-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Cordle [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 6:30 PM
To: 
Subject: DC Area, 6/16/09

Hotline:            Voice of the Naturalist 
Date:               6/16/09
Coverage:           MD/DC/VA/DE 
Telephone:          301-652-1088 option 1 
Reports (voice):    301-652-1088 option 2 
       (email):      
    (deadline):     midnight Mondays 
Compiler:           Joe Coleman
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, June 16 at 2:30
pm.

Top birds this week are ROSEATE SPOONBILL* and LONG-BILLED CURLEW*,
both in VA.

Other birds of interest include waterfowl, NORTHERN BOBWHITE, AMERICAN
WHITE PELICAN, ANHINGA, LEAST BITTERN, LITTLE BLUE HERON, MISSISSIPPI
KITE, COMMON MOORHEN, shorebirds including RED KNOT, FRANKLIN'S GULL,
flycatchers, warblers, sparrows including HENSLOW'S, and DICKCISSEL.

A ROSEATE SPOONBILL* was found on June 15 in a Waynesboro Nurseries
corn field next to the South River in Augusta Co, VA, south of
Waynesboro, VA. The corn field is off of VA Rte 632 (N 38.04434, W
078.94883). This morning, June 16, it was seen as it flew over a field
along Shalom Road, Rte 632, very near South River, a short distance SW
from the cornfield at the Waynesboro Nursery. Birders who look for
this bird are asked to please not block main roadways and NOT trespass
onto private property.

A LONG-BILLED CURLEW* which was found on May 30 at Elkins Marsh was
seen again on June 14, a fourth of a mile north of there at Buckhorn
Point, Northampton Co, VA.


Waterfowl sightings include a nesting COMMON MERGANSER at the end of
Mill Run Rd, Garrett Co, MD on June 12 and a GREATER SCAUP in the
Potomac River from Dyke Marsh, Fairfax Co, VA on June 14.

NORTHERN BOBWHITES were reported from Taylors Island, Dorchester Co,
MD on June 13.

An AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN was seen at Blackwater NWR, Dorchester Co,
MD on June 13. An AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN was seen June 10 in the
vicinity of Fort McHenry, Baltimore when it flew from the Harbor
Hospital area, past the Fort, and to the Fairfield area.

A nesting pair of ANHINGAS was found June 11 at Harwood Mills
Reservoir, Oriana Rd, York Co, VA and seen again on June 14. Please
only observe these birds from a distance and do not get too close to
the nest. An adult male ANHINGA was found June 12 at a swamp on Cabin
Point Rd, Co Rd 602, 2.7 miles east of where Rte 602 intersects with
Rte 35, Jerusalem Plank Rd, in Sussex Co, VA.
 
LEAST BITTERNS were reported from several locations on June 13
including Elliott Rd, Dorchester Co, MD, Hart-Miller Island, Baltimore
Co, MD, and Swan Harbor Farm, Harford, Co, MD. A LEAST BITTERN was
also spotted June 15 at Huntley Meadows Park, Fairfax Co, VA.

A LITTLE BLUE HERON was found June 13 at the Dulles Greenway Wetland
Mitigation Project, Loudoun Co, VA.

An adult MISSISSIPPI KITE was seen June 9 flying NNE from Fort
Smallwood Park, Anne Arundel Co, MD. A MISSISSIPPI KITE was found in
southeastern Greensville Co, VA on June 13 during the VSO Foray.
During the same foray, two MISSISSIPPI KITES were seen soaring over
Steel Bridge Rd, Rte 624, in SE Greensville Co on the 14th. And
another was seen later in the day over Emporia.

 A COMMON MOORHEN was found at the Bethel WMA, Cecil Co, MD, on June
13.

A few shorebirds could still be found at Mispillion, Sussex Co, DE
with 2 AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHERS and 19 RED KNOTS reported there one day
last week. Two BLACK-NECKED STILTS and a WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER were
found June 13 along Elliott Island Rd, Dorchester Co, MD. A
WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER was also found on June 10 at Poplar Island,
Talbot Co, MD.

The FRANKLIN'S GULL that was found June 12 at the Jamestown Ferry
which runs between Surry Co and James City Co, VA was also seen every
day through the 15th.

Last week's flycatcher reports included several widely-scattered
reports of WILLOW FLYCATCHERS. A trip to Allegany and Garrett Co, MD
early last week yielded an ALDER FLYCATCHER June 10 at Mount Nebo WMA,
Garrett Co, MD and WILLOW and LEAST FLYCATCHERS at Trout Run on the
9th. LEAST FLYCATCHERS were also reported from other locations in
Garrett Co this past week. There was a LEAST FLYCATCHER at Roops Mill
Rd/Rockland Rd., Westminster, Carroll Co., MD, on June 13.

On June 13 a BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER was found during a breeding
bird survey in Oakton, VA. A GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER was found June 10
from the bluff at parking lot on Mt Zion Rd, Garrett Co, MD. Another
was found June 13 along Old Legislative Road, Allegany Co, MD. Trips
to Garrett Co, MD, and Allegany Co, MD early in the week yielded 22
species of warblers.

Four VESPER SPARROWS were found along Russell Rd, Garrett Co, MD, on
June 13. HENSLOW'S SPARROWS were singing along Old Legislative Road,
Allegany Co, MD on June 13. 
 
DICKCISSELS were reported from several locations this past week. On
the 11th one was seen on Hagerstown Pike just before the corner with
Mansfield Avenue and on the13th there was one singing from the wires
along Dunker Church Road just east of MD Rte 65 and south of Mansfield
R, both reports from the Antietam National Battlefield, near
Sharpsburg, Washington Co, MD. On June 11 at least 4 DICKCISSELS, two
of them singing males, were found along Grassdale Road, Rte 755, in
Fauquier Co, VA. . On June 14 at least four and possibly as many as 8
DICKCISSELS and four HORNED LARKS were found in Campbell Co, VA on Rte
615, Red House Road, about 0.9 miles east of the intersection of State
Rte 805. On June 15 there was one on Woodland Ferry Rd, one mile south
of Reliance, DE at an organic cow farm.

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.