Date: Fri, 21 Jun 2002 14:05:55 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Stan Arnold Subject: A week of atlasing, Balt. Co. Comments: cc: Paula Warner , Adriana Frangos , Sue Probst MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi Folks, Today ends a busy week of atlasing, mostly in southwest Baltimore Co. I had a lot of confirmations in the SW quarter of the Relay NE block (not my block), and some other nice finds in my block (Relay NW). The rundown, with some atlas codes given: Big Halethorpe Pond, Relay NE block, SW quarterblock, Balt. Co., with Brian Sykes (who has photographed many of these sightings): DC CORMORANT--(O), observed; imm. sitting on rock 6/17 & 6/21 GREAT EGRET-- (O), observed; adult at pond on 6/17 BC NIGHT HERON-- 6-8 adults and 2nd yr imms seen 6/17; only one on 6/21 OSPREY-- (ON) 1 adult; already confirmed on nest which was abandoned after wind blew down tree in which nest was situated; new nest not yet found CHIMNEY SWIFT-- (FL)--fledged young--this bird looked more like a bat than a bird; had much more rounded wings and pudgier body than an adult RT HUMMINGBIRD--(ON)--I photographed the used nest, but Brian gave me a photo of the female sitting on the nest on 3 June; the nest is unusually high, about 25-30 feet up in a Sycamore Tree. WILLOW FLYCATCHER--(T) singing birds on 6/17 & 6/21; Brian said they've been around for more than two weeks WARBLING VIREO--(T) singing males all over, but no nest found yet PURPLE MARTIN-- (X), one flyover female NRW SWALLOW--(FY), 12 seen, with a few adults feeding youngsters BG GNATCATCHER--(NB)--already confirmed; I photographed the nest which Brian watched being built; young assumed to have fledged, but not observed YELLOW WARBLER--(NY) I saw the female on the nest about two weeks ago; Brian showed me a photo of the nest with a big ugly cowbird in it AMERICAN REDSTART--(NY) I photographed the empty nest. Brian took pictures, just yesterday, of the young in the nest; they must have fledged last night or early this a.m. COMMON YELLOWTHROAT--(T) several territorial males seen, but no nest found yet YB CHAT--(T) singing male has been around for about two weeks SONG SPARROW--(FL), downy youngster observed RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD--(FY), Brian showed me a photo of a female taking food to her young last week; now fledged. BH COWBIRD--(NY), youngster in Yellow Warbler nest Brian also saw a LEAST TERN over the pond yesterday. This is very interesting in light of the recent tern discussion on this listserve. There are many acres of flat rooftops within a few hundred yards of this pond. Since Least Tern was also observed here in May on several occasions, there is a strong possibility that they are nesting in the vicinity. Unfortunately, there is no high ground from which one can observe the tops of these roofs. northern PATAPSCO VALLEY STATE PARK, to the edge of the Foxhall horse farm, atlas block Relay NW (my block), 6/18 and 6/20: YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO--(X) repeatedly vocalizing on 6/18--the 90th species on the list for Relay NW E. PHOEBE--(NY), four youngsters in nest, 6/20 YELLOW-THROATED VIREO--(T), singing male still near Swinging Bridge PRAIRIE WARBLER--(T) three singing males near the horse farm; this is the only place in the block where I've found these birds YB CHAT--(T) six singing birds on 6/20, along power lines and near horse farm FIELD SPARROW--(X) one singing; heard for first time BLUE GROSBEAK--(T), singing male has been here a while; these birds are showing up more frequently now, across the block Halethorpe ponds in AA Co. (Relay NW), 6/18, with Charlie Kucera: BARRED OWL--one perched 30 feet away for about 20 minutes; photographed; the pair has been heard dueting on several occasions PROTHONOTARY WARBLER--singing male photographed, but no activity around the nest box observed Belmont Conference Center (Relay NW), 6/19, with Sue Probst: RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER--(FL) downy youngster observed PILEATED WOODPECKER--(FY), adult male feeding fledged youngster N. MOCKINGBIRD--(NE) nest with eggs found BROWN THRASHER--(X) singing male heard in area for first time BLUE GROSBEAK--(T) singing male; also here a week ago INDIGO BUNTING-- (ON) female flew from nest; this is the 40th confirmed species for the Relay NW block UMBC (Relay NW), 6/20, with Charlie Kucera: RED-TAILED HAWK--(X), pair circling overhead; first sighting here this year RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER--(FY) male and female taking turns carrying food to the nesthole BLUE GROSBEAK--(T) singing male has been here several weeks now This atlasing is great--no summer doldrums to contend with. Stan Arnold Glen Burnie blackrail@earthlink.net ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================