-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Cordle [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, November 25, 2008 10:43 AM
To:
Subject: DC Area, 11/25/08
Hotline: Voice of the Naturalist
Date: 11/25/2008
Coverage: MD/DC/VA/DE
Telephone: 301-652-1088 option 1
Reports (voice): 301-652-1088 option 2
(email):
(deadline): midnight Mondays
Compiler: Joe Coleman
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 $40; Family $50; Nature Steward $75; Audubon Advocate
$150). 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, November 25, at 10:00 a.m.
Top birds this week are BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING DUCK and KING EIDER in DE
and SWAINSON'S HAWK in MD.
Other birds of interest include ROSS'S GOOSE, CACKLING GOOSE, COMMON EIDER,
WILD TURKEY, ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, GOLDEN EAGLE, PEREGRINE FALCON, gulls
including FRANKLIN'S, BLACK-HEADED, and THAYER'S, BLACK SKIMMER, SNOWY OWL,
SHORT-EARED OWL, hummingbirds including RUFOUS, WESTERN KINGBIRD, WHITE-EYED
VIREO, COMMON RAVEN, warblers, sparrows, LAPLAND LONGSPUR, SNOW BUNTING,
RUSTY BLACKBIRD, WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL*, and PINE SISKIN.
A BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING DUCK was found on Silver Lake, in Rehoboth, DE on
Nov 23.
An immature drake KING EIDER was seen Nov 21 & 22 at the Indian River Inlet,
DE.
A SWAINSON'S HAWK was seen on Nov 23 from the Cromwell Valley Park
Hawkwatch, Baltimore Co, MD.
Four ROSS' GEESE were seen Nov 22 at Chincoteague NWR, Accomack Co, VA.
A flyover CACKLING GOOSE was seen at Ferry Neck, Talbot Co, MD on Nov 19.
Four CACKLING GEESE were seen Nov 22 in Hunting Creek Bay from the Dyke
Marsh, Fairfax Co, VA and a CACKLING GOOSE was found Nov 22 at the
Blackwater NWR, Dorchester Co, MD.
Two COMMON EIDERS were in the Ocean City, MD inlet on Nov 22 and 23.
A WILD TURKEY was seen Nov 19 on Theodore Roosevelt Island in NW DC.
A ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK was seen from one of the shuttles while going between
the airport and the economy parking lots at Dulles Airport, Loudoun Co, VA
on Nov 20. A ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK was seen in the marshes on Elliott Island,
Dorchester Co, MD on Nov 22. Another ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK was seen Nov 23
flying back and forth, hovering, and perched, along Rte 3 at the King George
Co, VA ponds.
GOLDEN EAGLES seemed to pop up everywhere with reports from the Snickers Gap
Hawkwatch, Clarke Co, VA, on Nov 18, 22, & 23; a report of one from the
Harvey's Knob Hawkwatch, Roanoke, VA on Nov 18; and a report of 4 from Town
Hill, Allegany Co, MD the same day. The same day an immature GOLDEN EAGLE
was spotted flying over a field on the Eastern Shore at Ferry Neck, Talbot
Co, MD. And on Nov 23 one was reported from the Kiptopeke State Park
Hawkwatch in Northampton Co, VA.
A PEREGRINE FALCON was seen Nov 18 at the Naval Surface Warfare Center,
Carderock Division, David Taylor Model Basin, Montgomery Co, MD, adjacent to
American Legion Bridge and Potomac River.
An adult FRANKLIN'S GULL was found at Roaring Point, Wicomico Co, MD on Nov
23.
A BLACK-HEADED GULL was reported at Gordon Pond, Sussex Co, DE on Nov 23.
A THAYER'S GULL was found on Nov 21 and relocated on Nov 23 at the Salisbury
landfill, Wicomoco Co, MD. There was also a first-cycle Iceland Gull there
on the 21st.
An adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL was on the mudflats of Neabsco Creek,
Prince William Co, VA on Nov 23. Two LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS were seen Nov
24 at Schoolhouse Pond, Upper Marlboro, Prince George's Co, MD.
A BLACK SKIMMER and an immature SNOWY OWL were found on a trip to Poplar
Island, Talbot Co, MD on Nov 20. The SNOWY OWL was seen there again on Nov
24. The SNOWY OWL found in the ORV Zone on Assateague Island, Worcester Co,
MD was seen again on the island on Nov 23. A SNOWY OWL was reported on Nov
23 along I-81 a few miles south of Winchester, VA.
Three, maybe four SHORT-EARED OWLS, were seen Nov 23 at the Mothershead
tract of the Rappahannock River Valley NWR in Leedstown, Westmoreland Co,
MD.
A hummingbird, presumably a lingering RUBY-THROATED, was seen in Virginia
Beach, VA on Nov 21. A RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD continues at a feeder in Fairfax,
VA with the most recent report from Nov 22.
On Nov 22 a WESTERN KINGBIRD was found in a short grass field right by the
gravel road that leads from the main north-south refuge road to the Visitor
Center on the Eastern Neck NWR, Kent Co, MD. It was seen again on Nov 24.
A rather late WHITE-EYED VIREO was seen in Reston's Stanton Woods in Fairfax
Co, VA, on both Nov 20 and 21.
A COMMON RAVEN was seen Nov 22 at Soldiers Delight Natural Area, Baltimore
Co, MD.
A late YELLOW WARBLER was the highlight of a trip to Occoquan Bay NWR,
Prince William Co, VA on Nov 22.
AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS were reported in small numbers from a number of
different locations during the past week while FOX SPARROWS were widely
reported. A VESPER'S SPARROW was found on Nov 23 at Nutters Neck WMA,
Wicomico Co, MD. On Nov 22 a LINCOLN'S SPARROW was found at Soldiers Delight
Natural Area. And on Nov 23 there was a LINCOLN'S SPARROW at Fort McHenry,
Baltimore.
On Nov 23 three LAPLAND LONGSPURS and a SNOW BUNTING were found with a large
flock of HORNED LARKS in the corn stubble at the corner of Oland Rd and
Buckeystown Rd, Frederick Co, MD. A SNOW BUNTING was found Nov
22 foraging in the gravel on the Elliott Island (road), Dorchester Co, MD.
Nine RUSTY BLACKBIRDS visited a yard in Easton, Talbot Co, MD on Nov
18 and 11 were found at the Occoquan Bay NWR, Prince William Co, VA on Nov
22. A RUSTY BLACKBIRD was found Nov 23 on the weekly bird walk at Dyke
Marsh, Fairfax Co, VA.
Two WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS* were seen Nov 22 across from the Snickers Gap
parking lot at Snickers Gap, Clarke Co, VA atop a spruce-type tree across
Rte seven; and on the 24th, six WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS* were reported from
the same location. On Nov 22 at least two, and possibly as many as six,
WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS were seen and heard at Turkey Point, Cecil Co, MD.
And several WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS were reported flying over a yard in
Salisbury, Wicomico Co, MD on Nov 23.
PINE SISKINS continued to be widely seen throughout the region.
Some of this week's reports have been gleaned from the MDOsprey, VA-Bird,
and DE-bird list servers.
The Audubon Sanctuary Shop
<http://www.audubonnaturalist.org/default.asp?page=511>
(301-652-3606) 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 and select menu option 2. 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. |