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FW: DC Area, 5/20/08

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Norm Saunders

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Wed, 21 May 2008 05:32:36 -0400

-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Cordle [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 7:29 PM
To: 
Subject: DC Area, 5/20/08

Hotline:            Voice of the Naturalist 
Date:               5/20/2008 
Coverage:           MD/DC/VA/DE 
Telephone:          301-652-1088 option 1 
Reports (voice):    301-652-1088 option 2 
        (email):     
     (deadline):    midnight Mondays 
Compiler:           Joe Coleman 
Sponsor:            Audubon Naturalist Society of the Central 
                      Atlantic States (independent of NAS!) 
Transcriber:        Steve Cordle () 

Please consider joining ANS, especially if you are a regular user of
the Voice (Individual $40; Family $50; Nature Steward $75; Audubon
Advocate $150). The membership number is 301-652-9188, option 12; the
address is 8940 Jones Mill Road, Chevy Chase, MD 20815; and the web
site is http://www.AudubonNaturalist.org. 

This is the Voice of the Naturalist, a service of the Audubon
Naturalist Society. This report was completed Tuesday, May 20, at 6:00
p.m. 

Top birds this week are WOOD SANDPIPER* & CURLEW SANDPIPER* in DE and
AUDUBON'S YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER* in MD.

Other birds of interest include TRUMPETER SWAN, RUFFED GROUSE,
NORTHERN BOBWHITE, HORNED GREBE, ANHINGA, AMERICAN and LEAST BITTERN,
GLOSSY IBIS, hawks including MISSISSIPPI KITE, SORA, shorebirds,
FRANKLIN'S GULL, BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO, nightjars, flycatchers including
OLIVE-SIDED and YELLOW-BELLIED, LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE*, PHILADELPHIA
VIREO, BROWN CREEPER, GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH, warblers including
GOLDEN-WINGED and MOURNING, sparrows, including CLAY-COLORED and
LINCOLN'S, BOBOLINK, PURPLE FINCH, RED CROSSBILL, and PINE SISKIN. 

The WOOD SANDPIPER* first found on May 5 along the Broadkill Road in
Prime Hook NWR, Sussex Co, DE continues to be reported with the most
recent report on May 17. The bird has been in the pools on the north
side of the road approximately 2.2 miles past the entrance to Prime
Hook.

A CURLEW SANDPIPER* was reported from Taylor's Gut near Woodland
Beach, DE on May 17.

An AUDUBON'S YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER* was found May 18 at the Idylwild
WMA, Caroline Co, MD.

TRUMPETER SWAN #962, from the Ontario, Canada reintroduction program,
was seen throughout the week at the Paper Mill Flats, Baltimore Co,
MD.

On May 17 a RUFFED GROUSE was heard drumming once off of the North
Ridge Trail above the intersection with the South Ridge Trail at Sky
Meadows SP, Fauquier Co, VA.

A few NORTHERN BOBWHITES were reported from the region last week.
There were two in the Annapolis, MD area the evening of May 15 and the
morning of May 17; one along Sugarland Rd in Montgomery Co, MD on May
16; and another, the same day, near Swan Point, Charles Co, MD.
Several were heard in Westmoreland Co, VA over the weekend.

HORNED GREBES in breeding plumage were reported from two different
locations; one on May 17 on Belmont Bay, Fairfax Co, VA, seen from the
Belmont Marina; and the other at Tuckahoe Lake on Crouse Mill Road in
Queen Anne's/Caroline Co., MD on May 18.

A birder driving south on I-95 between Petersburg and Emporia, VA,
sighted a flying ANHINGA. It was near milepost 35.4.

There were two booming AMERICAN BITTERNS and two SORAS at the Cedar
Run Wetlands, Nokesville, Prince William Co, VA, on May 17. A LEAST
BITTERN was seen at the Hughes Hollow impoundments, Montgomery Co, MD,
on May 16. 

A GLOSSY IBIS was seen on May 14 and 16 at Hains Point, SW DC.

With a sighting on May 16, it appears that MISSISSIPPI KITES have
again returned to the Waynewood Elementary School area of Fairfax Co,
VA. Two MISSISSIPPI KITES, an adult and a sub-adult, passed over the
Fort Smallwood Park, Anne Arundel Co, MD Hawkwatch on May 17.

A female SHARP-SHINNED HAWK was seen in Talbot Co, MD on May 16 and
17.

A late MERLIN was seen May 13 in a yard in Ferndale, Anne Arundel Co,
MD.

Two SORA, one COMMON MOORHEN, and two BLACK-NECKED STILTS were among
the many birds seen on a May 18 trip to Hart-Miller Island, Baltimore
Co, MD.

A BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER was found May 13 at the Summit Hall Turf Farm
in Montgomery Co, MD. On May 16 two BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS, two DUNLIN,
and two SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS were among the shorebirds there. An
AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER and RUDDY TURNSTONE were seen at Great Oak
Pond, Kent Co, MD on May 17.

Two banded RED KNOTS were found at North Slaughter Beach, DE on May
17. More than 200 RED KNOTS were seen at Broadkill Beach, Sussex Co,
DE the same day.

Four BLACK-NECKED STILTS were found May 16 on the north side of Rt.
261 just west of Herring Harbor Marina, Anne Arundel Co, MD. A RUDDY
TURNSTONE was found at Hains Point, SW DC on May 16, 17, and 18, and
SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS were there on the 17th.

