This morning I stopped by the spot in Cecil County where Sean McCandless
reported Clay-Colored Sparrow earlier this week.  The only birds present
were one Mockingbird and some House Sparrows.  I might try again next
week.

Marcia 
_________________ 
Marcia Watson
Elkton, Maryland
 
Maryland Ornithological Society
Cecil Bird Club
www.udel.edu/cecilbirds

-----Original Message-----
From: Maryland Birds & Birding [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Sean McCandless
Sent: Tuesday, February 03, 2009 6:28 PM
To: 
Subject: Re: Clay colored Sparrow in Cecil County

Hi all. Sorry for the late reply. When was pulling up to attempt to do a
Stormwater Pond inspection today in Sunny Brook which is a neighborhood
just South of Elkton, I had a small flock of sparrows picking on the
ground at the spot where I needed to pull over, which is on Brookview
Loop. One of the sparrows was very grayish compared to all the others. I
struggled with looking thru the view finder of my camera because of the
glass of the windshield. It was blurry and I couldn't see what it was.
So I stepped out of the truck and everything flew except for the Grayish
bird. Which was obviously the Clay colored Sparrow. When all the other
birds calmed back down they all started feeding on the road side. 

Coincidently, I was just emailing Bob Ringler about a Clay colored I had
a couple years ago in Southern Cecil County just on Saturday. Some times
life is just strange.

Anyway,  this bird  is at the back half of a loop on the inside of the
loop. There is a hidden stormwater pipe which goes under the road and
another road makes a Tee at that spot which is called Sunnybrook Drive.
This is an open space type spot, but again please be respectful to
people who live there. I have also traditionally had White crowned
Sparrows in the area across the street in the red briar hedge row.

Note in my pictures that the last 2 photographs are of the Clay colored
Sparrow that was in Havre de Grace in Harford County.
http://www.smbirdphotos.com/index.cgi?do=view_photos&subcatID=93

Other birds were;
Swamp Sparrow 1
Field Sparrow 2
White throated 15
Junco 5
Song  3
Savannah 2

Sean McCandless
Cecil  Bird Club President
Elkton, MD