All - after picking up the Pink-footed Goose in Howard County this morning, Harry Fink and I tried for the Virginia's Warbler. We arrived at 11:30 a.m. and found the sledding very tough. The wind was terrible and bone-chilling and not many passerines were heard or seen, only a few Songs, a Field, and a Swamp Sparrow in the area of where the warbler had been hanging around. It began to get cloudy and things looked dim (some birders left), and we were just about to leave when the warbler began chipping off to the left of the path between the parking lot and the observation deck. The bird then flew directly over us, landed in a multi-flora rose bush on the other side of the path, and chipped for about 2 minutes. We were able to get very brief but diagnostic looks. Only one other birder present got a look, even though a few others could hear the chipping and we tried to assist them to get on the bird. The bird was only visible for mere seconds. The bird abruptly stopped chipping, and that was that for the day. 

During our visit we also had the continuing Golden Eagle, a Harrier, numbers of Bald Eagles, and 3 Blue-winged Teal, 90+ Green-winged Teal, 36 Pintails, and 4 Wood Ducks (all four of these waterfowl counts were flagged by ebird). A very nice day of birding all-in-all!

Russ Ruffing
Woodstock, MD

############################

To unsubscribe from the MDOSPREY list:
write to: mailto:[log in to unmask]
or click the following link:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=MDOSPREY&A=1