MDOspreyers:

I just received the message below from Jim Crowell, the birder who 
works for NIH at the site near Poolesville and who has worked with 
the administration and grounds staff there to delay cutting the 
portion of the hayfield that the Henslow's Sparrow favors. The bird 
may never attract a mate, but he seems likely to stick around for a 
bit as long as "his" part of the field is not hayed. I don't know how 
long the "postponement" will last.

Please heed Jim's concerns about safe parking and walking at the 
site.  Here's another chance to show that birders can be thoughtful 
citizens and neighbors as well as maniac listers.  And please do not 
park on or close to the lawns of nearby houses.  If it looks unsafe 
to park on Club Hollow Rd., go up to Elmer School Rd., park there 
well off the road and walk the short distance back to the viewing site.

Thanks

Mike Bowen
Montgomery Bird Club



>Subject: RE: Henslow's Sparrow
>Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2008 16:00:28 -0400
>
>Thread-Topic: Henslow's Sparrow
>
>From: "Crowell, James S. (NIH/OD/ORS) [E]" <>
>To: "Michael Bowen" <>
>X-OriginalArrivalTime: 17 Jun 2008 20:00:29.0304 (UTC) 
>FILETIME=[CAAC4F80:01C8D0B4]
>
>Mike,
>
>I did get up to Poolesville around noon and, along with a number of
>other folks, heard but did not see the Henslow's Sparrow.  I did get the
>appropriate people out there to agree to postpone cutting the half of
>the field with the sparrow.  So unless something goes amiss, the bird
>should have an adequate buffer of unmowed field grass for the time
>being.  My only concern now is that visiting birders exercise caution on
>Club Hollow Road as the locals really speed along what is normally an
>empty road.  Thanks for all your help.
>
>Jim
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Michael Bowen [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>Sent: Tuesday, June 17, 2008 9:25 AM
>To: Crowell, James S. (NIH/OD/ORS) [E]
>Cc: Paul O'Brien; Bill Hubick
>Subject: Re: Henslow's Sparrow
>
>Jim:
>
>First, thanks a lot on behalf of the local Montgomery County birding
>community for "going to bat" for this small and unobtrusive rare bird.
>
>Second, I just got off the phone with Paul O'Brien and we are in
>agreement with what to advise you and the NIH farming people.
>Undoubtedly, the place where the bird is situated is in part of a large
>hayfield.  But it seems to spend all its time singing (though seldom
>visible) in the steeply sloping part below an obvious ridge that starts
>100 feet or possibly a bit more beyond the security fence. It
>particularly likes the area either side of a swale (locally low area,
>like a shallow ditch) that runs down the slope. Apart from this obvious
>swale, there really are no easy landmarks and in any case the bird does
>occasionally fly around, but always (as far as I can tell) on the slope
>between the ridge and the fence.
>
>Paul's and my thought is that the field could be hayed everywhere but
>the part that slopes from the ridge down to the fence -- looks to me
>that it would be difficult to get haying machinery into that area
>anyway.  That would be a small proportion of the total 18 acres not to
>hay.
>
>There will probably be birders coming to look every day this week, as
>long as the bird is present -- it is a loud and persistent singer, so
>even if it is devilish difficult to see, it is easy to gage that it is
>present as long as it wants to sing.  Have you seen Bill Hubick's photos
>of this bird?  I wasn't there when Bill took pictures on Sunday, but I
>believe they were taken in the very same area described above.
>
>Perhaps you could post on MDOsprey a telephone number at NIH that
>birders along Club Hollow Rd. could call you at if they get a good look
>at it.  You and someone from the grounds staff might then get out to
>Club Hollow and see just where the bird is.
>
>Best Regards
>
>Mike Bowen

D.H. Michael Bowen
8609 Ewing Drive
Bethesda, MD  20817
Telephone: (301) 530-5764
e-mail:  dhmbowenATyahooDOTcom