Date: 10/19/26 2:46 pm From: Jim Nelson <jim.nelson.tax.aide...> Subject: Re: [MDBirding] New eBird Hotspot Editor on the job
Mike,
Thanks so much for your many years of service as the
HotSpotReviewer/Editor. This is one of the many important but time
consuming and underappreciated roles that birders take on voluntarily and
uncompensated to make eBird so useful, functional, and fun!
Welcome to Duncan Bishop. Thank you for taking on this role.
Jim Nelson
Bethesda, MD
On Mon, Oct 19, 2026 at 11:34 AM 'Mike Bowen' via Maryland & DC Birding <
<mdbirding...> wrote:
> Many DC and Maryland eBirders know that I have been fielding
> recommendations for new eBird Hotspots in the State of Maryland and the
> District of Columbia for more than 15 years now, during which time the
> number of Hotspots in both places has ballooned considerably -- over 2000
> in Maryland and more than 150 in the District of Columbia.
>
> I am happy to announce that a new Hotspot Reviewer/Editor has just taken
> over: please welcome DC birder Duncan Bishop (<duncanbishop1...>),
> who will be considering suggestions for new Hotspots in Maryland and DC and
> for renaming or repositioning of existing Hotspots, effective immediately.
> Indeed, he has already started.
>
> Duncan was one of the birder volunteers who assisted Ken Ostermiller, a
> former eBird Hotspot Editor for Ohio, to develop the *Birding Hotspots*
> web site that formed the basis for the relatively new "*Hotspot About*"
> pages introduced to eBird earlier this year. (More about "About" pages in
> a later post.)
>
> Please join me in welcoming Duncan to this demanding volunteer job and in
> thanking Mike Ostrowski, former active Maryland birder, who has been my
> principal backup as Hotspot Reviewer/Editor, despite moving from Maryland
> to Arizona a few years ago.
>
> Mike Bowen
> Bethesda
>
>
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Date: 10/19/26 9:06 am From: 'Mike Bowen' via Maryland & DC Birding <mdbirding...> Subject: [MDBirding] eBird Hotspot About pages
Those of us who are regular eBird users may already be aware that eBird
this April introduced a new feature called the "About Page." This is an
easily accessible web page for each eBird Hotspot that describes among
other things how to reach the Hotspot, whether there are fees or
restrictions, how best to bird there, and gives links to trail maps, park
descriptions and so forth. Here's a reference to that background document:
I am working with staff at eBird and with birders all over Maryland,
Delaware, and Washington DC to encourage local birders to write these pages
for Hotspots with which they are particularly familiar. There are
literally thousands of eBird Hotspots just in Maryland, but we are aiming
in the near term to complete pages for the 20-30 top Hotspots in DC and in
every one of Maryland’s 23 counties.
Please take a look at the eBird Hotspots you know best – perhaps you visit
several times a week or once a month like clockwork – and see if there is
an About page for each of those Hotspots. If there isn’t, go ahead and
write one. (All active eBirders are eligible to compose a page and, indeed,
to edit one that is incomplete or inaccurate.)
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Date: 10/19/26 8:35 am From: 'Mike Bowen' via Maryland & DC Birding <mdbirding...> Subject: [MDBirding] New eBird Hotspot Editor on the job
Many DC and Maryland eBirders know that I have been fielding recommendations for new eBird Hotspots in the State of Maryland and the District of Columbia for more than 15 years now, during which time the number of Hotspots in both places has ballooned considerably -- over 2000 in Maryland and more than 150 in the District of Columbia.
I am happy to announce that a new Hotspot Reviewer/Editor has just taken over: please welcome DC birder Duncan Bishop (<duncanbishop1...>), who will be considering suggestions for new Hotspots in Maryland and DC and for renaming or repositioning of existing Hotspots, effective immediately. Indeed, he has already started.
Duncan was one of the birder volunteers who assisted Ken Ostermiller, a former eBird Hotspot Editor for Ohio, to develop the *Birding Hotspots* web site that formed the basis for the relatively new "*Hotspot About*" pages introduced to eBird earlier this year. (More about "About" pages in a later post.)
Please join me in welcoming Duncan to this demanding volunteer job and in thanking Mike Ostrowski, former active Maryland birder, who has been my principal backup as Hotspot Reviewer/Editor, despite moving from Maryland to Arizona a few years ago.
Mike Bowen Bethesda
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Date: 10/12/26 8:55 am From: 'James Tyler Bell' via Maryland & DC Birding <mdbirding...> Subject: [MDBirding] Pt. Lookout Rarity Roundup, November 7, 2026
I know this is short notice but we only recently batted the idea around. Hopefully we'll get enough people to make this work! Let me know ASAP! Tyler <Belljtylerbell...>, Maryland
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Date: 10/12/26 6:30 am From: Cintia Cabib <cintia...> Subject: [MDBirding] "Bird Walk" Film Screening at Chevy Chase Library on October 17
Join me for a screening and discussion of my documentary “Bird Walk” on Saturday, October 17 at 2 p.m. at the Chevy Chase Library, 5625 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20015: https://dclibrary.libnet.info/event/17542257. Please note that this is the Chevy Chase Library in Washington, D.C., NOT the one in Montgomery County.
“Bird Walk" takes viewers on an aural and visual excursion through an abandoned golf course in Rockville, Maryland, where birders discover more than 160 bird species and mount a grassroots campaign to preserve this avian oasis as a public park and critical bird habitat. You can learn more about the film and watch the trailer at https://www.birdwalkfilm.com <https://www.birdwalkfilm.com/>
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RBWoodpecker, long-held to be a sedentary, non-migratory species, but big counts were done a few years ago, for the 1st time, in MD & Philadelphia.
blue jay: incl. a single flock of 140.
