Hi Everyone,
I met up with Tom Feild yesterday (1/16) to do some exploring between Carroll and Harford Counties. I dare say we checked over 300 stands of spruces, firs, and hemlocks over the course of the day, meeting with crossbill success twice. We began the day at the John Luther Miller Memorial Cemetery in Carroll County, but didn't have any luck at this site. (Bob Ringler and Bill Ellis found 13 crossbills here on 2/13/2009). We spent the next hour cruising the area, eventually hitting pay dirt when Tom picked out a beautiful young male crossbill in a windbreak row of spruces. As we stepped out to get some documentation shots from the road, the homeowner came out and asked what we were doing. Bracing ourselves for the expected negative reaction to two grown men pointing big camera lenses at her landscaping, we were pleasantly surprised when she was excited and interested. Feeling welcomed, we ended up spending an hour in her front yard enjoying two crossbills,
one of which allowed especially nice studies. As it fed on a Norway Spruce, we enjoyed series of both "jeet" and "che-che" calls. I'm excited about the photo haul, which show details of the first-cycle male's plumage as he transitions to adult male plumage.
http://www.billhubick.com/new_set.html
The yard is about 1 mile west of Rte 30 along Bachmans Valley Road. I won't post the address, but this road and the extended area are very promising for holding crossbills.
We continued east and decided to try Kevin's Graff's Gunpowder Trail location near Prettyboy Reservoir. Here, feeding on the larch/tamarack-type trees at the edge of an open field were four WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLs, an adult male and three females. They were feeding actively in the tree tops with a few siskins. The site is just north of Hoffmansville and directions were posted in previous posts. Thanks, Kevin.
We explored roads in northern Baltimore Co. and entered Harford Co. in hopes of the three-county sweep. We checked dozens of sites between Jolly Acres Road, Eden Mill, and Lakeside Business Park. We didn't find any additional crossbills, but we enjoyed ending the day with a great study of the two TRUMPETER SWANs found by Dave Larkin on 2/8. (Photos posted as well.)
Mikey Lutmerding got the best documentation shots of the Black-backed (Newfoundland/nigrideus) American Robin at Tuckahoe SP, Queen Anne's Co. on 2/15/2009 (Brighton, Feild, Lutmerding, Hubick). He's posted two photos that show the full black nape and back, as well as the richer-than-average underparts. Although I think these confirm the ID, the effect in person was much more striking:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeycerw/3285603163/
Mikey also sent me a draft collage of the wintering THAYER'S GULL he found at the Salisbury Landfill in November. He put together photos from November and February to show the significant bleaching of the bird's plumage. The bird is still quickly recognized as our old buddy by his adventitiously replaced P8 on his right wing. I hope Mikey will share the image with the group at some point. It's fantastic.
Good birding!
Bill
Bill Hubick
Pasadena, Maryland
http://www.billhubick.com |