-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Cordle [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2012 10:46 AM
To: 
Subject: DC Area, 3/13/12

Hotline:            Voice of the Naturalist 
Date:               3/13/2012
Coverage:           MD/DC/VA/DE/WV panhandle 
Telephone:          301-652-1088 option 1 
Reports, comments, questions:
	     (e-mail): 
           (voice): 301-652-1088 option 2 
Compiler:           Bob Hartman
Sponsor:            Audubon Naturalist Society of the
                    Central Atlantic States (independent of NAS!)
Transcriber:        Steve Cordle ()

Please consider joining ANS, especially if you are a regular user of the
Voice (Individual $50; Family $65; Nature Steward $100; Audubon Advocate
$200). The membership number is 301-652-9188, option 12; the address is 8940
Jones Mill Road, Chevy Chase, MD  20815; and the web site is
http://www.AudubonNaturalist.org.

This is the Voice of the Naturalist, a service of the Audubon Naturalist
Society. This report was completed Tuesday, March 13 at 10 AM.

Top birds this week are VIRGINIA'S WARBLER, CLAY-COLORED SPARROW, BREWER'S
SPARROW, and LE CONTE'S SPARROW in MD.

Other birds of interest include SANDHILL CRANE, PECTORAL SANDPIPER,
ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, and SNOW BUNTING.

In MD, the VIRGINIA'S WARBLER has continued through March 12 at the
Pickering Creek Audubon Center in Talbot Co. To find the bird, take the
gravel entrance road into Pickering Creek Audubon and park in the lot on the
left; take the trail that heads towards the impoundments and begin looking
in the bushes on both sides of the path in both scrubby fields. Pickering
Creek has asked that the following practices be adopted immediately by those
searching for the bird: 1. In general, do what you can to minimize the chaos
and confusion for the bird due to your searching. 2. In particular - please
respect the fact that the habitat of the field where the bird has been seen
is a warm season grass meadow disrupted only by a minimal set of deer
trails. This meadow has not previously been tramped down by human traffic,
and it would be best to keep it that way. Therefore, birders are asked to do
their searching through use of existing mown trails, driveways, mowed
fields, and dormant agriculture lands, but are asked to NOT trample through
the warm season grassy meadows. Such trampling is not likely to produce the
bird, and will likely result in the bird leaving the entire area.

On March 8, a CLAY-COLORED SPARROW was spotted at the E. A. Vaughn WMA
(North), Worcester Co MD. At the Occoquan NWR, Prince William Co VA, there
was a possible BREWER'S SPARROW seen on March 11, at the same location where
that species was seen repeatedly in January. In Howard Co MD, a LE CONTE'S
SPARROW was seen at the Irvine Nature Center on March 11 & 12.

Despite the fact that SNOW BUNTINGS are still being seen at Indian River
Inlet (Sussex Co DE), migration seems to be starting very early, maybe due
to the lack of a real winter in the area. A number of species are showing up
on the early end of expectation, including a PECTORAL SANDPIPER at Tanyard
Marsh, Howard Co MD, on March 10.

The SANDHILL CRANES near the intersection of Gorman and Murray Hill Rds,
Howard Co MD, continued at least through March 11. Finally, ORANGE-CROWNED
WARBLERS have appeared in several places: at the Florence Rd Silage Pit,
Howard Co MD, on March 6 and 10; in Linkwood, MD (Dorchester Co) on March
11; and at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, NE DC, also on March 11.

Most of this week's reports have been gleaned from the MDOsprey, VA-Bird,
West Virginia Birding List, and DE-Birds list servers. 

The Audubon Sanctuary Shop (301-652-3606,
http://www.audubonnaturalist.org/default.asp?page=511) is an excellent
source for guidebooks and many other nature-related titles.

To report bird sightings, e-mail your report to 
or call 301-652-1088. Please post reports before midnight Monday, identify
the county as well as state, and include your name and a Tuesday morning
contact, either e-mail or phone. 

Thank you for calling, and GOOD BIRDING.

*Of interest to the records committee

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