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Subject:

Hurlock Western Meadowlark - present as of Sat 9/6

From:

Phil Davis

Reply-To:

Phil Davis

Date:

Sun, 7 Sep 2008 21:10:05 -0400

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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