Hi Fred -
Thanks much for the prompt reporting of the Dickcissel at Wye Island
U of MD Ag Farms. I was there this morning from 9 to 9:30 and the bird
made several visits to the power lines just where you said he would be.
Les Roslund
Talbot County
Easton MD 21601
-----Original Message-----
From: Maryland Birds & Birding [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Fred Fallon
Sent: Friday, June 22, 2007 3:41 PM
To:
Subject: [MDOSPREY] Dickcissel at Wye I
At Wye I this AM checking on grassland birds I was pleased to see both a
Grasshopper Sparrow and Meadowlark, both increasingly scarce even in
agricultural habitat. More astonishing was to hear and see a singing
male DICKCISSEL - this in the first ag field one comes to after passing
the signs proclaiming the U MD complex. With its wooden fence posts,
uncut alfalfa (?), fence rows, and wide open space Wye I does indeed
seem ideal habitat for Dickcissel, but I don't remember hearing of any
reported there.
Dickcissels are making a slow come-back on both the Eastern and Western
Shores, popping up here and there but not usually returning often to the
same place year to year. I hope the bird was breeding; hopefully someone
may spot a female or young. (Danny Poet, maybe?) The male himself offers
little clue, confining his duties mostly to "lightening his mate's
efforts with song". This field was not yet cut, tho' it may be soon - I
saw a flatbed loaded with hay bales. I wondered if this might be a
progeny of Doug Gill's operation at Chino Farms, where occasionally
Dickcissels have nested. The digiphoto shows 2 apparent bands, but
metallic rather than the colored plastic used there.
The Dickcissel is such an odd sparrow - has anyone considered whether it
might actually be a cross between the first 2 aforementioned species?
Think about it.
Fred Fallon
Bowie MD
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