Re: Eastern meadowlark on Hawkins Road
Norm Saunders (osprey@ARI.Net)
Tue, 3 Mar 1998 18:35:40 -0500
Bill,
Eastern Meadowlark is listed in the MD Yellow Book as abundant from
early March through late October and pretty abundant (grin) in all
the other months. They have been reported breeding in all 23 of our
MD Counties, as well!
So, while your sighting isn't that uncommon, I can appreciate the
pleasure and excitement that accompanied your life sighting! These
birds are clearly being pressed hard in some parts of the state
because of habitat loss and are close to being extirpated in Eastern
Montgomery County, where I live, so whenever I see them, I always
stop to listen and watch.
Regarding the behavior you described, I've never personally witnessed
such a display. It sounds more like two males posturing over
territorial rights than a male/female pair-bonding ritual. If anyone
else has any experience with the displays that Bill Schreitz
described, please hop into the discussion!
Bill, thanks for sharing your life-bird excitement with us!
Cheers,
Norm
> I have been birding Bacon Ridge Branch north of Chesterfield Road in
> Anne Arundel County near Crownsville State Hospital since the
> Birdcount 4 Jan. I have really seen nothing new or unexpected until
> today. Neither one of us had ever seen a meadowlark, so it really
> took us by ssurprise(my daughter was with me). On our way to Bacon
> Ridge Branch, we had stopped at the field on Hawkins Road where the
> two radio towers are. After walking around checking out the blue
> birds and cowbirds, we saw a bird flapping and soaring at about
> 75-100 feet. It seemed to be occasionally buzzing another bird
> perched on a diagonal support wire about 75 feet up as it circled a
> distance of about 150 yards between the far tower and the woods. At
> this point the closest we got to the bird was maybe 100 yards as it
> drew close to the bird on the wire. All this took place about 8:00
> this morning under overcast conditions, so the light was not that
> great. My fist thought was that it was a kestrel, but it didn't
> ever hover or row backwards, so to speak. Not even as it approached
> the bird on the wire, although it seemed to pause slightly. I could
> see a flash of white or pale yellow and a black bib, and immediately
> thought flicker. After its last pass it flew straight to a bare tree
> 150 yards from the tower and settled at the very top, with its back
> to us. When it turned its head, it clearly had a long beak. More
> flicker thoughts. While alternately keeping an eye on the two birds
> (the other of which was only a dark shape on the diagonal wire) we
> went back to our car for a field guide. It was the yellow that
> bothered us. Meadowlark had not occurred to us yet. Armed with
> Peterson's and meadowlark thoughts we went back towards the birds
> (still at their separate perches , 150 yards apart). First the bird
> on the wire left to land in the top of a twenty foot bare tree less
> than fifty yards away, soon to be joined by the other. They perched
> less than two feet from each other. We could clearly see what was
> now bright yellow breasts from the neck down, a distinct black bib,
> and a stripe above the eye. After a while, five or ten minutes,
> they both flew down towards us and landed in the field between us
> and the road, less than thirty yards away. We could clearly see
> white in the side of their tail feathers as they flew past and
> disappeared in the tall grass, except for their heads.
>
> When I got home, I read the section in Stokes, BIRD BEHAVIOR VOL II,
> about different types of display. High level aerial maneuvers were
> not among them. In fact, we had seen no jump-flight behavior, nor
> did we hear any sounds we thought came from either one of them.
> Clearly, we have to go back.
>
> How unusual is the sighting and how unusual
> is the behavior? Any one have any thoughts?
>
>
>
> Bill
>
> WILLIAM B SCHREITZ CABINETMAKER INC
> ANNAPOLIS MARYLAND 21401-4034
> cabmkrwbs@juno.com
>
===============
Norm Saunders
Colesville, MD
osprey@ari.net