A two-hour afternoon hike around Southwest Area Park in Baltimore County  
produced some nice first-of-year birds. The tide was lower than I've ever seen  
it, leaving almost no water in the ponds and no water birds. But there were 
some  good sparrows, mostly concentrated in the scrubby areas near the boat 
launch and  just across the footbridge. 
 
I finally got to see the famed African Pied Crow that's been hanging around  
SW Baltimore for several years. Hearing a calling RT Hawk overhead, I looked 
up  to see the very high-flying hawk being harassed by a crow -- the Pied Crow. 
It  was larger and more raven-like than the native crow species, with a white 
 breast.
 
The partial list:
 
Double-crested Cormorant - 19
Red-tailed Hawk - 1 imm.
American Kestrel - 1
Ring-billed Gull ~ 40
Belted Kingfisher - 1
American Crow
Fish Crow
PIED CROW - 1
American Tree Sparrow - 4
Fox Sparrow - 3
Song Sparrow ~15
Swamp Sparrow - 3
White-throated Sparrow ~25
White-crowned Sparrow - 1 imm.
Red-winged Blackbird - only 1
House Finch - 4
American Goldfinch - 2
 
Joel Martin
Catonsville, MD
 (mailto:[log in to unmask])  
 
 
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