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Subject:

Northern Bobwhite song in Derwood

From:

Ron Johnson

Reply-To:

Ron Johnson

Date:

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 22:14:34 -0400

While working in the yard this evening at 6 PM  I heard the song of a
Northern Bobwhite for about 5 minutes. About a half hour later, I went
down the street to where it initially sang, and it called out again
for several minutes from a dense hedgerow of juniper shrubs along the
street. I didn't see the bird but the call was clear and the cadence
distinct for a Northern Bobwhite, like I've heard on the Eastern
shore.

I am very surprised, as I live in a residential neighborhood that is
mostly forested except for lawns and landscaped yards, and the
neighborhood abuts the Mill Creek/Lake Needwood forested watershed-
not typical of the more open habitat of Bobwhite.

I understand from the Sibley Guide that Starlings, Mockingbirds and
other birds can mimic the Bobwhite call, but there weren't starlings,
catbirds, jays or mockingbirds calling in the area during these times.
The measured pacing of the call and the repeats was that of a
Bobwhite, which I've never heard in the neighborhood or county for the
9 years I've lived here. Is it plausible that a Bobwhite was passing
through my neighborhood or was it a mimic?

Ron Johnson
Derwood, MD

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