I decided to go to variety of places this morning before work to search for the spectacular birds that have turned up in Prince George's County and was not disappointed.  My first stop was along Church Road just north of Fairview Vista Drive (as posted yesterday).  I wandered north along the road and than walked to a stormwater management pond.  The pond is visible from the road and has a paved trail around it.  I figured that it was a good place for the Sandhill Crane to spend the night.  As I scanned the far shore and strained to see through the cattails nearby, I looked up in front of me and saw the Sandhill Crane walking ahead of me along the path at about 30 feet!    The crane literally met me on the trail!  I watched the bird forage along the trail, in the grass, and than go down to the cattails along the pond.  I got some fairly good close range photos of this neat bird.  It is fairly heavily washed with rufous along the lower neck and wing coverts, but it also displays a pretty prominent red crown.  It was still present when I left around 7:15 AM.  

Next I went to see the College Park Selasphorus Hummingbird.  The bird was very cooperative, coming to the feeder twice while I was there at approximately 8:05 and 8:36 AM.  I got some digiscoped photos of this cooperative bird as it perched in some low vegetation near the feeder.

Thank you to Tyler Bell for posted about the Sandhill Crane yesterday and to Rick Borchelt for his continuing hospitality in allowing people to view the hummingbird.  Both are spectacular county birds.  The pond where I viewed the crane is visible from the west side of Church Road about 1/4 mile north of Fairview Vista Drive.  

Fred Shaffer

Crofton, Anne Arundel