Voice of the Naturalist

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Please consider joining ANS, especially if you are a regular user of the Voice (Senior $35; 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.anshome.org.

This is the Voice of the Naturalist, a service of the Audubon Naturalist Society. This report covers the week starting Tuesday, December 6, and was completed on Tuesday, December 13 at about 11:00 a.m.

Information on noteworthy birds during this week is presented below in taxonomic order, as set forth in the American Ornithologists’ Union Checklist for North and Middle American birds, as revised through the 57th Supplement (July 2016).

TOP BIRDS THIS WEEK: SNOWY OWLs in MD & VA, BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER in MD

OTHER BIRDS OF INTEREST: TRUMPETER SWAN, EURASIAN WIGEON, COMMON EIDER, AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN, GOLDEN EAGLE, ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD, NORTERN SHRIKE, BLUE-HEADED VIREO, LAPLAND LONGSPUR, WILSON’S WARBLER, LINCOLN’S SPARROW, PINE SISKIN

TOP BIRDS

Two SNOWY OWLs were reported: one Dec 7 on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, Anne Arundel/Queen Anne’s Counties, and another Dec 8 at the Leesburg VA airport (Loudon Co; report unconfirmed). The BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER at Tydings Memorial Pk, Havre de Grace MD (Harford Co) continued Dec 6-11.

OTHER BIRDS OF INTEREST

A possible TRUMPETER SWAN was reported Dec 11 at Lake Artemesia, College Park MD (Prince George’s Co). An Eurasian Wigeon was spotted Dec 8 at Chincoteague NWR, Accomack Co VA. The COMMON EIDER at Cape Henlopen SP, Sussex Co DE, continued Dec 10.

An AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN was seen at Perryville Community Pk (Cecil Co MD) on Dec 11.

Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch (Augusta Co VA) had a good day on Dec 8: three GOLDEN EAGLES and a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK.

A couple of RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDs were reported: Dec 7 from the Wildewood Neighborhood Walk, St. Mary’s Co MD, and Dec 10 in Carroll Co MD, along Candy Mint Lane.

The NORTHERN SHRIKE along Bens Point Rd (Queen Anne’s Co MD) continued Dec 7-9. A late BLUE-HEADED VIREO was seen Dec 10 at Lake Montebello, Baltimore City.

Two LAPLAND LONGSPURs were spotted Dec 7-8 along Cartanza Rd, which is near Little Creek Wildlife Area, Kent Co DE.

A late WILSON’S WARBLER was seen at Dyke Marsh, Fairfax Co VA, on Dec 9. Also late were a couple of LINCOLN’S SPARROWs, Dec 10 in Baltimore Co MD, and Dec 11 in Frederica DE (Kent Co).

Several PINE SISKINs showed up, widely scattered: one Dec 5-10 near Tyson’s Corner VA (Fairfax Co), one Dec 6 in a yard in Ellicott City MD (Howard Co), two Dec 9 in Wardtown VA (Northampton Co), one Dec 12 at Schoolhouse Pond, Upper Marlboro MD (Prince George’s Co), and two Dec 12 at the picnic area in Belle Haven Pk, Fairfax Co VA.

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This report was based on reports on the DE, MD, VA, and WV list servers via the ABA Internet links, and on eBird records.

The Audubon Sanctuary Shop (301-652-3606, http://anshome.org/shop) is an excellent source for guidebooks and many other nature-related titles.

To report bird sightings, e-mail your report to [email protected]. Please post reports before midnight Monday, identify the county as well as the state, and include your name and a Tuesday morning contact, either e-mail or phone.

Thank you for your interest, and enjoy the birds.

*Of interest to the applicable records committee.

The Voice of the Naturalist is written and recorded on Tuesday mornings. If you email your reports, please email [email protected], by Monday midnight to make sure they are received in time.

Reports prior to the preceding Tuesday will not be considered.

The area covered is (with rare exceptions) DC, MD, VA, and southern DE; all other reports should be sent to the appropriate rare-bird alert for the area in which the birds were observed.

Be sure to report only those birds that you actually saw, not ones that someone else told you about.

And please remember to include a phone number where you can be reached on Tuesday morning; if you can’t be reached to verify a rare bird, your report will almost certainly not be used.

There are two main circumstances in which a bird sighting will not be reported on the Voice as a matter of policy. The first is if the report would jeopardize the bird’s welfare:

Reports of species that are threatened or endangered at the state or federal level are generally not used, especially during nesting season–local Loggerhead Shrikes are an example; similarly, owls are not listed, with two exceptions–Snowy Owl and Short-eared Owl; and rails are also generally not mentioned; the rails at Huntley Meadows Park, VA, are an exception because birders stay on the boardwalk.

The second circumstance concerns private property: If the property owner does not want birders, the sighting will not be reported–at least in a way that identifies the location.

Please keep your reports concise (no lengthy trip reports, please), and provide the following information:

Full SPECIES NAME.

NUMBER of individuals of each species (estimates for big flocks are fine).

Age and sex, if relevant (important for gull observations, for example).

Location, including COUNTY and STATE (there are four Middletowns in MD).

DATE of observation (“today”, “yesterday”, “Saturday”, etc., are not as helpful).

TELEPHONE NUMBER where you can be reached on Tuesday between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.

DIRECTIONS to little known places (your favorite local hot spot may not be familiar to the Voice compiler or to other nonlocal people); page numbers and map coordinates from the DeLorme atlas/gazetteer are extremely helpful.

Access limitations, if any; and, for birds that are on private property, whether the owner does not want birders, if you know.

Unusual behavior seen.

For RARITIES, a description of features YOU ACTUALLY SAW (not what is in the field guides).

Thanks in advance for your reports. You can be sure that they will be read. Don’t be disappointed if your sighting isn’t mentioned; when there are a lot of reports, summary comments sometimes have to be made. There are times, however, when every report is used in writing the Voice, for example, during the hot days of summer. — Voice of the Naturalist

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