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Subject:

Red-throated Loon,Riley's Lock in Montgomery County

From:

Jim Green

Reply-To:

Jim Green

Date:

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 08:37:34 -0500

Hi Everybody: 
     Kyle Carstensen (an ex-Gaithersburg birder visiting from Colorado) and I spent the day birding primarily in Carroll County before finishing in Montgomery County. Our last spot was the C & O Canal at Riley's Lock in Montgomery County. Dave Young had just arrived a few minutes before us at 5 PM. The Potomac River was covered with ice with scattered small pockets of open water. There was a large area of open water just below the bridge at Riley's Lock and there was an adult RED-THROATED LOON in the open water just below the bridge.

     During the 15 minutes we were there the loon called several times (first time any of us had ever heard this) and made several dives. At one point it was diving and would resurface 60-80 feet out in the river in various open patches of water among the ice. When we left about 5:15 PM it had worked its way into the open water at the canal bridge where we originally saw it.

     I have seen Red-throated loons closeup at the Ocean City Inlet before but nothing like this where you could look down on the bird and study it from above. Hopefully it will stick around for others to see. 

     Kyle and I had some other nice birds throughout the day. We had set a leisurely goal at the beginning of the day to see 50 species including all seven woodpecker species. Below is a synopsis of some of our highlights:

CARROLL COUNTY

     MORGAN RUN NEA:                          Fox Sparrows     2 
                                                            American Tree Sparrows     2
     KEYSVILLE-BRUCEVILLE ROAD:       White-crowned Sparrows     15
     BAUMGARDNER ROAD:                     Red-headed Woodpecker     3 (adults)

Despite checking lots of farm fields we only saw 2 Horned Larks the entire day.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY

     SYCAMORE LANDING ROAD              Hairy Woodpecker     1   (our 7th W-P species for the day)
     HUGHES HOLLOW                            Eastern Phoebe        1
                                                             Hermit Thrush           3
                                                             Common Yellowthroat     1 1st yr. male  (seen on the ice edges from the parking lot)
                                                             Swamp Sparrow        2

HUNTING QUARTER ROAD                     BARRED OWL     1

Our last species of the day was the RED-THROATED LOON which was our 50th species for the day.


     Jim Green
     Gaithersburg, MD

work in moderation, BIRD IN EXCESS!!!