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Subject:

New yard bird!

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Rick Sussman

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Mon, 24 May 2010 20:38:14 -0400

Evening all,
 When I walked the yard this morning, I kept hearing a high pitched song, of sorts, that I thought might be Blackpoll Warbler. I didn't have my hearing aid in so could not tell the location of the singer, but I scanned the trees to no avail. Then when I found nothing moving in the trees, I walked on, forgetting about it until this evening. Before dinner Alli and I were walking in the back looking for a large black snake I had seen earlier, when I again heard that strange song, a dry insect-like trill. I asked Alli to listen and then she asked me what that noise was. It was the same noise I had been hearing this morning. Now we were both hearing it, and because she has better hearing than I, she pinpointed the location. It was coming from the tall grass field of my neighbors farm (his hay field). Well, since it was coming from the field, my first thought was perhaps it was a Grasshopper Sparrow, a bird I have long thought should be here, at least in migration. Alli tried to find the song on her phone, but that didn't pan out, so we came in and listened to the song on an Ipod, and she confirmed it.

Finally, after putting together a portable Ipod/speaker device, I went back out just before dark and played the song. I immedietly got a response, as I saw a bird fly in very close, and land just outside our fence between the fence and the weeds that seperate our yard from the field. After a bit more playing, the bird made several moves, each time just out of sight. Finally it flew into a small tree in the corner, where I managed to get good (though somewhat dim from the failing light) views of it before it took off for the field adjacent to our side yard. I hope it stays through tomorrow so Alli can get a look at it too. Yard bird # 128, Grasshopper Sparrow!

Rick Sussman
Woodbine,MD