MD OSprey:
This is turning out to be quite an irruption year for redpolls
further north ... and it's still only October. FiIll your feeders!
In MD and DC, Hoary Redpolls are reviewable, Commons are not (except
for the large, dark, rostrata Greenland subspecies).
Our last two large repoll incursions that brought Hoarys to our
region were in Jan-Feb 1978 and more recently in Nov 1993-Mar 1994.
This would be a good time to freshening up the differences between
the two. Here some helpful links to augment your field guides ...
http://sibleyguides.blogspot.com/2007/12/redpoll-identification.html
http://sibleyguides.blogspot.com/2007/12/redpoll-subspecies.html
http://www.ttpbrs.ca/2007/11/redpolls-at-ttpbrs.html
http://www.jeaniron.ca/2007/Redpolls/redpolltext3.htm
Also, there are a number of blogs out there with photos contrasting
Hoarys and Commons.
FYI. The MD/DCRC was getting close to tackling our Hoary Redpoll
backlog from prior years; maybe we should hold off so we can include
any that might show up this winter? Due to the challenge of
separating Hoary's and some Commons, this is what I call one of the
MD/DCRC "problem species." Good detailed documentation, especially
photos, is important!
Hope this helps ...
Phil
>Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2008 12:35:23 -0400
>From: Jean Iron <>
>Subject: [BIRDCHAT] Common Redpoll Irruption in Quebec
>To:
>
>Pascal Cote of the Observatoire d'oiseaux de Tadoussac reports that
>over 23,000 Common Redpolls passed Tadoussac on Wednesday and
>Thursday this week. Yesterday, in one hour, over 2000 birds passed
>for over 30 redpolls per minute. They are going southwest. The
>Tadoussac Bird Observatory is just north of the Saguenay River Fiord
>on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River about 235 km (145 mi)
>northeast of Quebec City. How far will they go? Stock your feeders.
>
>Ron Pittaway and Jean Iron
>Toronto and Minden ON
===================================================
Phil Davis, Secretary
MD/DC Records Committee
2549 Vale Court
Davidsonville, Maryland 21035 USA
301-261-0184
mailto:[log in to unmask]
MD/DCRC Web site: http://www.MDBirds.org/mddcrc/rcindex.html
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