I covered miles 162-166 on the C&O Canal Count this morning.  Then I 
spent the next hour trying to get good photos of the NORTHERN SHRIKE 
that I found just south of Oldtown. The other amazing thing I had while 
walking the canal this morning was 3 VIRGINIA RAILS a little more than 
halfway between miles 163 and 164.  First one called spontaneously so 
when I got a little closer to where I thought the call came from, I 
played the call on my PDA to be sure I wasn't hearing things and 3 of 
them called in response.  This area is mostly just a wet weedy field 
where I often get tons of Swamp Sparrows etc.

Here is a digiscoped photo of the shrike:
http://photos.jbchurchill.com/?q=gallery&g2_itemId=5502

J.B.

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J. B. Churchill
Frostburg, Maryland
webpage: http://photos.jbchurchill.com/
webpage: http://www.westernmdbirding.com/