Like a number of MD birders, I visited the western counties for the second
time this month in order to try for some birds I hadn't seen previously.
Based on advice from Frode Jacobsen, I arrived at the highest portion of
Russell Road before first light, and immediately heard several EASTERN
WHIP-POOR-WILL singing. Before the singing stopped I counted 4 birds from this
spot, two on either side of the road, plus a 5th that I'd heard on the way up
the hill. A BARRED OWL also called repeatedly from the direction of Michael
Road.
As dawn broke, the field birds really woke up, and during my three hour
stay I counted 2 AMERICAN KESTREL, 7 FIELD SPARROW, 2 VESPER SPARROW (one
seen singing at close range), 16 GRASSHOPPER SPARROW, 3 HENSLOW'S SPARROW, 3
SONG SPARROW, and 8 EASTERN MEADOWLARK. A BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO called from
the edge of the woods and eventually showed well. Several warblers were
singing, including COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT and PRAIRIE,
although I couldn't detect any Blue-winged or Golden-winged Warblers. But the real
object of my visit was the BLUE GROSBEAK, a rare Garrett County bird,
found recently by Frode and later seen by others. I finally heard it singing,
then spotted it on the roadside wires about halfway between the large metal
building on right and the entrance to the active mining operation farther
up the hill. A male Indigo Bunting was perched on the wire below it for a
great comparison. Finally, as if to upstage the Grosbeak, a NORTHERN
MOCKINGBID flew over as I was preparing to leave -- probably the second-best bird
of the day! Thanks Frode for your help with these great birds. Russell Road
is becoming one of my favorite birding spots, and I'm anxious to see it
again during other seasons. The altitude and top-of-the-world feeling make it
an inspiring place to greet the new day.
Subsequent stops were also rewarding but somewhat anticlimactic. I climbed
the High Rock Tower Trail off Westernport Road but didn't find much notable
except for singles of CANADA, BLACK-THROATED BLUE and BLACK-THROATED GREEN
WARBLERS, and several HOODED and BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLERS. A side trip to
Mt. Zion Road was mostly quiet except for a hen WILD TURKEY crossing the
road with about 12 tiny poults, and a BROAD-WINGED HAWK perched in a roadside
tree with an apparent chipmunk lunch.
Back in Allegany County, I made a stop at Porter Cemetery Road where the
first bird I saw was a SAVANNAH SPARROW perched on a wire. I heard Jim
Green's 2 HENSLOW'S SPARROWS on the left near the end of the road and saw several
GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS, including one carrying food. The hay mower was still
at work. I also got my county closeout BLACK VULTURE here. On the way home
I exited into Cumberland to tick the previously reported CLIFF SWALLOWS
under the I-68 bridge. Finally, pushing my luck and hoping to close out Blue
Grosbeak, I stopped at the Aztec Mini-Mart off the High Germany Road exit,
where Jim Stasz had heard one earlier this month. The closeout will have to
wait for another day.
Joel Martin
Catonsville, MD
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