-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Cordle [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, May 29, 2012 1:32 PM
To:
Subject: DC Area, 5/29/12 (corrected)
Hotline: Voice of the Naturalist
Date: 5/29/2012
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: Lydia Schindler
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, May 29, at 10 AM.
Top birds this week are WHITE-FACED IBIS* in MD, SABINE'S GULL* in DE, and
WHITE-WINGED DOVE* in MD.
Other birds of interest include NORTHERN BOBWHITE, SOOTY SHEARWATER,
ANHINGA, AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN, LEAST BITTERN, LITTLE BLUE HERON,
MISSISSIPPI KITE, BROAD-WINGED HAWK, PEREGRINE FALCON, SANDHILL CRANE,
shorebirds (UPLAND, WHIMBREL, RED KNOT) WILSON'S SNIPE, AMERICAN WOODCOCK,
GULLS, TERNS, CHUCK-WILL'S-WIDOW, EASTERN WHIP-POOR-WILL, RED-HEADED
WOODPECKER, LEAST FLYCATCHER, CLIFF SWALLOW, warblers (golden-winged,
cerulean, Mourning), HENSLOW'S SPARROW, SUMMER TANAGER, DICKCISSEL,
BOBOLINK, and RED CROSSBILL.
A WHITE-FACED IBIS* again turned up in Worcester Co, MD, on May 23. It was
with two GLOSSY IBIS in a pond on Newport Bay Drive in South Point, opposite
#11423.
The SABINE'S GULL* found at Mispillion Harbor, DE, on May 20, was seen off
and on through the afternoon of May 26. It was often visible from the deck
at the DuPont Nature Center or at nearby Slaughter Beach.
A WHITE-WINGED DOVE* flew into a pine stand on the Assateague Island
causeway, Worcester Co, on the afternoon of May 24. It was relocated that
evening just north of the blind at Shell Rd.
A NORTHERN BOBWHITE was calling in the Summit Point area of Jefferson Co,
WV, on May 26. On May 27 a BOBWHITE was heard in an undeveloped area near
the Rehoboth Beach Yacht and CC (DE), where bobwhites once were common but
have been absent for years.
A sea watch at Assateague Island yielded a SOOTY SHEARWATER on May 25.
An ANHINGA was again observed at Harwood's Mill Reservoir, York Co, VA, on
May 25.
Five AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS were seen May 23 at Bear Swamp Pool, Bombay
Hook NWR, DE, and presumably the same birds were seen May 25 at Thousand
Acre Marsh near Delaware City, DE.
On May 25 a LEAST BITTERN at Deal Island WMA, Somerset Co, MD, spent at
least 10 minutes feeding in plain sight; it was at the base of needlerush on
the south side of Deal Island Rd, just east of the utility pole with yellow
labels 38955 over 86568.
A LITTLE BLUE HERON continued in Jefferson Co, WV, where on May 24 it stood
on a big log jam near the Rte 9 bridge over the Shenandoah.
On May 25 an adult MISSISSIPPI KITE flew over the hawk watch at Fort
Smallwood Park, Anne Arundel Co, MD. That same day, a MISSISSIPPI KITE flew
over a yard in Oxford, Talbot Co, MD. On May 27 a MISSISSIPPI KITE soared
over a kayaker on Whitehall Creek near Amberly, Anne Arundel Co.
A dark-morph BROAD-WINGED HAWK*, a subspecies not previously seen in MD, was
observed for 5 minutes as it flew above the Allegany Co Fairgrounds near
Cresaptown on May 24.
Inspection of the PEREGRINE FALCON nest on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge
(linking Anne Arundel and Queen Anne's Counties) revealed two hatched young
as of May 21. On May 23, a PEREGRINE flew over Ft Bayard Park in NW DC.
On May 26 a SANDHILL CRANE landed at Prime Hook NWR, DE, at the headquarters
picnic pavilion; later it was found a short distance down the Dike Trail.
