All, 
 
 
I made the trek to Swan Harbor to search for the Le Conte's Sparrow this morning. I rose at 3:00 AM which theoretically was in plenty of time to be there by 8:00 but managed to lose time along the way and didn't arrive till nine. However, when I arrived there seemed be lots of sparrows about  and I had no trouble finding the right area thanks to all the responses to my requests for directions. However, despite a couple of hours serach I had no luck on  the Le Conte's Sparrow. I staked out the famous multi flora rose bush from about 9-10 with the scope from a distance and saw some nice Sparrows including a several great looks at a American Tree Sparrow,  several Savannah's and a few Songs. Following the path around the impoundments I found  a nice variety of Swamp Sparrows some with dark grey nape and supercillium and some dramatically lighter in color. A Bald Eagle, Red-shouldered Hawk and Northern Harrier were roving about with the NOHA making several passes right over the area where the LeConte's has been seen.  
Several large groups of ducks were seen in flight  but I didn't spend any time on them as I was focused on the Sparrows. 
 
Around noon I headed to Hunt Valley in hopes of seeing the BHGU. This was one of those wonderful chases in which one arrives at the location for the target bird  and a smiling birder laughs and kindly points out the bird. I fumbled about for a bit sure the sucker would take off,  but eventually got on the bird. The BHGU was seen off and on during my two hour stay which was roughly between 12:45 and 2:45. I took a lot of photos hopefully a few came out half way decent. See below for eBird report for Swan Harbor....... 
 
best,  

William Leigh 

Bridgewater, Virginia 
 

  Date: Sun, 18 Dec 2011 19:32:13 -0500
> From: 
> To: 
> Subject: eBird Report - Swan Harbor Farm Park, Dec 18, 2011
> 
> Swan Harbor Farm Park, Harford, US-MD
> Dec 18, 2011 9:05 AM - 11:05 AM
> Protocol: Traveling
> 0.7 mile(s)
> 12 species
> 
> Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 50
> Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca) 1
> Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) 2
> Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) 1 adult
> Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus) 1
> Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) 1 imm
> Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) 2
> American Tree Sparrow (Spizella arborea) 1 Great looks
> Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis) 3
> Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 9
> Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana) 4
> White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) 1 /h
> 
> This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
 		 	   		  
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