We were in Crofton, Anne Arundel County, meeting old friends for lunch and were without optics or bird books.  After leaving the restaurant we stopped for gas at the corner of MD Route 3 and Crofton Boulevard at about 1:30 pm.  As I was pumping the gas, my wife and I saw a very large bird flying toward us from the northwest.  It had a deep, slow wingbeat.  Our initial impression was Great Blue Heron, but as the bird passed to the west of us in profile, we realized it was not flying with the neck-folded-back posture typical of herons and egrets.  Rather, the neck was fully extended and gave the bird a very long, thin profile.  It was a dark bird against a gray sky.  It was too large to be a cormorant, and it didn’t have the drooping, curved bill look of an ibis nor the heavy bill (and white) of a Wood Stork.  When we got home and looked at various bird guides, we concluded that it was most likely a Sandhill Crane from the overall dark appearance, size, and shape in flight.  

The bird appeared to be heading down.  Looking at Google Maps when we returned home, there is a pond labeled as “Walking Fish Pond” in that area  west of Route 3 as well as the Little Patuxent River and associated wetlands nearby.  Folks in that area may want to keep an eye out.

Jim Nelson
Bethesda, Montgomery County

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