Along with the thousands of migrating RED KNOTS and other shorebirds feeding
on horseshoe crab eggs along Delaware Bay, a May 24 aerial survey of the
Eastern Shore of VA revealed nearly 3,000 WHIMBREL near Box Tree Marsh;
these birds "bulk up on fiddler crabs" before flying non-stop to the high
Arctic.
A May 23 survey at Chincoteague NWR, Accomack Co, VA, discovered a REEVE
(female RUFF) at the south end of Snow Goose Pool, shortly after the pond
becomes visible on the left (just past a gravel service road on the right).
On May 23 an UPLAND SANDPIPER could be heard in Washington Co, MD, along
Broadfording Rd east of Spickler Rd.
An AMERICAN WOODCOCK flushed up in a yard near Croom, MD, May 28.
A WILSON'S PHALAROPE was at the end of Rumbley Point Road, Somerset Co, MD
on May 23. The number of RED-NECKED PHALAROPES at Violette's Lock,
Montgomery Co, MD, had climbed to three by the evening of May 22.
About 100 LEAST TERNS are nesting on Poplar Island, Talbot Co, MD.
SANDWICH TERNS were one of 6 species of tern at Fowler's Beach, DE, May 24.
A WHIP-POOR-WILL was singing and seen in a yard in Arlington, VA, on May 24.
Three RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS were present at Hughes Hollow May 23. On May 28
RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS were found at 3 locations in NW Carroll Co, MD:
Sharrett Rd just west of the easternmost stream crossing; Baumgarder Rd S
just south of Bullfrog Rd; and Teeter Rd where it crosses Piney Creek south
of Ruggles Rd.
A possible LEAST FLYCATCHER was reported May 22 along the Capital Crescent
Trail, NW DC, about 500 yards west of Key Bridge.
On May 28 a dozen CLIFF SWALLOWS were sailing over the WSSC ball fields near
Rocky Gorge Reservoir, on the north side of Brooklyn Bridge Rd, just west of
I-95, in Prince George's Co, MD.
Warbler migration has pretty much wound down but nesting species continue to
captivate. A May 26 walk at the Blue Ridge Center for Environmental
Stewardship, Loudoun Co, VA, tallied 10 warbler species, including
BLUE-WINGED, KENTUCKY, and CERULEAN. A MOURNING WARBLER continued at Eden
Mill, Harford Co, MD, through the morning of May 25; it was along the path
leading from the parking lot to the canoe launch. A MOURNING WARBLER visited
Monticello Park, Alexandria, VA, May 22, 23, 24, and 28.
On May 26 three GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLERS were singing along Old Legislative Rd
in Allegany Co, MD-as were half a dozen HENSLOW'S SPARROWS. (From I-68, take
exit 33 south for 2 miles, cross through Woodland, and start listening.)
A SUMMER TANAGER was found again May 22 and 28 above Riley's Lock,
Montgomery Co, between mile markers 23 and 24.
A new colony of DICKSISSELS at the south end of Bridgeville, DE, was
reported May 24; there were six or seven singing males along a newly built
service road west of US 13, at the first right south of DE 404.
On May 23 and 26, four DICKCISSELS were found in Washington Co, MD, on the
south side of Broadfording Rd west of Spickler Rd. DICKCISSELS were also
reported from several locations in northern Frederick Co and nearby Carroll
Co, MD, on May 28; sites include Creamery Rd and Sixes Bridges Rd. Near
Poolesville, Montgomery Co, a DICKSISSEL continues to sing in the vicinity
of 20900 Westerly Road.
Single male BOBOLINKS were found May 28 in Carroll Co: Keysville Rd opposite
Hagerstown Lane; Walnut Grove Rd west of Frock Rd; and Sixes Bridge Rd just
north of Mumma Ford Rd.
The mountains of western VA and eastern WV were hosting RED CROSSBILLS this
weekend. Reports came from Shenandoah Mountain in Rockingham Co, VA (on the
WV line), an area accessed by following Rte 257 west from Rte 42 in Dayton,
VA and taking Forest Rd north towards Bother Rd; and from several sites
along WV's Highlands Scenic Highway near Red Spruce Knob in the Monongahela
National Forest.
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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