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Subject:

Lapland Longspur in Massey, Kent Co.

From:

John Dennehy

Reply-To:

John Dennehy

Date:

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:09:41 -0500

I, too, ventured to the Eastern Shore in search of longspurs.  I found one with some horned larks.   

While driving through Kent County, I saw about 500 SNOW GEESE landing in the distance.   I drove down Route 313 to Walnut Tree Road to try and get a closer look.   Alas, they landed on private property and out of view.  

Anyway, there is a nursery at this spot with about an acre of scrubby habitat and a small stand of pines.  The place was swarming with field birds coming to the roadside to feed.  It was very difficult to get an accurate count as the birds flew with every passing car.  I gave up trying to count the birds seen in the surrounding fields.  They were too active.  

The roadside list includes the following:

Horned Lark         100
Savannah Sparrow      50
Song Sparrow       10
White-throated Sparrow      20
White-crowned Sparrow       8
Lapland Longspur        1
American Goldfinch      2

In addition to the hundreds (thousands?) of horned larks, I must have flushed a thousand sparrows and juncos as I drove around the snow-covered Eastern Shore today.   

John Dennehy
Baltimore, MD