Was having car repair work done in Bowie this morning, and came out of the shop when finished about 9:45 this morning. I saw 2 buteos coming from a small woodlot next to the shopping area. One was clearly a large buteo and the other threw me at first. It was backlight against a gray sky and seemed smaller, but when I saw it flap and glide, it's profile reminded me of a black vulture. I was not even thinking of a broad-winged, and was puzzled. I hustled to my vehicle and fortunately had bins inside, so I got a great view as the birds quickly began circling to gain altitude.
The first one I got on was the larger bird and it was a Red-tail, nice adult, no brainer. When I got on the second bird, my first impression was buteo, and when it turned and got good light on it, the id was immediately easy - an adult Broad-winged! This is a very good find for PG County in the spring, let alone this early in the season. It seemed so unlikely here and at this time, but the marks were easy - a very clearly banded tail with broad dark terminal band, uniform chest and belly color with light wings and a neat dark band on the trailing edge of its wings. Its flight beats were quick an dchoppy followed by glides (very similar to a Black Vulture), and its tail was shorter than the red-tailed's and this was quite obvious when spread (also similar to a Black Vulture, but not quite as short!).
We have had a couple days this week with good W-SW winds for migration and it could easily have soarded up a very long distance this week. Woul dbe great to know how far it moved this week! I checked the yellow book record for MD and was surprised to see it was March 28, so this was not a new record.
Other notes from this week-
A flock of 28 Bonaparte's gulls came by Wednesday late morning, but were headed south(!) down the river rather than north. There was a nice flock of mixed gulls resting here, and I scoured all but saw no Little or other (white-einged) gulls.
Last weekend there was an American Bittern calling (not singing) from the wetland behind our house - only the second record for our property and also only my second county record. Despite much effort looking with my bins and scope, I was unable to see it. It called a few times but was never heard again. I am certain on the id, as we have Great Blues here daily and I know there calls, and also know Night herons calls. This call sounded like a soft "Kalk", repeated a couple times, and I heard it three times so the second and third time helped confirm what I was hearing. It's almost like a muted fish crow, whereas night herons are loud and more emphatic - Kwop! It may have been the same bittern that was seen and photographed directly across the river at Jug Bay Wetland Sanctuary earlier last week, as there just aren't many around, so it is a strong possibility.
FOS yard birds this week included swamp sparrows and catbirds - both are singing.
March madness - the "March"apples have been up for over a week now; and our Viburnums and Dogwoods are in peak bloom now. All kinds of nesting going on. Crazy early spring.
No sign of any hummers yet, but I bet it won't be long-
Cheers!
Jeff Shenot
Croom MD
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