Message:

[

Previous   Next

]

By Topic:

[

Previous   Next

]

Subject:

Northern Shrike--Assateague--12/11/2010

From:

Ronald Gutberlet

Reply-To:

Ronald Gutberlet

Date:

Sun, 12 Dec 2010 18:08:34 -0500

Hi Everyone,

The Assateague Northern Shrike was still present yesterday (11 Dec 2010).  As many have experienced, the shrike is not nearly as cooperative as the Ash-throated Flycatcher has been.

While a good strategy for finding the shrike continues to be looking around the area that includes the Life of the Marsh parking lot and the Bayside Campground, sometimes a wider search is needed.

During our Tri-County Bird Club field trip to Assateague and Ocean City on Saturday, we didn't see the shrike until we walked out onto the Life of the Marsh trail.  Mikey Lutmerding (we ran into Mikey and Jo Anna, Kathy Calvert, Mike Welch, and others birding the area) spotted the shrike at such a great distance that even zoomed scope views were a little less than satisfying.  So we drove over to Ferry Landing and got much closer views of the shrike.  Also, a couple days ago, Sam Dyke watched the shrike for about 30 minutes along the Life of the Marsh trail.  Remember too that a week or so ago, Sam Dyke, Carol Broderick, and others had the shrike all the way down by the entrance to the OSV Zone.

So, the bird is ranging fairly widely, and it seems that searching from Bayside Campground all the way to the OSV Zone entrance may be worthwhile.  The marsh at Ferry Landing was the spot on Saturday morning.

Have fun,

Ron Gutberlet
Salisbury, MD
<mailto:[log in to unmask]>