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Subject:

Mourning & "Lawrence's" Warblers, Henslow's Sparrows

From:

Leo Weigant

Reply-To:

Leo Weigant

Date:

Wed, 4 Jun 2008 22:50:03 -0400

I left the morning after the MOS conference "to see what I could see"  
in Garrett county and
with the knowledgeable, sharp-eared, sharp-eyed, and very patient  
help of a friend
(Jon Boone) we managed to ID at least 16 warblers and some other good  
birds as well.

The MOURNING WARBLERSs (one seen beautifully, two heard) were near  
their traditional
grounds on Table Rock (directions below)  200 paces down from the  
tower at the top,
(right where newly a bull-dozed road veers off at a sixty-degree  
angle  -- apparently
as part of the preliminary construction for  a row of 43-story tall  
windmills still planned
in spite of the recent decision to ban them).
The male was singing up in a tree on the left (as you climb up the  
trail) seen eventually
in full sunlight, showing off his black breast patch -- easily the  
best look I've ever had.
Two others were heard on the right side, near the bulldozed trail.

	DIRECTIONS:    see Claudia Wilds' Finding Birds In The National  
Capital Area, p. 129,
	or  DeLorme Atlas, p. 64 (B-1).   Take US-219 south from Oakland,  
turn east on US-50
	 for about 3 miles, make an acute right turn onto Table Rock road at  
the top of Backbone
	Ridge and then  right onto an unmarked road (ca. 3/4 mile) at the  
foot of a new strip mine
	pile of tailings.
	WARNING: If mining activity atop this steeply sloped pile brings  
machinery close to the
	edge  you may be warned, even prohibited from walking up the old  
familiar road to the
	tower.

The LAWRENCE'S WARBLER was seen on Mt Zion Road, just above the Boat  
Launch area on
Jennings Randolph Lake (directions below).   Park in the lot at the  
foot of the hill and hike the
rail bed to the left for cerulean warblers, then drive back up to the  
first gated path/road on the
right and park.    Walk up the highway, scanning the tree tops on the  
left.   Where GOLDEN-WINGED
WARBLERS had been reliable in the past, none were seen today.
But we did encounter, in quick succession a BLUE-WINGED WARBLER and then
(imagine our surprise) we noted another bird, this one with the black  
auricular & throat patches
of a golden-wing, only, as John pointed out, his face was yellow  
along with his breast, belly,
and sides, while I confirmed that  the wing bars were white.
This was my first-ever LAWRENCE'S WARBLER.
I forgot to touch the ground for a while as we walked on.

	DIRECTIONS:    Take MD 135 east from Oakland for about 13 miles,  
turning right on
	Mt. Zion Road.   follow the brown & white "Boat Launch" signs which  
indicate the right
	way to proceed at each intersection.           DeLorme Atlas, p. 66,  
(D-1) and pp 64-65, (A-4).

The HENSLOW'S SPARROWS were posing on bush tops right where Steve  
Sanford's OSPREY
posting of June 1 had described -- on Old Legislative Road, by the  
rusty gate on the left at the
top of a steep hill where the road turns south from Klondike Road.
KlondikeRd. turns west from MD-936 about 5 miles south of  
Frostburg.   DeLorme Atlas, p. 67 (B-4).


Leo Weigant