FRANKLIN'S GULL sightings continued at the golf course at Hains Point,
SW DC, with an adult seen there on May 13 and 14.

A BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO was seen at Fort McHenry, Baltimore, MD on May
15. COMMON NIGHTHAWKS were also spotted there the same day.

Nightjars were reported from a number of locations this past week with
several reports of COMMON NIGHTHAWKS. On May 17 a birder found in
Prince William Co, VA: two COMMON NIGHTHAWKS flying around the
structure at Quantico, one CHUCK-WILL'S-WIDOW at the VFW along Joplin
Rd, and four WHIP-POOR-WILLS north of Campgrounds 2 & 5 in Prince
William Forest Park.

An OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER was found May 14 & 15 at Fort C. F. Smith
Park, Arlington Co, VA. LEAST FLYCATCHERS were seen there and at Fort
McHenry on May 15. An OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER was found May 18 on the
regular weekly bird walk at the Great Falls NP, Fairfax Co, VA.
Another was found the same day at Owings Mills Mall "Wetland Area",
Baltimore Co, MD.

A YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER was found May 17 at Possum Point, Prince
William Co, VA.

Several ALDER FLYCATCHERS were at Finzel Swamp, Garrett Co, MD on May
17. On May 17 an ALDER FLYCATCHER was singing in the alders of a mucky
pond on Peedee Creek, Leedstown, Westmoreland Co, VA. An ALDER
FLYCATCHER was seen and heard on May 18 at Greenbury Point, near
Annapolis, Anne Arundel Co, MD. 

WILLOW FLYCATCHERS popped up at several of their nesting locations,
including the Dulles Greenway Wetlands Mitigation Project, Loudoun Co
and the Blue Mash Trail, Montgomery Co, MD.

A LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE* was found May 16 on the central tract of the
Patuxent Wildlife Research Refuge, Prince George's Co, MD.

A PHILADELPHIA VIREO was found on May 13 in the Azalea Collection at
the National Arboretum, NE DC.

A "frazzled-looking" BROWN CREEPER was found May 18 at Wooton's Mill
Park, Montgomery Co, MD.

Thrush migration picked up this past week as GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSHES
were spotted in several locations on May 17, including one at
Monticello Park, Alex, another at Soldiers Delight, Baltimore Co, one
at Fern Valley, National Arboretum, NE DC, and one at the American
Chestnut Land Trust, Calvert Co, MD. One was at Milford Mill Park,
Randallstown, Baltimore Co, MD on May 18 and two were found there on
May 19. A GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH was also found near the maintenance yard
in Patterson Park, Baltimore, MD on May 19.

Over 30 species of warblers were reported this past week. Hot spots
included Blue Mash, Montgomery Co, MD; Rock Creek Park, Wash DC;
Monticello Park, Alexandria, VA; G. Richard Thompson WMA in
northwestern Fauquier Co, VA, where 13 CERULEAN WARBLERS were observed
on the 13th; the James River Park at 42nd Street, Richmond, VA; and
Leesylvania SP, Prince William Co, VA.

GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLERS were found in both western Virginia and western
Maryland. One was found on May 14 in Green Ridge State Forest,
Allegany County, MD, at the intersections of both Dailey Rds. Another
was found on the 17th at Cranesville Swamp, Garrett Co, MD. On May 17
a male GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER and a BREWSTER'S WARBLER (a
Golden-winged/Blue-winged hybrid) were found along Rte 640 at the
Highland Co, VA/Pendleton WV line.

A MOURNING WARBLER was found the afternoon of May 17 at the Metz
Wetlands, Prince William Co, VA, on the very wet trail to the
eastern-most blind.

On May 16 a CLAY-COLORED SPARROW was seen and heard singing loudly in
the shrubs north of the WWII Memorial (in the area of the circular
stone sitting area) on the mall in NW DC. A LINCOLN'S SPARROW visited
a yard in Pasadena, Anne Arundel Co, MD from May 15 through the 17th.
Both VESPER and LINCOLN'S SPARROWS were seen at the Bear Mountain Farm
& Wilderness Retreat in Highland Co, VA on May 14. LINCOLN'S SPARROWS
were found on May 15 at Soldiers Delight Natural Area, Baltimore Co,
MD, at Rock Creek Park and Milford Mill Park, Randallstown, Baltimore
Co on May 18, and at Patterson Park, Baltimore, MD near the
maintenance yard on May 19.

WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS continued to pop up in the area this past week.

BOBOLINKS continued to be reported from a number of locations this
past week. 

And PURPLE FINCHES continue to linger in the area with several
scattered sightings.

Eleven RED CROSSBILLS were still visiting a feeder in Dayton,
Rockingham Co, VA, on May 16. 

A dozen PINE SISKINS showed up at feeders in Limeton, Warren Co, VA on
May 14 and one at a feeder in Crozet, Albemarle Co, VA, on May 18.

Some of this week's reports have been gleaned from the MDOsprey,
VA-Bird, and DE-bird list servers.

Finding Birds in the National Capital Area by Claudia Wilds is an
excellent source for directions to many birding sites. The ANS
Bookstore (301-652-3606 or
www.audubonnaturalist.org/cgi-bin/mesh/store) is an excellent source
for this and many other nature-related titles. 

To report bird sightings, e-mail your report to
 or call 301-652-1088 and select menu
option 2. Please post reports before midnight Monday, identify the
county as well as state, and include your name and a Tuesday morning
contact, either e-mail or phone. 

Thank you for calling, and GOOD BIRDING. 

*Of interest to the records committee.