Hi Everyone,

I've managed to do a bit of birding between rounds of over-eating these
last couple days, and I wanted to pass on some highlights.

Yesterday morning (11/22), I stopped at Western Regional Park at dawn on
my way out west. A flyby AMERICAN PIPIT was the only bird of note.

I met John Hubbell to look for siskins and other northern finches, and we
started at Washington Monument SP. It was windy and quiet on the monument,
so we decided to retreat to slightly lower elevations. There was moderate
activity at the feeder near the parking lot, and after a few minutes of
waiting, we had our first target - a PINE SISKIN that flew in, calling, to
join a handful of goldfinches. Having twitched our Washington siskin, we
crossed into Frederick and cased the ornamental evergreens for signs of
redpolls and grosbeaks. The calls of House Finches and American
Goldfinches alerted us, and we hopped out of the car to listen. It didn't
take long to have a flyby PURPLE FINCH, followed by a flyby PINE SISKIN.
Both birds were about a mile north of Washington Monument Road on Monument
Road. The Pine Grosbeaks and Townsend's Solitaires eluded us, but we were
two counties closer to closing out siskin. 

We then headed to Lilypons, where we spotted a loon, naked-eye, from the
bridge. As we entered and approached on foot, however, we were thrilled to
see it was a RED-THROATED. This was quite a surprise, as this must surely
be one of the toughest counties for the species. Other birds around the
gardens included the following:

Bald Eagle--1
Red-shouldered Hawk--2
Red-tailed Hawk--1
American Kestrel--2
Wilson's Snipe--4
American Pipit--3
Swamp Sparrow--4
Pine Siskin--1; flyby, calling

(Of note, it seems that the loon was not present this afternoon. While
certainly disappointing for birders, I am relieved that the bird will not
be starving on a pond too narrow for take-off)

Friday, 11/23

I was itching to pursue the ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER this morning, but I
decided to first go on a run around Fort Smallwood. I reasoned I could
increase fuel efficiency by not hauling all of my nearly doubled weight
down to Jug Bay. Birds at el forte included the following:

Canada Goose--46
Mallard--38
Green-winged Teal--3
Hooded Merganser--1 drake
Red-tailed Hawk--1
Ring-billed Gull--35
Herring Gull--5
Forster's Tern--17; seen by looking south from the beach by the pond;
these have been roosting on the piers and flats across from Hilltop Road
for at least a week

I returned home, made mild attempts to straighten out the carnage from
entertaining, and then made arrangements to meet Jim Brighton. The chase
was on. 

We found our way to Pig Point and to the private residence of Bill Brown.
He and his family were very hospitable, and we greatly enjoyed birding
their lovely property. We searched for the bird for several hours, but it
was not to be re-found. Because we did not locate the bird and did not
want to unduly trouble the owners, we did not discuss other visitors
coming by. With the front that passed through, I can't feel too confident
the bird will reappear there. We did find the following at Pig Point and
the nearby hedgerows:

Sharp-shinned Hawk--1
Red-tailed Hawk--1
Peregrine Falcon--1 immature harrying the Ring-billed Gulls; AA and PG
Hermit Thrush--1
Brown Thrasher--1
Myrtle Warbler--8; Jim's closeout
Eastern Towhee--2
American Tree Sparrow--1
Fox Sparrow--1
Song Sparrow--12
Swamp Sparrow--2
White-throated Sparrow--25
White-crowned Sparrow--1; imm. Eastern
Dark-eyed Junco--5
Rusty Blackbird--18
House Finch--12
American Goldfinch--6

I can't send a long post without at least one new photo; here's a shot of
the RTLO:

http://www.billhubick.com/images2/red-throated_loon_fr_md_20071122.jpg

And the weekend is just starting... Let's find something good!

Good birding,

Bill

Bill Hubick
Pasadena, MD

http://www.billhubick.com