Date: Fri, 28 Jun 2002 15:01:28 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Stan Arnold Subject: Atlasing for the week MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi Folks, This week was spent atlasing in Baltimore, Howard, and PG counties. I had my biggest collection of PRAIRIE WARBLERs on Monday at the end of the Bull Run Trail in Patapsco Valley Park (Balt. Co.), counting 7 singing males, while also hearing 5 different YELLOW-BREASTED CHATs. A few FIELD SPARROWs were also singing in the area. Today (Friday) I returned to the same area and heard no Prairies, and just one chat. Maybe it was the rain. Tuesday morning at Belmont (Howard Co.) with Sue Probst was highly productive. We confirmed the following species: N. MOCKINGBIRD--using a mirror, we observed a nest with four eggs--glossy, light blue and entirely covered with brown speckling. INDIGO BUNTING--observed a single hatchling in the nest CAROLINA WREN--we were suprised to open an old, old nest box (placed by the Boy Scouts years ago, and not checked in recent years) to find five pale pinkish eggs, shortly after the parent bolted from the box BLUE JAY--a pair at the nest We also had good looks at a very vocal KENTUCKY WARBLER, which was a joy, since these birds have been almost unfindable since safe dates began. Later that evening at UMBC, Charlie Kucera and I confirmed COMMON YELLOWTHROAT with a female carrying food to her nest. On Wed. morning, 6/26, I led a bird walk at UMBC, which produced mostly common species, but the highlight was a flyover pair of COOPER'S HAWKs, first in the block within safe dates. Thursday morning (6/27) I visited the big Halethorpe pond (on Patapsco State Park property at the end of Halethorpe Farms Rd.) with Brian Sykes. Here we saw a GREAT EGRET among the resident Great Blue Herons, Black-crowns, and Green Heron. Brian said the LEAST TERN had been here the day before, and we saw it again this day, as it flew to the north, going out of sight over a large warehouse type building not far from the pond. Brian knows some folks that work in that building, and he said he would try to get access to the rooftop there. The most interesting sighting of the day was viewing the contents of a RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD nest that Brian had found a few days ago. I had rigged a mirror to the end of a telescoping pole, and we used this to observe the nest, located 14 feet up, and out one of the branches of an ash tree; it was in plain sight. The little, tightly woven nest contained three small whitish eggs. This morning (Friday, 6/28) I visited Fran Uhler Natural Area (part of the Patuxent River Park) in PG Co. There I enjoyed listening to six species of warbler (parula, pine, prairie, La. waterthrush, ovenbird, and yellowthroat), and three vocalizing YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOOs. The real treat of the visit, however, was an adult YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT HERON, in the swamp at the bottom of the incline, a few hundred yards down the road beyond the parking area. This was a county first for me, and it is still (barely) within safe dates, for the atlas. 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 ======================================================================= =========================================================================