MD Osprey:
To make a long story short ... the moulting adult Western Meadowlark
was still present at Hurlock on Sat, 9/6 when Marshall Iliff saw it,
as reported earlier. I had actually photographed this bird on Friday,
9/5 (it was not calling for me), but I had not enlarged and reviewed
my images until I saw the message about Marshall seeing it.
This bird is going through a significant moult and I suspect that it
is going to be around for a while longer.
I don't have my images posted, but here are Bill Hubick's again with
the links to Mikey Lutmerding's photos and video clips ...
http://www.billhubick.com/new_set.html
Location details: Middle of the southernmost turf field on the west
side of MD 331, south of Hurlock, Maryland, just north of the
intersection with MD 14.
Bill, Mikey, et al. had the bird in the evening last Sunday. Marshall
and I had it early in the morning on Sat and Fri, respectively. The
sun is better in the morning. Traffic noise can make it difficult to
hear when vehicles pass, especially during the week and now that
school is back in session.
Listen for the soft "chuck" notes ... if it is calling.
Visually, look for an adult, with black on the breast; a yellow malar
area (behind the base of the lower mandible); thin dark brown bars on
the wing coverts (not thick black bars); a weak eye stripe; not a lot
of contrast in the head stripes; no rufous on the back. This bird is
moulting, including it's tail feathers so the amount of white on the
outer tail feathers and pattern on the central rectricies won't help.
The bird tends to hang out by itself in the open turf about halfway
between the swale with the tall grass and the road. (Westerns
generally like drier habitats than Easterns). If you park just north
of the "goal post" you will be able to see up the slight rise to the
area where it has been seen.
A scope will be required to see details.
Hope this helps ...
Good luck!
Phil
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Phil Davis Davidsonville, Maryland USA
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