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FW: DC Area, 3/31/09

From:

Norm Saunders

Reply-To:

Norm Saunders

Date:

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 12:04:24 -0400

-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Cordle [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Tuesday, March 31, 2009 9:20 AM
To: 
Subject: DC Area, 3/31/09

Hotline:            Voice of the Naturalist 
Date:               3/31/09 
Coverage:           MD/DC/VA/DE 
Telephone:          301-652-1088 option 1 
Reports (voice):    301-652-1088 option 2 
       (email):      
    (deadline):     midnight Mondays 
Compiler:           Lydia Schindler
Sponsor:            Audubon Naturalist Society of the
                    Central Atlantic States (independent of NAS!)
Transcriber:        Steve Cordle () 

Please consider joining ANS, especially if you are a regular user of the
Voice (Individual $40; Family $50; Nature Steward $75; Audubon Advocate
$150). The membership number is 301-652-9188, option 12; the address is 8940
Jones Mill Road, Chevy Chase, MD 20815; and the web site is
http://www.AudubonNaturalist.org. 

This is the Voice of the Naturalist, a service of the Audubon Naturalist
Society. This report was completed Tuesday, March 31, at 8 am.

Top birds this week are PAINTED BUNTING* and HARRIS'S SPARROW*, both in MD.

Other birds of interest include GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE, TRUMPETER
SWAN*, WILD TURKEY, loons, grebes, NORTHERN GANNETT, AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN,
AMERICAN BITTERN, night-herons, ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, rails, shorebirds,
LITTLE, BLACK-HEADED, and ICELAND GULLS, terns, EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE,
EASTERN KINGBIRD, HORNED LARK, PURPLE MARTIN, swallows, BLUE-GRAY
GNATCATCHER, AMERICAN PIPIT, YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER, sparrows, LAPLAND
LONGSPUR, SNOW BUNTING, EASTERN MEADOWLARK, RUSTY BLACKBIRD, and
WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL.

The HARRIS'S SPARROW* reported last week in Howard Co, MD, continued to be
seen daily through March 29 at 6760 Alexander Bell Drive in Columbia. (From
I-95, take MD 175 west 1/2 mile to Gateway Drive; go south on Gateway to a
right on A. Bell. Walk around the right side of the building to the rear,
where there are several feeders.) As always, treat this private property
with respect.  

A brilliant male PAINTED BUNTING has been enlivening another neighborhood in
Howard County, near Savage, with sporadic and typically brief appearances
through March 28. Detailed directions to two homes with feeders that the
bird frequents are on the MDOsprey list server. The homeowners and neighbors
are being extremely accommodating to birders, so please respond in kind. 
  
A GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE near the Gibson Island Causeway, Anne Arundel
Co, MD, was reported again March 26.

A TRUMPETER SWAN* was again present at Lakeside Business Park, Harford Co,
MD, on March 27; this location can be accessed from the Rte 24 exit from
I-95.

A flock of 17 WILD TURKEYS visited a neighborhood in Charles Co, MD, on
March 24. A single WILD TURKEY strolled through a yard in Owings, MD, March
26.

Reports of RED-THROATED LOON came from Fort Smallwood, Anne Arundel Co, MD,
March 24 and Loch Raven, Baltimore Co--in the area of #1
bridge-- March 27. On March 28, 3 RED-THROATED LOONS and a RED-NECKED GREBE
were found near Annapolis; they were on the Arnold side of the Rte 450
Severn River Bridge; 1 of the loons was still there the next day. COMMON
LOONS were spotted at Black Hill Reservoir on March 24 and 27, at Lilypons
Water Gardens, Frederick Co, MD, March 29, and on the Washington Channel off
Hains Point, SW DC, March 30.

RED-NECKED GREBES were noted at Piney Run, Carroll County, MD, March 25;
Rocky Gap SP, Allegany Co, MD, March 26; the National Colonial Farm, Prince
George's Co, MD March 27; Occoquan Bay NWR, Prince
William Co, VA,   March 28; and Dyke Marsh, Fairfax Co, VA, March 30. 

EARED GREBES were reported March 24 at Prettyboy Reservoir, Baltimore Co,
and March 28 and 30 on the Potomac, seen from the Riverview pullout off the
GW Parkway in Fairfax Co. 

NORTHERN GANNETS were observed at a variety of locations. 

AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS were still at Blackwater NWR, Dorchester Co, MD, as
of March 25.
 
In the Richmond (VA) area, an AMERICAN BITTERN occasionally rewards patient
birders at the James River Park System wetlands; entrance is at the end of
Landria Dr off Wallowa Rd. An AMERICAN BITTERN materialized at Jug
Bay/Patuxent River Park, Prince George's Co, MD, on March 29.

BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS were tracked down March 25 on the back side of
the heron rookery on Lake Whetstone in Montgomery Village, Montgomery Co,
MD; they could be viewed from Lookout Place.
YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS had returned to Chevy Chase Lake Drive,
Montgomery Co, as of March 27.  

