Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2001 05:39:06 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Norman Saunders Subject: Re: BACK YARD BIRDS! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Harvey Welsh writes: > Today I was pleasantly surprised by a new arrival to my back yard. It was > a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak. We have never had one hear in the Three > years that we have lived here. I was wondering if their being here has > anything to do with an invasion year or a cold winter? Can anyone shed some > light on this. Harvey, Rose-breasted Grosbeak is a common spring and fall migrant, their numbers peaking in mid-May and mid-September. They're known to breed in Garrett County but pretty much everywhere else in the state they are migrant pass-throughs only. Their preferred habitat is wood margins, hedgerows, and scrub. We see them about once every two to three years near our feeders (I'm sure they are there every year, we just don't spend enough time watching the backyard) but they're always a pleasure to see in the backyard. Good sighting! Best, Norm ======================== Norm Saunders Colesville, Montgomery County, MD marshhawk@att.net ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================