Helen Patton, Joy Bowen and I turned up today, December 29 at just 
after 10:00 a.m., on the entrance road to Chesapeake Farms, and after 
only a short (10 minutes?) wait, were able to see the Golden-crowned 
Sparrow just about exactly where Joe Byrnes describes in his earlier 
post to MDOsprey.

The bird seemed quite nervous, and after each few seconds of exposure 
hurried back to the shelter of the pokeweed bush.  Several times it 
just sat under the bush near a patch of snow for a few seconds; once 
it came out onto the short grass near the road (as described by Joe), 
when it was quite difficult to see because our vehicle was not tall 
enough.  It did not feed with other sparrows; indeed it seemed not to 
be feeding at all.

About 15-20 feet farther back along the entrance road nearer the gap 
in the hedge there were numerous, active sparrows -- all 
White-throated and White-crowned -- some of them singing 
softly.  Other birds seen nearby were Northern Mockingbird, Northern 
Cardinal, Blue Jay, and Cedar Waxwing. The Golden-crowned Sparrow 
appeared not to associate with any of them.

Mike Bowen
Montgomery Bird Club, MOS
Bethesda, MD

D.H. Michael Bowen
8609 Ewing Drive
Bethesda, MD  20817
Telephone: (301) 530-5764
e-mail:  dhmbowenATyahooDOTcom

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