A dark morph ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK was soaring above a power plant near the end
of Chelsea Rd, Harford Co, on March 29.

On March 28, Truitt's Landing in southern Worcester Co, MD, hosted CLAPPER,
KING, and VIRGINIA RAILS. A SORA was reported March 29 from Huntley Meadows
Park, Fairfax Co.

A single PIPING PLOVER was found at Mispillion Harbor, Sussex Co, DE on
March 25. A SOLITARY SANDPIPER was noted at Occoquan March 28. On March 24,
2 DUNLIN rested on a log in the Potomac at Violette's Lock, Montgomery Co.

A LITTLE GULL was discovered March 24 among the BONAPARTE'S GULLS on the
Susquehanna River, Harford Co, and seen again March 28 and 29, from the
Lapidum boat launch in Susquehanna SP. (Exit from I-95 at Rte
155 toward Havre de Grace, then make a left onto Lapidum Road and follow it
for about 4 miles to the end at Lapidum landing.)  On March 29, birders
looking from the eastern side of the river, from Port Deposit in Cecil Co,
found a BLACK-HEADED GULL and 2 LITTLE GULLS (as well as 5 RED-NECKED
GREBES). 

On March 27 a LITTLE GULL was seen at Back River, Baltimore Co; on March 28
and 29 a BLACK-HEADED GULL was seen at Back River. The gulls were on docks
seen from the restaurant behind the Royal Farms on Island Point Rd near the
Rte 150 bridge.

On March 28 a "frosty white" first-winter ICELAND GULL was roosting on the
flats west of Fowlers Beach, DE. 

TERN sightings included CASPIAN March 30 on the Potomac at Fletcher's
Boathouse, off the C&O Canal in NW DC; ROYAL March 29 at Flag Ponds SP,
Calvert Co, MD, and at Weems Creek in West Annapolis; and 2 FORSTER'S at
Neabsco Creek, Prince William Co, VA, March 28.

A pair of EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES was discovered near Dividing Creek,
Somerset Co, MD, on March 28; the birds sat on a telephone wire in the
vicinity of Pocomoke River Rd and Clearfield Dr. 

An EASTERN KINGBIRD showed up March 28 at Assateague Island, Worcester Co. 

PURPLE MARTINS have arrived, with sightings near the Back River sewage
plant, Baltimore Co, March 28, and in Anne Arundel Co, in Edgewater March 28
and at the Naval Academy Farm March 29. By March 29,
ROUGH-WINGED and   BARN SWALLOWS had joined the TREE SWALLOWS at Dyke
Marsh. 

BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHERS are edging north, with sightings in St. Mary's and
Calvert Cos, MD. 

The fields of Bombay Hook NWR, DE, were alive with scores of AMERICAN
PIPITS, HORNED LARKS, and EASTERN MEADOWLARKS.

YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER was reported from Possum Pt Rd, Dumfries, Prince
William Co, VA, March 28.

On March 28 Truitt's Landing hosted multiple SALT-MARSH and NELSON'S
SHARP-TAILED SPARROWS--including two, one of each, that sat up on a twig
next to one another. Nearby Taylor's Landing boasted 7 SALT-MARSH SPARROWS.
CHIPPING SPARROWS are showing up around town.

RUSTY BLACKBIRDS continued, with appearances at Schoolhouse Pond, Upper
Marlboro, Prince George's Co; Occoquan Bay; Huntley Meadows; and Patuxent
NWR. 

For several weeks Middletown, DE, has been enjoying a "Longspur
Spectacular." A flock numbering up to 100 LAPLAND LONGSPURS, some in
breeding plumage, as well as 4 or 5 SNOW BUNTINGS and hundreds of HORNED
LARKS, has been frequenting an Auto Park on the west side of Middletown, off
Rte 301 next to a Home Depot.

WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS persist. On March 24, a group of 9 was "raining down
pine cones" in West Annapolis. On March 28, crossbills were found at
Gunpowder Falls SP, Harford Co, around the parking area near Green Rd and
Moores Rd; on March 27, they were at Gunpowder's "Sweet Air" section. On
March 29, a group was seen at Druid Ridge Cemetery, Baltimore. On March 29,
a flock of at least 58 WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS was feeding in hemlocks at
the edge of the Fountain Head golf course north of Hagerstown, Washington
Co, MD; some of these birds were still there March 30.

Some of this week's reports have been gleaned from the MDOsprey, VA-Bird,
and Delaware list servers.  

The Audubon Sanctuary Shop (301-652-3606,
http://www.audubonnaturalist.org/default.asp?page=511) is an excellent
source for guidebooks and many other nature-related titles. 
To report bird sightings, e-mail your report to 
or call 301-652-1088 and select menu option 2. Please post reports before
midnight Monday, identify the county as well as state, and include your name
and a Tuesday morning contact, either e-mail or phone. 

Thank you for calling, and GOOD BIRDING.

*Of interest to the records committee.