I decided to head to the cornfields that Donald Sweig wrote about earlier this week in Frederick County at the intersection of MD Rte 85 and Oland/Lily Pons Road. There were no shortage of Horned Larks, but I also had at least 10 LAPLAND LONGSPURS, several were very brightly colored, as well as 1 SNOW BUNTING. At one point, I had 6 longspurs in the scope!

I birded both the northeast and northwest corners, with greater luck on the northeast corner (Lilypons Road, at the "Stop Ahead" sign just to the east of Route 85). This is where I found the longspurs and bunting. I initially needed a scope to scan the field, but the flock moved close to the road before I left, and the scope was no longer needed. 

Happy birding!

dcs

David C. Smith
Owings Mills, MD