Hi all,

 

I arrived at the Painted Bunting site yesterday at 11 am.  No other
birders were there but 4 joggers/walkers asked why so many people stand
at this site with binocs and scopes.  Thanks to someone putting up a
"Painted Buntings for Obama" sign I could show them a photo of this
little gem.  Talking to more curious passersby than birders reminded me
of the scene in Silver Spring with the crossbill.  Maybe we could use
these events for MOS fundraisers-we'll tell you what we're looking at
for $1. :-)

 

There was absolutely no bird activity for the first 15 minutes or so.
Then, in conjunction with the arrival of Tom Mitchell, of York, PA what
I assume are the usual suspects for this site began arriving: cardinal,
junco, white-thr. Sparrow, downy woodpecker, sapsucker.  Tom and I had a
fun time reminiscing about other birding adventures in the Midwest,
Massachusetts, Arizona, Florida etc while getting colder and colder
despite our many layers.  Finally, as the conversation drifted to how
cold our extremities were getting, the bunting appeared low in the
famous holly bush for about 10-15 seconds (around noon).  We both got
decent looks and he disappeared.  After about 15-20 mins he reappeared
at the feeder and stayed long enough for great binoc and scope views,
compete with red eye-ring.  So, contrary to the expectations of Tom and
I, the bird can be seen in the middle of the day!  While this was an
elusive life bird for Tom, I had seen one previously, in Denton TX 23
years ago.   But that's pretty close to a life bird.

 

I then went on to Blackwater NWR, arriving around 2 pm thanks to bridge
traffic.  I did not see any of the recently reported birds I had hoped
to see: white-fronted goose, rough-legged hawk, and short-eared owl but
did see the expected waterfowl and other spp: 

 

Tundra Swans

Mute Swans

Canada Geese

Mallards

Black Ducks

Shovelers

Pintails

Killdeer

Great Blue Herons

Red-tailed Hawks

Red-shouldered Hawk

N. Harriers

Cooper' Hawk

Bald Eagles

Kestrels

Ring-billed Gulls

Bluebirds

Starlings

Red-winged B-birds

Common Grackles

 

I spent much of my time scanning the many C. Goose flocks for the
elusive white-fronteds.  There were no snow geese around.  Should there
be? (I don't get to Blackwater very often but the brochure says I should
look for Ross' among the many Snows).  I also drove Egypt and other
roads in search of the rarer raptors with no luck.

 

Highlights for me, however, were:

 

Great Egret

White Pelican (1 flyover)

Snipe (2 flyovers)

Tree swallows (lots)

Hermit Thrush

Brown-headed Nuthatch

E. Meadowlark

Kingfisher

 

Michel Cavigelli

Greenbelt