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Date: 10/5/26 12:58 pm From: Cintia Cabib <cintia...> Subject: [MDBirding] "Bird Walk" Documentary Screening on October 10
Celebrate World Migratory Bird Day! I will be screening and discussing my documentary “Bird Walk” on Saturday, October 10 at 2 p.m. at the Gaithersburg Library, 18330 Montgomery Village Ave., Gaithersburg, MD: https://mcpl.libnet.info/event/17194999
Discover how an abandoned golf course became an avian oasis for birds and birders and learn about the grassroots campaign to preserve the 131-acre site as a public park and critical bird habitat. Watch the trailer and learn more about the film at https://www.birdwalkfilm.com <https://www.birdwalkfilm.com/>.
This screening is supported in part by funding from the Montgomery County Government and the Arts & Humanities Council of Montgomery County.
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Date: 9/30/26 8:02 am From: Cintia Cabib <cintia...> Subject: [MDBirding] Corrected Times: "Bird Walk" Film Screenings on 10/5 and 10/10
Please note that the “Bird Walk” film screening on Monday, October 5 at the Nancy H. Dacek North Potomac Community Recreation Center is taking place at 9:30 a.m. (NOT 9:30 p.m.)
Also, the film screening at the Gaithersburg Library on Saturday, October 10 is taking place at 2 p.m. (NOT 10 a.m.). See screening link at https://mcpl.libnet.info/event/17194999
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Date: 9/29/26 7:11 am From: Cintia Cabib <cintia...> Subject: [MDBirding] "Bird Walk" Film Screenings on October 5 and 10
Hi, everyone
I would like to invite you to free public screenings of my documentary “Bird Walk” on Monday, October 5 at 9:30 a.m. at the Nancy H. Dacek North Potomac Community Recreation Center and Saturday, October 10 at 2 p.m. at the Gaithersburg Library. There is no registration. Just come on in and take a seat! Discover how an abandoned golf course became an oasis for birds and birders and learn about the grassroots campaign that helped preserve the 131-acre site as a public park and critical bird habitat: https://www.birdwalfkilm.com <https://www.birdwalfkilm.com/>.
Monday, October 5 at 9:30 p.m.
at the Active Aging Week kickoff event
Nancy H. Dacek North Potomac Community Recreation Center
13850 Travilah Rd.
Rockville, MD 20850
Saturday, October 10 at 10
in celebration of World Migratory Bird Day
Gaithersburg Library
18330 Montgomery Village Ave.
Gaithersburg, MD 20879
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5 A.M.- 2:15 P.M. 14 hours owling. miles owling 47. parties owling 4. observers owling 7. hours afoot 38. miles afoot 14. hours by car 33. miles by car 339. sectors regular 10 (Elliott I. = 2 sectors in 1.
10 species w/ the highest nos.: starling 1,682. laughing gull 527. Canada goose 469. common grackle 448. red-winged blackbird 388. Forster’s tern 260. herring gull 184. turkey vulture 164. semipalmated sandpiper 140. great egret 131.
DRAMATIS PERSONAE:
Elliott I. Rd.: Suzette Stitely. James Bachman.
Taylors I.: Wayne Bell, George Radcliffe, YMOS Karolina Mandell.
East Central County, S. Of Rt. 50, W. Of Elliott I. Rd.: Steve Ford.
Matt Whitbeck: off limits parts of Blackwater NWR.
North County (N. Of Route 50): Jim Green.
Ron Ketter: restricted areas of BNWR (exclusive of those Matt covers)
Terry Allen central Blackwater NWR.
Many thanks to y'all. MANY !! Best wishes. - Harry Armistead.
We missed: glossy ibis, b.-c. night heron, spotted sandpiper, fish crow, field sparrow, rose-breasted grosbeak. There’s always surprising misses.
non-avian species: Matt Whitbeck’s list of such is impressive enough so that it merits inclusion in its entirety. Here it is: Sika - 6
Gray squirrel - 2
fox squirrel - 1
Common buckeyes
Monarchs
Gray hairstreak
Eastern tailed blue
Viceroy - 3-4
Common Checkered white - 3
Orange Sulphur
Silver spotted skipper
Black swallowtail
Variegated fritillary
American lady 1
Pearl crescent
Common Wood nymph-1 tattered
Seaside dragonlet
twelve-spotted skimmer
Common whitetail
Common green darner 1
Needham’s skimmer
Great blue skimmer
Slaty skimmer skimmer
Plain bellied watersnake - 1
others’ non-avian: seaside dragonlet (photographed
painted turtle 1.
black rat snake 1
painted lady 1
cloudless sulphurs 6
clouded sulphur 1
monarch 12
buckeye 8
gray hairstreak 2
silver-spotted skipper 6
river otter 3 (photographed)
gray squirrel 6
sika deer 1
white-tailed deer, 1 small fawn
“Just a brief commentary on the day. I am amazed every year how it just seems to get slower and slower particularly with the passerines.
It was very difficult to finally get 6 species of warblers. If someone else could find them –thank goodness for the count. It is so obvious that the # of birds is declining and species too from what I can see. I was in perfect habitat all day and it was just silent. Thanks for handling the count as always. I enjoy and look forward to this day. Take care.” - Steve Ford. His comments above I agree w/ 100%. Not much neotrops, migratory landbirds migration.- HTA.
Terry Allen said he walked the BNWR Marsh Edge Trail and did not see 1 bird.
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