Date: Thu, 3 May 2001 10:49:35 EDT Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Gail Mackiernan Subject: Rock Creek 4/3 Hi all -- Sorry I did not get this posted yesterday, other events intruded! Anyway, to add to what Mike Bowen posted -- as he noted diversity was high, numbers rather low. One thing that seems different this year is that the ridge (picnic area 17/18 has not been too productive, whereas the area around the nature center, stable, and maintenance yard has been pretty birdy. The oaks here are apparently infested with two species of "inchworm"- type caterpillars (definitely not Gypsy moths) which are small, green or brown, and very very abundant. We saw all sorts of birds -- including 100s of Cedar Waxwings -- chowing down on them. The downside is that the trees in this area are very tall and many are in almost full leaf (albeit somewhat "chewed-up" leaf) and he birds hard to see even if you hear the. They also move around a lot and we have found that re-visiting certain spots a couple of times yields quite different birds. So all in all, not too bad a day birdwise but not a "big day." (Looking at notes from last year, May 3 had similar numbers and species with the notable exception of far more Blue-wings. However, May 5 and 6th were "big days" -- our notes say "warm, partly cloudy, 60F night temperatures" -- with double digits in many species, such as 15 B-T Blues, 20 B-T Greens etc.) Seen or heard yesterday (quite a few "heard only" alas!) Warblers: Yellow-rumped (ca. 150), Black-and-White (3), Black-throated Green (4), Black-Throated Blue (6), Overbird (15), Chestnut-sided (1), Magnolia (1), Parula (3), Worm-eating (1), Blackpoll (2), Cape May (1, seen -- beautiful!), Cerulean (1), Tennessee (2). Vireos: Yellow-throated (3, includes pair at ridge), Red-eyed (ca. 25). Others: Scarlet Tanager (5), Rose-breasted Grosbeak (2), Yellow-billed Cuckoo (2), Wood Thrush (10), Veery (1), Cedar Waxwing (100s!), Ruby-throated Hummingbird (1), Ruby-crowned Kinglet (1), Great Crested Flycatcher (1). We didn't go out this morning, as I have to get ready for my talk this evening to Frederick Bird Club on South Africa! (If anyone was at Rock Creek, could you please post your results?) Cheers, Gail Mackiernan Colesville, MD ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================