing water.  A bigger brown bird
with green-colored legs flew above the vegetation,
further into the fastness of the marsh.  An AMERICAN
BITTERN!  

Soon thereafter, with our shoes and boots taking on
more mud and water, Lisa cried "Look, there it is, the
bittern!"  We watched the LEAST BITTERN watch us for a
few seconds, before it decided to join its larger
cousin in the impenetrable interior of the wetland.  

We continued in the direction of the metro station
visible in the near distance, and reached the safety
of fully dry land before we realized it.  After we
turned around and started the slog back to our cars,
Paul flushed a Wilson's Snipe, which proceeded to
execute a large circle flight around us before it
disappeared once more among the reeds.   

A detour into the abandoned nursery to the south saw
us walking past derelict buildings with painted
numbers from 5 to 8, and dodging Poison Ivy. 
Eventually we saw a female WILD TURKEY run across our
path  about 200 feet in front of us.  After we
identified a mystery singer as a western Palm Warbler,
we began our return to our cars.  In between admiring
the passel of Yellow Warblers and walking past Canada
Goose nests, we saw two male WILD TURKEYS walk across
a side path maybe 100 feet from us.  Before they
sauntered around the corner, Lisa snapped several
photographs.  

It was a pleasant morning to be out, in great company
with excellent birds (for DC anyway).  Plus, on the
way to Poplar Point, we heard the catchy
Spanish-language Christmas song (!), "Burrito
Sabanero", which put us in a wonderful mood even
before the wonderful birds.  

Rob Hilton
aimophila10
Silver Spring
yahoo
Maryland

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