Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2000 12:58:28 EDT Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Gail Mackiernan Subject: Lilypons today Hi all -- We took some timen this morning to visit Lilypons and the surrounding are= as in hopes of catching up with some of the birds recently reported. Well, w= e were only partially successful but it was a nice morning out... At Lilypons itself (looking very fine with all the lilies and lotus in fu= ll bloom), a pair of Yellow-crowned Nightherons were the highlight. We also saw anout 8 Great Egrets. However the Least Bitterns remained elusive, al= though we met someone who had heard they were seen yesterday. We also had one Willow Flycatcher singing, and a mocker doing a credible imitation of sam= e. One Lilypons Rd., both shrikes were present -- one had been on a fence po= st in the usual distant spot, then it flew east towards a hedgerow and perch= ed next to another bird in a small tree. One of the birds then flew into a thick bush and disappeared (nest?). In any case, if you don't see the bir= ds along the usual fence, scan the tree-lined hedgerow to the east, on the hillside. No sign of the Upland Sandpipers, although we looked in all the appropria= te fields along Oland, New Design, Rt. 85 and Adamstown Rds. However, thick vegetation in many fields could have hidden a hundred Uppies. We did see several Grasshopper Sparrows in the fields and a nice male Blue Grosbeak = at the corner of Rt. 85 and Lilypons Rd. Didn't do Cap Stine today... Cheers, Gail Mackiernan and Barry Cooper ========================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ========================================================================= ===========================================================================