Bill,

Great ears!   Great spotting!   Great documentation!   Great bird!   
Congratulations!

Paul O'Brien

In a message dated 9/1/08 1:23:21 PM,  writes:


> Hi Everyone,
> 
> As posted by Matt Hafner yesterday afternoon, a group of us found a WESTERN 
> MEADOWLARK near Hurlock in Dorchester Co., Maryland. Jim Brighton, Ron 
> Gutberlet, Mikey Lutmerding and I were trying for the August Big Day record and 
> spotted the bird while scanning for American Golden-Plovers. The bird was the 
> closest meadowlark in the short grass, and we noted that it was making soft 
> "chuck" notes, which are diagnostic for Western Meadowlark. A flurry of photos, 
> scoping, video, and phone calls ensued, followed by hours of grins and 
> high-fives.
> 
> By 8:00 p.m., we were relaxing in Jim Brighton's yard with bottles of summer 
> ale. We ended the day with 151 species, eight species below the August Big 
> Day record of 159 set by Jim Stasz, Ed Boyd, Matt Hafner, and Zach Baer. It 
> was time to celebrate, and then to sleep.
> 
> I've posted a few photos and, more importantly, links to Mikey Lutmerding's 
> video here:
> 
> http://www.billhubick.com/new_set.html
> 
> I'll post a separate message about the Big Day results sometime soon.
> 
> Location details: Middle of the southernmost turf field on the west side of 
> Shiloh Church Road (Rte. 331), south of Hurlock, Maryland.
> 
> Good birding!
> 
> Bill
> 
> Bill Hubick
> Pasadena, Maryland
> 
> http://www.billhubick.com
> 




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