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Subject:

Snow Bunting and Short-eared Owl in Montgomery Co.

From:

Bill Hubick

Reply-To:

Bill Hubick

Date:

Sat, 15 Dec 2007 18:02:38 -0800

Hi Everyone,

After enjoying a rare lazy morning, I finally got my priorities straight
and went birding. I decided to sneak into the Triadelphia CBC circle and
see if I could get into any trouble. I started at Greenbridge Road on
Triadelphia Reservoir, viewing from the end of the road and then walking
the trail north from the parking lot. There were a lot of fishermen on the
water, so most of my waterfowl were flybys. The definite highlight was a
SNOW BUNTING that appeared less than 20 feet away from me near the end of
what I think of as the point. Once the trail reaches the reservoir, there
are significant flats to the left when water levels are low. The only good
landmark for finding the bird there was a white bucket that someone once
filled with cement and used as an anchor. The bunting was always within 30
feet of the bucket-anchor. I watched it - the bunting, that is - feed for
about 20 minutes, secretly hoping it would eventually fly off and into
Howard Co. I'm not saying I haven't ever encouraged a bird to cross a
county line, but today I walked the ethical high road. :) It was an
excellent, extended study. Flyby waterfowl included 32 COMMON MERGANSERs,
one RED-BREASTED MERGANSER, and one AMERICAN BLACK DUCK.

Since the count was today, here's the full list (12:45 to 1:45 p.m., 1.1
miles walking). All birds were in Montgomery Co. only unless noted
otherwise.

Canada Goose--2; Mo/Ho
American Black Duck--1; Mo/Ho
Common Merganser--32; Mo/Ho
Red-breasted Merganser--1; Mo/Ho
Black Vulture--3; Howard only
Turkey Vulture--2; Howard only
Red-tailed Hawk--1
Ring-billed Gull--17; Mo/Ho
Mourning Dove--26
Belted Kingfisher--2; Mo/Ho
Red-bellied Woodpecker--2
Northern Flicker--1
Pileated Woodpecker--1
Blue Jay--2
American Crow--3
Carolina Chickadee--2
Tufted Titmouse--1
White-breasted Nuthatch--1
Brown Creeper--1
Carolina Wren--1
Golden-crowned Kinglet--2
Dark-eyed Junco--3
SNOW BUNTING--1

One quick Snow Bunting shot:
http://www.billhubick.com/images2/snow_bunting_mo_md_20071215.jpg

I continued on to Blue Mash Nature Trail, where I found another very
exciting bird - a SHORT-EARED OWL hunting out over the landfill. After
hiking around the park for an hour or so, the overcast light seemed right
for early Short-eared Owl hunting. I did a 15-minute watch from the fence
line and lucked into several minutes watching one Short-eared Owl and a
first-year NORTHERN HARRIER working the fields. Quite cool! To try for
this bird, park at the BMNT parking lot on Zion Road and walk straight
(perpendicular to Zion Road) along the main trail. Before reaching the
fence line, veer left until you are viewing a dried up drainage pond
through a chain fence. The bird was flying over the grassy old landfill,
behind the dry drainage pond There's always a chance of earlier flying on
overcast days, and I first had this one at 3:45 p.m. today.

Here is the full list for BMNT (2:05 to 4:15 p.m.; 2.15 miles walking):

Canada Goose--16
Great Blue Heron--2
Northern Harrier--1 first-year
SHORT-EARED OWL--1
Red-bellied Woodpecker--5
Downy Woodpecker--1
Northern Flicker--7
Blue Jay--12
crow sp.--1150; both species well represented in dusk flight
Carolina Chickadee--6
Tufted Titmouse--1
Carolina Wren--1
Eastern Bluebird--1
American Robin--2
Northern Mockingbird--3
Cedar Waxwing--21
Yellow-rumped Warbler--1
Eastern Towhee--1
Fox Sparrow--3
Song Sparrow--5
White-throated Sparrow--24
Northern Cardinal--9
Purple Finch--1; female/immature
House Finch--5
American Goldfinch--1

Good birding!

Bill

Bill Hubick
Pasadena, MD

http://www.billhubick.com

Bill Hubick
Pasadena, Maryland

http://www.billhubick.com