Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2000 09:47:59 EDT Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding <MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM> Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding <MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM> From: Jim Stasz <Jlstasz@AOL.COM> Subject: Dickcissels-Dickcissels! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi Folks! Ed Boyd and I drove through Frederick and Carroll counties yesterday [7/9= ] to see if we could get a better idea about the Dickcissel Invasion. Our fir= st stop was Cap Stine Rd. where we had 5 males and 3 females in the field on= the east side of Cap Stine just south of Manor Woods Rd. [Delorme 55, B5]. O= ne female was observered several times dropping into the same area with a bu= g and returning seconds later without it. None of the other fields along Ca= p Stine produced Dickcissel, but there were 5 Vespers in the fields just so= uth of S. Renn Rd. [Delorme 55, A5]. Another lone male was singing on the we= st side of Ballenger Creek Rd. just a little north of Cap Stine Rd. A quick visit to Lilypons yieled a calling Least Bittern, 5 Great Egrets,= and an ad. Yellow-crowned Night-Heron. Two Loggerhead Shrikes were seen in th= e now familiar location on Lilypons Rd. We had a report of an Upland Sandpi= per along Oland Rd. from a couple other birders. Our route was then north through Frederick on Rt. 15 then along Old Frede= rick Rd. [Delorme 72 D3-72 A3]. We had a singing male on the east side near th= e covered bridge by Loy's Mill. Next we found 3 males in the fields along t= he east side near the intersection with Orndorff Rd. A quick stop at Bullfrog Pond [off of Bullfrog Rd. N. of Harney Rd. , Del= orme 73 A4] had southbound shorebirds: one Lesser Yellowlegs, one Solitary Sandpiper, eight Spotted Sandpiper, and 11 Least Sandpiper. Harnet Pond, = on the same farm, but just a mile or so east, had one more Solitary Sandpipe= r. In Carrol we encountered 3 singing Dickcissels in the field of the SW cor= ner of Sixes Bridge Rd./Keysville Rd. [Delorme 73 B4]. Another 2 were singin= g on Keysville-Bruceville Rd. about .5 miles south of Keysville. Our last of t= he day was a male along Otterdale Mill Rd. near Nusbaum Rd. [Delorme 73, B5= ]. There are hugh sections of Frederick and Carroll counties we did not look= at. I do not know of any reports yet from Washington County which must have suitable habitat. The Eastern Shore fields, especially from southern Ceci= l through Dorchester have hardly been searched, but at least 4 locations ha= ve been found. Of note is a report of 2 nests with young banded at a grassla= nd research station in Queen Anne's County. If you take a nice slow drive through any areas keep an ear open. Let us = know where you find Dickcissels this Summer. Good Birding! Jim Jim Stasz North Beach MD jlstasz@aol.com ========================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ========================================================================= ===========================================================================