Date: Sat, 17 May 2003 21:02:09 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Steve Sanford Subject: Patuxent North Tract - Bad weather, Great birding MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit It was a cold, gray, misty late-winter day, even if the calendar said May 17, but when you start it by going into a McDonald's for breakfast and they're playing Chopin, you know something must be up. The calendar also said I was supposed to "lead" the Baltimore Bird Club field trip to the North Tract of Patuxent Refuge. So I went with some hesitancy to the meeting place where 6 other birders were all set to go despite the weather. Well, the birds were great. The best was a YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER near the Scout Trail # 1 sign. If its generally yellow underside, with an especially yellow chin, was not enough for an ID, it finally gave a few "per-wee" notes to nail it. Earlier on, we heard the distinctive "fee bee-o" (or "free-beer" if you prefer) notes of an ALDER FLYCATCHER but did not see it. A little beyond the Wildlife Viewing Area ponds we had a great, long look at a BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO, rudely interrupted by a singing half-yellow Summer Tanager. Down by the power lines there was a fully red SUMMER TANAGER in plain view for all. We had several BLUE GROSBEAKS in good view on the wires not far from the visitor center. Scarlet Tanagers and Yellow-billed Cuckoos were abundant. We saw or heard 23 WARBLER SPECIES,* with a beautiful and cooperative PROTHONOTARY WARBLER across from the Cattail Pond as the big star. A WILSON'S WARBLER was the most uncommon warbler sighting. As usual, PRAIRIE WARBLERS and YELLOW-BREASTED CHATS were numerous. Indigo Buntings were thick and looked really great in the dreary light. A pleasant surprise was a Great Horned Owl calling in the distance, apparently thinking it was still dawn due to the gloomy weather. In the Wildlife Viewing Area, there was some very faint calling of a Sora -- a little too faint to be 100% sure it was for real. Near New Marsh there was an unseen singing Swainson's Thrush, and a singing Hooded Warbler, seen briefly by a few of us. *The warblers were: Northern Parula, Yellow, Magnolia, Black-throated Blue, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Green, Pine, Prairie, Blackpoll, Cerulean, Black-and-white, American Redstart, Prothonotary Warbler, Worm-eating, Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush, Louisiana Waterthrush, Kentucky Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Hooded Warbler, Wilson's, Canada, and Yellow-breasted Chat. Many thanks to the field trip participants for not letting me stay home today! Steve Sanford tanager@bcpl.net Randallstown MD Baltimore County ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================