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Subject:

Common Moorhen, Dickcissel, and Sandhill Crane - 07/15/10

From:

Elaine Hendricks

Reply-To:

Elaine Hendricks

Date:

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 22:08:29 -0400

At 7:00 this morning I began a long day of birding at Schoolhouse Pond
in Upper Marlboro, Prince George's County, where I was able to
relocate the COMMON MOORHEN that was first reported last week.  The
bird was in its usual place, resting and preening in the vegetation in
the company of several Wood Ducks, straight out from the observation
platform at the rear of the pond.

Then I took the "back way" out of town and went to check on the pond
at the recycling center on Brown Station Road.  There I was greeted by
a rather strange sight:  at least 50 BLACK VULTURES roosting on the
exposed mud on the far side of the pond and in various trees - the
most I have ever seen in one place.  There were also a number of
shorebirds around the pond, though nothing unusual:  1 Lesser
Yellowlegs, 2 Spotted Sandpipers, 5 or 6 Killdeer, and a good-sized
flock of 25-30 Least Sandpipers.  While I was sorting through the
shorebirds, it suddenly dawned on me that the odd, raspy call that I
was hearing from the overgrown, scrubby area north of the pond was a
DICKCISSEL!  Although I wasn't able to locate it before it stopped
singing, the song was unmistakable.  Unfortunately, the area from
which it was singing is off limits to the public.

After that, I crossed the Bay Bridge and headed north, eventually
arriving in Elkton around 11:30.  I stopped by West Meadow Park just
to eat my lunch in a shady spot, knowing full well that the SANDHILL
CRANE would not be out and about in the heat of mid-day.  Ha!  I
should know better by now.  After finishing my lunch, I was heading
out of the park when I spotted the crane foraging under the pine
trees.  I was able to watch it through the scope for about 15 minutes,
as it worked its way across the grass, crossed the park drive, and
then disappeared into the woods in the northeast corner of the park.
After a quick trip up to Fair Hill NRMA, I came back to the park about
1:30 and found the crane again in the same area, between the park
drive and the woods in the northeast corner.  At one point, it came
disconcertingly close to the traffic passing by on Delaware Avenue,
and a concerned park visitor walked between it and the street,
effectively shooing it back into the park.  I watched it for another
45 minutes (much of this time with Leslie Starr  and Joe Turner), as
it wandered through the grove of pine trees and out into the soccer
field.  It was still out in the open when I left.  What an amazing
bird!

Elaine Hendricks
Greenbelt, MD  (PG County)