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Subject:

301 & North (I mean NORTH) East Maryland

From:

Dan Haas

Reply-To:

Dan Haas

Date:

Thu, 23 Dec 2010 18:09:05 -0500

My son Declan and I briefly birded the extreme far out corner of
tax-free MD where the Wheatear was found.  Okay, okay... so it was
Delaware.

On the way up, we noted one American Kestrel perched on a power line,
just before the Welcome Center in QA County (on 301).  Above the
Kestrel flew an adult Bald Eagle, much to my son's delight.  And the
tally of Maryland Red-tailed Hawk's being entertained by the 301
traffic was 4.

Yes, we did go to Delaware, but mostly to study this 'life' bird for
future reference here in Maryland.  I practically see a NORTHERN
WHEATEAR foraging in the grass at Ft. McHenry, standing on a boulder
Pt. Lookout, working the picnic area at Sandy Point SP or Hooper's
Island's rocky border sometime soon.  ; )  The Wheatear behaved, in my
opinion, like a cross between a Killdeer and a Mockingbird.  It
foraged, stopped, stood upright, bobbed a bit, foraged, flashed it's
tail... all quite entertaining and informative.

Being the polite Maryland birder that I always strive to be, I kept a
sizable distance between the rarity and my camera lens.  I'm sure
there will be many FAR MORE incredible photos of this bird hitting the
internet over the next few days, as it appeared to not mind the human
attention.   I posted a few of mine here (along with the other MD
rarities of recent weeks): http://wahzoh.blogspot.com/

Did anyone go investigate Elaine's odd gull at Greenbelt Lake?  I'd be
interested to hear more...

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas (if that's your thing) and
Happy Holidays (pretty much everyone's)!

Good Birding,

Dan Haas
West Annapolis, MD