Returned this evening with Heidi and DJ Trasatti and had a completely different experience from last night. No YB Flycatchers, and minimal activity at the footbridge aside from a very cooperative bathing Blue-winged Warbler and a very uncooperative high-up Canada Warbler. The Ridge Trail, where yesterday's epic mixed flock occurred, was nearly silent. However, we had a great mixed flock down by the pond/playground that was so consistent that we wound up laying down in the grass and looking up to save our neck muscles! Chestnut-sided and Magnolia were the best warblers, and I also had a Warbling Vireo here. Towards the end of the evening, roughly 15 Common Nighthawks passed overhead, giving Heidi & DJ a much sought-after lifebird. It was interesting to note that while yesterday seemed "birdier" throughout the area, we actually had more species tonight (33 vs. 42).
No Blue-headed Vireo -- sorry Matt.
Tim Carney
Baltimore/Anne Arundel
On Tuesday, August 28, 2012 9:22:51 PM UTC-4, Tim Carney wrote:
> Richard Edden and I found a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher at Susquehanna State Park tonight. It was above the little bridge, just inside the woods from the picnic area. It was one of the first birds to respond to the screech-owl tape, and we saw it several times throughout the evening. It was much yellower than the Acadians in the area, and just struck me as different overall from other Empids I've seen recently. It cocked its tail almost every time it landed on a branch and seemed more prone to bounce around than Acadians.
>
> Other nice birds in this area included a Blue-headed Vireo (listed as rare on eBird for this date/location), Blue-winged Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Canada Warbler, a couple of Magnolias and Redstarts, Worm-eating Warbler, White-eyed Vireo, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and a very distant Eastern Screech-Owl, heard from high up on the Ridge Trail.
>
> I also saw a flycatcher high up that I didn't count. Probably a pewee, but it had a distinctive vest. I was hoping to confirm it as Olive-sided, but it seemed small, and was usually sallying out from the foliage of the trees rather than perched on a dead snag.
>
> Tim Carney
> Baltimore/Anne Arundel
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