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Subject:

Washington county Longspurs and Snow Bunting

From:

jim green

Reply-To:

jim green

Date:

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 21:41:39 -0500

Hi Everybody:

     I was at work this morning when I received a text  message from Brad
Lanning: "Lapland Longspurs - White Hall Road". It was enough to peak my
interest. Not knowing for sure what to expect weatherwise the next two days
I decided to leave work and head west. I had not yet seen the report that
Bill H. posted for him. Once up in Wash. County I saw a manure field on
White Hall Road.  I scanned for 30 minutes and all I came up with was
approx. 320 Horned Larks (no Longspur). I then drove north along the same
road and did not see any other fields with any lark activity. I turned right
on Chewsville Road and found another expanse of farm land that had recently
been spread with manure and spotted another significant number of Larks in
the field. I asked and received permission to move closer to the area with
the larks. After about 45 minutes I found one SNOW BUNTING in among the
larks. I then drove back to the same field on White Hall Road and spent
another 45 minutes looking through the Horned Lark flock. The results were
still the same.

I then spent about 90 minutes driving around back roads of Washington County
in the NE corner of the county. I found several more areas of fields spread
with manure but none of them had any Lark activity. I did find 3 Savannah
Sparrows along the edge of the road on Miller's Church Road. Before heading
back to Gaithersburg I decided to make one more attempt for the White Hall
Road Longspurs. The third time was a charm!  After only 10 minutes of
scanning around 5 PM I found first a male and then close by a female LAPLAND
LONGSPUR. (After arriving home and reading his post they were probably the
same 2 birds that Brad had seen). The male was very striking with distinct
field marks.

Thanks alot to Brad for letting me know about the Longspurs. Great find!

Jim Green
Gaithersburg, MD.

work in moderation, BIRD IN EXCESS!!!



On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 11:45 AM, Bill Hubick <> wrote:

> Hi Everyone,
>
> I'm posting the following Washington Co. report for Brad Lanning. Thanks,
> Brad!
>
> "Hi there, wanted to inform you that we found a flock of about 400 Horned
> Larks along Whitehall Rd., just North of I-70.  Amongst the flock, were at
> least 2 Lapland Longspurs, one bright male showing nice color and a female.
>  There could have been more but the flock is rather flighty.  No Snow
> Buntings seen on this round, but will keep searching!  At approximately 2 p,
> this last Friday, my Grandfather and I were driving East along Mt.Aetna Rd.,
> about 1 mile from the circle at rt.66, when we noticed a large dark hawk,
> with a slight dihedral, circling above us.  We jumped out of the car and
> watched it tuck and glide down out of sight near the Alpaca farm on 66.  We
> were thrilled to finally find a Rough-legged Hawk in our county and better
> yet a dark-phase bird, showing nice white markings near the wrist patches
> and along the trailing edge.  Also, back at the house, there is a female
> "Oregon" Junco that has been visiting for the last week or so.  Nice video
>  was obtained on the Junco!  The large flock of Pipits continues along Rowe
> Rd., just outside Smithsburg.  It's up to at least 40 birds now with some
> Larks also.  The flock spends most of the time at the stored manure in the
> cement structure at the farm.  Also, in Smithsburg, along rt.64, there are
> lots of fruit trees, some are loaded with fruit and look very appealing to
> visitors from the North.  Anyone who is birding in the area may want to
> check the orchards. Thanks and good birding, Brad"
>
> Regards,
>
> Bill
>
> Bill Hubick
> Pasadena, Maryland
> 
> http://www.billhubick.com
>