Date: Sun, 29 Sep 2002 22:13:07 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Matt Hafner Subject: Brewer's Blackbird and other Frederick notes Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Hey everyone, Zach Baer, Jim Stasz and I did a tour of Frederick County today with one of the highlights being Brewer's Blackbird. We started listening to the predawn thrush flight around Sugarloaf Mtn. It was an active flight, we estimated 60 Gray-cheeks going over with 40 Swainson's. Lesser number of Wood, Veery, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak were heard. Very few warbler chip notes. We started birding at the mouth of the Monocacy river. We had a couple Cape Mays, Black-throated Greens, a Blue-headed Vireo, and an Osprey. We then drove up Greenfield Road on the west side of the Monocacy. Our first two stops produced Nashville Warblers and Philly Vireos!! The Phillys provided excellent looks. Lilypons produced the hoped for Lincoln's Sparrow as well as a Marsh Wren. We then went to Willow Rd (north of frederick on 15, take a left on Willow, well marked, pond is on the right) where we found a lone Brewer's Blackbird. The bird was a drab male (probably 1st year). The head and back had a few brown speckles, while the wings and underside were very glossy and grackle-like. The eyes were pale, not nearly the yellow of a Rusty Blackbird. Rusty should also be much rustier this time of year with coloring on the wings and chest. There are some feedlots in the area so that may be a good place to try and relocate the bird. We then headed into the Catoctins where the warblering was limited to only a few pockets. LOTS of Black-throated Greens around. Also found were a Cape May, some Pines and Blackpolls, Magnolias, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, and an Orange-crowned. The Orange-crowned actively chipped at us, but was unfortunately in bad light. Four Common Ravens around a large tower put on a show. A stop by the Bullfrog/Harney Rd ponds produced Lesser Yellowlegs, Solitary, Least and Pectoral Sandpipers. On the way, we made it down to Clopper Lake, where the Pacific Loon was a no-show, but we did have a Pied-billed Grebe and a pocket of warblers with more Black-throated Greens, plus Blackpoll, Nashville, Parula, Magnolia, Tennessee, Redstart, and Myrtle. Matt Hafner College Park, MD ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================