I had a good walk at the former landfill in Bowie (northwest of the MD 450 and MD 3 intersection) this afternoon.  Despite the windy conditions, lots of birds were active, both in the woods and in the grassy hills of the landfill.  I flushed up all of my usual target birds at the landfill:  2 Eastern Meadowlarks, 5 Savannah Sparrows, and 1 calling Wilson's Snipe.  Other birds present included Red-winged Blackbirds, lots of European Starlings, and an adult Bald Eagle.  One Swamp Sparrow called from the cattails along the small pond between the two landfill mounds.  

As I bush-wacked down to the pond, I found one Fox Sparrow with a group of four or five White-throated Sparrows.  Other birds present in the woods included a few Yellow-rumped Warblers, Titmice, Flickers, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, a Downy Woodpecker, an Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Bluebird, and 3 flyover Laughing Gulls (near the recycling center).  Golden-crowned Kinglets were numerous in the pines behind the I Section.

Earlier in the day, I had a bird that looked good for a Black-capped Chickadee at my feeder in Crofton; from the edge of the bib, to the white cheek, to the extensive white in the coverts, the relative size of the head, and the more contrasting appearance overall (relative to the Carolina Chickadees that were also present).

Fred Shaffer

Crofton, Anne Arundel