Hi Everybody:

 I had planned to head for the Eastern Shore this w/e come **** or high water (or do I mean high snow).
 I crossed the Bay Bridge before daylight and from what I heard it was a good decision because I beat alot of traffic and congestion. Being stubborn I decided to look for Longspurs, etc. in QA, Caroline and Talbot Counties. Once again I struck out on them in all 3 counties. I am assuming that Amanda Spears now has the local monopoly on them in her back yard.

 For those that are interested and considering heading out if you do not have an all wheel or 4-wheel drive vehicle I would stay clear of the unpaved section of Sparks Road. I have a Honda CRV and got through it but I felt like I was doing a trial bobsled run: the road was paved the width of one vehicle with lots of snow piled 4 feet+ high on either side of the road and still alot of packed and soft snow on the roads due to overnight drifting. The bottom line is there  still is so much snow on the sides of the back roads that one would traverse to look for Longspurs, etc. that there are few bare spots that would bring the birds to the side of the road edges. In all 3 counties I did not see more than 13 Horned Larks at one time although they were numerous in groups of 2-5 along the way. My advice would be to head further east; most of the back roads in Wicomico County were a mix of bare pavement, some slush and packed down snow that was not a problem if you took your time and moved at a birder's pace.

I did spend most of the afternoon on Athol, Cherry Walk, Pemberton and  Fire Tower Roads in Wicomico County. I moved at a liesurely pace and enjoyed the afternoon. My highlights were an AMERICAN TREE SPARROW on Cherry Walk Rd. It was just east of a mailbox with the numbers 7452 on it. The sparrow was originaaly seen when a flock of Horned Larks flushed form the roadside and the A. Tree Sparrow flew a short distance , landed on a snow bank and then immediately returned to the side of the road 15 feet in front of my car. I studied it for a while from inside the car. After 5 minutes of satisfying looks I began creeping closer and closer until I was looking out of my driver's side window straight down on the bird. I no longer needed binoculars and could see the bi-colored bill easily. The sparrow was feeding and totally oblivious to my presence. After another 10 minutes I drove off. I called Ron Gutberlet because I knew he needed this for a county bird.

My second birding from the car spectacle of the day was an encounter with an AMERICAN WOODCOCK on Fire Tower Road where it crosses Peter's Creek. The time was about 3:30 PM. The creek widens ever so slightly into a wet area that is several inches deep and the AMWO was just sitting there in the water in broad daylight. In my car I was about 25-30 feet from the bird. I was able to observe the bird for approx. 20 minutes before I drove away. It began to slowly move about and would pump/undulate its entire body back and forth as it slowly moved. It worked its way towards land and began feeding by thrusting its bill deep into the dirt and vegetation. Once again I watched the bird as long as I wanted and then drove off. I had talked later to Ron Gutberlet and he went by this location and said the A. Woodcock was still there shortly before dusk.

It was such a beautiful day to be out. Tthe nice thing is that on the back roads I had very little other traffic to deal with. The ATSP and AMWO were county birds for me. I am staying overnight in St. Michaels with friends and looking forward to another long day of birding on the Eastern Shore on Saturday (and trying to think of a snow shovel has a distant memory).

Jim Green
Gaithersburg, MD

Work in moderation, BIRD IN EXCESS!!!