-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Cordle [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Tuesday, May 05, 2009 3:50 PM
To: 
Subject: DC Area, 5/5/09

Hotline:            Voice of the Naturalist 
Date:               5/5/09
Coverage:           MD/DC/VA/DE 
Telephone:          301-652-1088 option 1 
Reports (voice):    301-652-1088 option 2 
       (email):      
    (deadline):     midnight Mondays 
Compiler:           Helen Patton
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, May 5 at 2:30 pm.

Top birds this week are ANHINGA in MD and SWALLOW-TAILED
KITE* in VA.

Other birds of interest include BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING DUCK*, BLACK SCOTER,
AMERICAN and LEAST BITTERN, YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON, MISSISSIPPI KITE,
KING RAIL, COMMON MOORHEN, SANDHILL CRANE, BLACK-NECKED STILT, shorebirds,
terns, BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO, RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, SEDGE WREN, warblers,
sparrows, ROSE-BREASTED and BLUE GROSBEAKS, BOBOLINK, RUSTY BLACKBIRD, PINE
SISKINS and RED CROSSBILL.

An ANHINGA* was sighted at Lilypons Water Gardens, Frederick Co, MD on May
3.

A SWALLOW-TAILED KITE* flew over the Eastern Shore of VA NWR, Northampton
Co, VA on May 1. 

The BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING DUCK* continues at Silver Lake, Rehoboth, DE.  A
BLACK SCOTER was seen at Swan Creek, northern Anne Arundel Co, MD on April
30.

An AMERICAN BITTERN and a LEAST BITTERN were seen at Swan Harbor, Harford
Co, MD on May 1.  YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS are nesting again on Dead Run,
Leakin Park, Baltimore, MD, seen on April 30.

A MISSISSIPPI KITE was observed from Runt Powell's farm on Wolf Trap Road,
Halifax Co, VA on Mary 1.  A MISSISSIPPI KITE was soaring above the Parkview
Trail, Baltimore Co, MD on May 2 and another was at Port Tobacco, Charles
Co, MD on the same day.  

A KING RAIL was calling at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, DC early on April 30.
Four KING RAILS were the highlight of a trip to Occoquan Bay NWR on May 3.
Both an AMERICAN BITTERN and a COMMON MOORHEN were found April 29 at Hughes
Hollow, Montgomery Co, MD.  A COMMON MOORHEN is at the wildlife end of
Centennial Park, Howard Co, MD seen on May 3, 4 and 5.

A SANDHILL CRANE was seen on Whitehall Neck Road at Bombay Hook NWR, DE.  A
SANDHILL CRANE was seen in Norfolk on May 4.  Another SANDHILL CRANE was
observed on Kent Island, Queen Anne's Co, MD on May 4.

SEVEN BLACK-NECKED STILTS were present on Hart-Miller Island, Baltimore Co,
MD on May 2.  Eight BLACK-NECKED STILTS were at Elliott Island, Dorchester
Co, MD also on May 2.

Two UPLAND SANDPIPERS were at Pleasant Valley, Garrett Co, MD on April 29.
Twelve shorebird species including twelve LEAST and one WHITE-RUMPED
SANDPIPERS were spotted on Hart-Miller Island on May 2.

A BLACK TERN was feeding high in the sky above the Violette's Lock rapids,
Montgomery Co, MD on May 2.  Two BLACK TERNS plus four COMMON TERNS were
seen at Riley's Lock, Montgomery Co, on May 3.  A BLACK TERN was spotted at
Hains Point, DC on May 4.

Two BLACK-BILLED CUCKOOS were found at Lake Roland, Baltimore Co, MD on May
28. A pair of BLACK-BILLED CUCKOOS was spotted at Little Bennett Regional
Park, Montgomery Co, MD on April 30. Another pair was seen at the Cub Run
Rec Center, Fairfax Co, VA on May 2 and another BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO was
heard in a yard in Windsor Mill, MD, on the same day.  Two BLACK-BILLED
CUCKOOS were in a tree in a yard in Woodbine, Carroll Co, MD on May 3 and
another was seen at Ft. Smith, Arlington Co, VA also on May 3.  This bird
was seen again on May 5.  A BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO was at Lilypons, Frederick
Co, MD on May 4.

A RED-HEADED WOODPECKER was observed at Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary, Prince
George's Co, MD on April 28.  An immature RED-HEADED WOODPECKER was at
Hughes Hollow, Montgomery Co, MD on April 29. A RED-HEADED WOODPECKER
visited a feeder in Columbia, Howard Co, MD on May 1.  Two RED-HEADED
WOODPECKERS were seen at Grafton Ponds Natural Area Preserve, York Co, VA on
May 4.

A SEDGE WREN was singing by the pond in Patterson Park, Baltimore on April
30.  It was seen again on May 2, 3 and 5.

Warbler sightings continued to multiply with many sites reporting a number
of different species.  Among the sites with the most reports were the
McKeldin Area of Patapsco Valley SP, Carroll Co, MD; Susquehanna SP, Harford
Co, MD; Rock Creek Park, DC; Magothy Greenway Natural Area, Anne Arundel Co,
MD; James River Park, Richmond, VA; Blue Ridge Parkway, Amherst and Bedford
Co, VA; Patuxent Research Refuge North Tract, Anne Arundel Co, MD; Cockpit
and Possum Point Roads, Dumfries, VA; Upper Watts Branch Park, Montgomery
Co, MD; Appomattox Riverside Park, Dinwiddie Co, VA; Leedstown, Westmoreland
Co, VA; Davidsonville Park, Anne Arundel Co, MD; Augusta County, VA; Eastern
Neck NWR, Kent Co, MD; and Pokomoke Swamp, Wicomico Co, MD.  A MOURNING
WARBLER was at Rock Creek Park, DC on May 5.

A SALTMARSH SHARP-TAILED SPARROW was one of nine sparrow species seen at
Fort McHenry NHM, Baltimore, MD on April 29.  A SALTMARSH SHARP-TAILED
SPARROW was seen on Hart-Miller Island on May 2.  A LINCOLN'S SPARROW was
seen at Waterworks Park in Annapolis, Anne Arundel Co, MD on April 28 and
29. Another LINCOLN'S SPARROW paid a visit to a yard in Ferndale, Anne
Arundel Co, MD on April 29.  A LINCOLN'S SPARROW was at Cromwell Valley
Park, Baltimore, MD on May 2 and another was sighted at Halethorpe Ponds,
Baltimore Co, MD on the same day.  A LINCOLN'S SPARROW was observed at Hains
Point, DC on May 4.  WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW sightings were reported from
several locations.

ROSE-BREASTED and BLUE GROSBEAKS popped at several locations this past week.

BOBOLINKS are moving through the area with reports from many different sites
during the week including a sighting of about 200+ on Harrison Road,
Fauquier Co, VA on May 1 and about 150 birds near Middletown, Frederick Co,
VA on May 2.  Many of the BOBOLINKS were still present on May 3.

RUSTY BLACKBIRDS were at Oxbow Lake Nature Preserve, Anne Arundel Co, MD on
April 29 and 30.

A high count of eleven PINE SISKINS came from Middle Patuxent Environmental
Area, Howard Co, MD on April 30.  Smaller numbers of PINE SISKINS were
reported from a few other sites.  Two RED CROSSBILLS appeared at a feeder in
Woodlawn, VA on April 30.

Some of this week's reports have been gleaned from the MDOsprey, VA-Bird,
and DE-BIRDS 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.